Dog Grooming Near Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, NY
Lillian Ruff Pet Spa
If a trip to Smith Haven Mall is already on the calendar, the grooming appointment costs you almost nothing. You were going to be out of the house anyway. Drop the dog on the way, do the errands you were going to do regardless, and collect a clean dog on the way home.
We are Lillian Ruff Pet Spa at 835 Portion Rd in Ronkonkoma — the full-service location, with grooming, doggy daycare, overnight boarding and a retail shop under one roof. It is a short drive from Lake Grove, and grooming is open seven days a week, 9am to 5pm. That includes both weekend days, which is the part most people are surprised by.
Grooming in Ronkonkoma, seven days a week, 9am–5pm. Bath and brush $35 to $120. Full groom with a haircut $70 to $155. Price is set by your dog's weight, and the full breakdown is on the grooming page, where you also book.
Drop the dog, run the errands you were already planning
The reason a groom gets pushed back a month is rarely the money. It is the second trip. Nobody wants to build a whole separate outing around the dog when the week is already full.
So do not build one. Slot the appointment inside a morning you had already committed to. If your Saturday involves the mall, the supermarket and one thing you have been meaning to return for three weeks, the dog can be at the salon for that entire stretch instead of at home waiting for you to get back. The time is spent either way.
This works the same for the weekday version. Plenty of people in Lake Grove and the surrounding area are near the Ronkonkoma LIRR station at some point in the week — it is a major Main Line commuter and park-and-ride hub — and a day that already starts with a drive is a day that can absorb a drop-off.
What to expect on the day: drop-off, our call, pickup
We are not going to tell you a finish time at drop-off, and you should be a little suspicious of anyone who does. A coat that has been brushed twice a week behaves differently from a coat that has not been touched since spring, and the same breed can take a very different amount of work on two different visits. So the day runs on a call, not a clock.
Drop-off
Come in, hand over the leash, and tell us in plain words what you want. "Short enough that I am not fighting it in August" is more useful to a groomer than a breed-standard cut name.
Hands on the coat
We go through the coat properly before anything starts — behind the ears, under the collar line, the armpits, the back legs. That is where mats hide and where a plan changes.
We call you
If the coat means the plan has to change, you hear it from us during the appointment, not at pickup. Otherwise the call is simply that he is done and ready whenever you are.
Pickup
Come back through, we walk you through what we found and what we would do differently next time, and that is the visit.
Dematting a tight, close-to-the-skin mat means pulling on skin that is already sore underneath. When a coat is past the point where brushing is the kind option, the humane answer is usually to take it short and start the coat again. We will call you before we make that decision, because "the groomer shaved my dog" should never be a surprise you discover in the parking lot. If the skin underneath looks irritated, we will point it out and tell you to see your vet — we spot things, we do not diagnose them.
Bath and brush, full groom, or a daycare day with a bath
And the honest half of that list. We do not groom cats. We do not do creative coloring, show grooming or hand-stripping. If you have a wire-coated terrier and you want the texture kept properly, hand-stripping is a real skill and we would rather tell you now than take the booking. If your dog is short-coated, easy in the tub at home, and the only part you actually dread is the nails, book the smallest thing on the list and tell us that is the priority.
Prices by weight
Grooming here is priced by the dog's weight, and the published ranges are these.
| Service | What it covers | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Bath & brush | Wash, dry and brush-out. No haircut. | $35 – $120 |
| Full groom with haircut | Bath and brush plus the clip and scissor work. | $70 – $155 |
Where your dog lands inside those ranges is weight, not guesswork. The grooming page lists it out, so you can see your number before you commit rather than after.
If the errand day is long enough that daycare makes more sense than a groom alone, those prices are published too: $35 for a full day of four hours or more, $30 for a half day under four hours, with multi-day passes at $162.50 for five days, $300 for ten and $550 for twenty. Passes do not expire and are not refundable, and sales tax of 8.75% applies. Food is $5 per day per dog if you would rather not bring your own. Pickup after 7pm is $5 per fifteen minutes. A first daycare visit includes a 30-minute meet and greet so we can see how your dog does before a full day.
Booking a weekday or weekend slot
Grooming is by appointment — book it rather than turning up, and book it online at lillianruffpetspa.com/grooming. Because grooming runs 9 to 5 every day of the week, a Saturday or Sunday appointment is a normal option here rather than something you have to negotiate for.
The practical advice: pick the day by your own errand, not by ours. If the mall trip is a Sunday thing in your house, book Sunday. If you take a weekday off once a month to deal with everything at once, that is the better slot, because a quieter day at home afterwards is easier on a dog who has just had a long, unfamiliar morning.
Two things worth knowing before you take a freshly clean dog for a walk nearby. Smithtown's fenced dog park is at Charles P. Toner Park, 148 Smithtown Blvd, Nesconset 11767, and Blydenburgh County Park has a designated dog area. Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown, on the other hand, bans pets entirely — it is a passive preserve, and people turn up there with a dog and get turned around. At Sunken Meadow State Park, leashed dogs are allowed only in the undeveloped eastern portion; they are not permitted on the beaches, boardwalks, playgrounds, golf course, pools or buildings.
The appointment is not extra time out of your week. It is time you had already given away.
New York State's own deer-tick surveillance splits the year into nymphs from May to September and adults from October to December, so right now we are inside the nymph window. In Suffolk County in 2025, nymph density measured 61.04 ticks per 1,000 square meters, with 26.6% carrying the bacteria that causes Lyme. A thorough brush-out is one of the more reliable ways a tick gets found on a dog, and if we find one we will tell you — then take the removal and testing questions to your vet, not to us.
Questions people actually ask
How long will my dog be with you?
It depends on the coat and on how the day is running, which is why we do not quote a finish time at drop-off. We call you when your dog is ready, and you come back when it suits you.
Do you groom cats?
No. Dogs only.
Can I book daycare and a bath on the same day?
Ask when you book and we will tell you what fits. Daycare runs 7am to 7pm seven days a week in the same building, so it is often workable — but it depends on how the grooming schedule is already filled for that day.
Do you do hand-stripping, color or show grooming?
No to all three. If that is what your dog's coat needs, we are not the right salon for it and would rather say so up front.
My dog is badly matted. Should I still bring him?
Yes, and sooner rather than at the end of the month. Do not wait for a convenient errand day — matting gets tighter and more uncomfortable the longer it sits. Expect a conversation about taking the coat short, and expect that conversation to happen by phone during the appointment.
Where exactly are you?
835 Portion Rd, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 — a short drive from Lake Grove. Grooming, daycare, boarding and the shop are all at that address, open seven days.
Put the groom inside a trip you were already making.
Pick your dog's weight, see the price, choose a day that fits your errands, and book it in a couple of minutes.
See pricing & book ›835 Portion Rd, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779 · Open 7 days, 9–5
Ready to Pamper Your Pet?
Book a grooming appointment today and give your furry friend the spa treatment they deserve.
Book an Appointment