Booking a December Groom at a Tuesday-to-Saturday Salon

Our East Northport salon runs Tuesday through Saturday. That is five days a week, not seven — and in a December that adds up to more than you would guess. Here is the plain arithmetic, and how to plan around it.

Why a Tuesday-to-Saturday salon has fewer December days than a seven-day one

It is not a mystery and it is not a sales line. It is a calendar.

December 2026 has 31 days. Four of them are Sundays and four are Mondays, and we are closed both. That leaves 23 working days at 16 Laurel Rd against 31 at a salon that opens every day. Eight fewer days, in the one month of the year when people tend to have a fixed date in mind.

Then there is the holiday itself. December 25 falls on a Friday in 2026 — a weekday, not a weekend — so if a salon closes for it, the closure comes out of the working week rather than out of a day it was shut anyway. We are not going to publish our December closing days here, because they belong on the booking calendar where they stay accurate. Check there.

What that arithmetic does not mean is that we are full, or that you have to panic. We do not publish booking data and we are not going to invent a rush to hurry you along. It means one thing only: there are fewer days on the board than you are picturing, so look at the actual calendar early rather than assuming any Sunday will do.

Closed Sunday and Monday: what that does to a week

The practical consequence is simpler than the arithmetic. Saturday is our only weekend day. If you work Monday to Friday and cannot get out at lunchtime, Saturday is the day you are aiming at, and December 2026 has exactly four of them: the 5th, the 12th, the 19th and the 26th.

Four Saturdays, and one of those lands the day after Christmas. If you have any flexibility at all, that is where it is worth spending it — a Tuesday morning is the same groom at the same price, and there is a great deal more of it on the board.

One more thing nobody can book around: weather. The nearest official weather station, at Islip, averages about four and a half inches of snow in December, and the average daily low for the month sits below freezing. Most Decembers pass without incident. But if you are the sort of person who would rather not be out driving on the worst morning of the month with a wet dog in the back, an earlier date has a practical advantage that has nothing to do with availability.

What it costs, and how long to allow

We publish our prices, which — for what it is worth — is unusual around here. Of 18 Long Island salons audited from their own websites, only three published any pricing at all. Ours is banded by the dog's weight, smallest to largest:

The booking page shows the figure for your dog's weight band before you confirm anything. If you want to know exactly what is included in either service, ask when you book — that is a quicker answer than a guess from a blog post.

On timing, be a little generous with yourself. A bath and brush on a small short-coated dog is a much shorter job than a full haircut on a thick or coated one, and matting stretches any appointment. Plan on dropping off and coming back rather than sitting and waiting, and if your dog is large and needs a full haircut, an earlier slot sits more comfortably in a day that ends at five.

You may not need a full appointment at all

If the only thing bothering you before company arrives is nails clicking on the floor, mention it when you book and we will talk through what makes sense. And if you would rather not book anything, some chain salons take nail trims without an appointment. That is a real option, and we would rather you knew about it than sat waiting on a slot you did not need.

Book online instead of calling around

This is the part that actually solves the five-day problem. Our booking runs online at lillianruffpetspa.com/grooming, so you can sort out a December appointment at eleven at night on a Sunday when the salon is shut and nobody would answer the phone.

Of those same 18 Long Island salons, only seven offered online booking of any kind. Around East Northport specifically, the salons that publish real-time availability are thin on the ground — most of what you find offering instant booking is mobile grooming rather than a fixed salon. So the alternative to booking online here is genuinely calling around, and in a month where you want a specific date, that is a slow way to find out what is open.

If you need a Sunday, that is Ronkonkoma

Our other salon, at 835 Portion Rd in Ronkonkoma, is open seven days a week, 9 to 5. It is a short drive from East Northport and it does grooming, daycare, overnight boarding and retail, so it covers the two days we cannot.

A five-day week is not a shortage. It just means the calendar, not the phone, is where the answer lives.

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