Dog Grooming for Northport, NY - From a Salon on Laurel Rd
Lillian Ruff Pet Spa
If you live in Northport village and you search for a dog groomer, you will get results in two places whose names are almost identical. It is a genuinely confusing corner of the map, so here is the difference in plain terms, along with what we charge, when we are open, and how to book.
We are at 16 Laurel Rd in East Northport, the hamlet directly south of Northport village. Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5. Our prices are set by your dog's weight, the ranges are published on the grooming page, and you can book online.
Northport village and East Northport are two different places
Northport is an incorporated village. It was chartered in 1894, has its own village government, a population of about 7,347, and the ZIP code 11768.
East Northport is not a village at all. It is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place of 5.15 square miles, population 20,048 at the 2020 census, ZIP code 11731. It is bordered by Northport to the north, Commack to the south, Greenlawn to the west and Fort Salonga to the east.
Both sit inside the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County — a town of 204,127 people made up of four incorporated villages (Asharoken, Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor and Northport) and eighteen unincorporated hamlets, East Northport among them, alongside Centerport, Dix Hills, Elwood, Greenlawn and Melville. So a Northport village resident and an East Northport resident are neighbors twice over: same town, and the same school district. Northport-East Northport UFSD serves Northport, East Northport, Eatons Neck, Asharoken and a large part of Fort Salonga, with 4,386 K-12 students across nine schools.
Why the names got tangled
Blame the railroad. The LIRR moved the Northport station east in 1868, and conductors began calling the new stop the one east of Northport. The name stuck to the settlements around it, which until then were known as Larkfield and Clay Pitts. Larkfield Road is still East Northport's main commercial spine, and a historical marker north of the tracks records the trolley that ran from there to the foot of Main Street in Northport from 1902 to 1924.
The oddity survives to this day: the station called Northport, on the Port Jefferson Branch, is physically located in East Northport, at Larkfield Road and Bellerose Avenue. Greenlawn is the next stop west.
We are at 16 Laurel Rd, East Northport, NY 11731. Northport village has a Laurel Avenue — a different street in a different ZIP. If you are typing an address in, include the 11731.
Our prices, by weight
Two services, both priced on a weight band. Smallest dogs at the bottom of each range, largest at the top.
| Service | Price range | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Bath & Brush | $35 to $120 | Washed, dried and brushed out. No haircut. |
| Full groom with haircut | $70 to $155 | The same, plus the coat is cut and shaped. |
We are not going to guess your dog's band in a blog post, because a number invented here is worse than no number. What we will say is that the bands are published rather than quoted on the day, and they are on the grooming page whether or not you go on to book anything.
For context on why we bother publishing at all: of 18 Long Island salons audited from their own websites, only three publish any pricing and only seven let you book online. That is not a criticism of anyone — it is just how the local market has settled, and it is the main reason people arrive at a grooming appointment with no idea what they are about to pay.
A bath and brush is usually enough when
- The coat does not grow long — short-coated and double-coated breeds
- Your dog is just dirty, sandy or shedding
- You are keeping a longer coat yourself and only want it properly washed and dried
You want the full groom when
- The coat keeps growing — doodles, poodles, shih tzus, maltipoos, bichons
- The length is getting into the eyes, the feet or the sanitary area
- It has been long enough that brushing at home has stopped keeping up
One honest caveat on that second column. If a coat has matted down to the skin, the kind thing is to clip shorter than you had in mind. Cutting through tight mats with scissors pulls at skin that is already sore. We will tell you what we are seeing before we start, not after.
Two things we do not do, so you are not making a wasted trip: we do not groom cats, and we do not do creative coloring or show grooming. We also do not diagnose anything. If we find a lump, a hot spot, an ear that smells wrong or a tick still attached, we will point it out and tell you what we saw — and then that is a conversation for your vet, not for us.
Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5
Five operating days a week at East Northport. Closed Sunday and Monday, with no exceptions we can arrange over the phone. Everything is by appointment — we cannot promise same-day.
If Sunday is the only day that works for you, say so and we will point you to our other salon rather than making you wait: 835 Portion Rd, Ronkonkoma, NY 11779, open seven days, 9 to 5. That location also has daycare, overnight boarding and a retail shop. East Northport is grooming only, and that is the whole difference between the two.
If another option genuinely suits your dog better, we would rather tell you than book you.
Booking online
Read the ranges first
Both weight-based ranges are published on lillianruffpetspa.com/grooming, so you can work out roughly where your dog sits before you commit to anything.
Choose East Northport
We run two salons and both are bookable from the same site, so check you have Laurel Rd and not Portion Rd.
Take a Tuesday-to-Saturday slot
Sunday and Monday are not available at this location. Pick the day and time that suits you and you are done.
If your dog is nervous, elderly, or has had a bad experience somewhere before, tell us when you book rather than at the door. Knowing in advance changes how we plan the appointment, and it is far easier to allow for it than to discover it halfway through a dry.
Northport Village Park, also called Cow Harbor Park, is about nine acres of waterfront at the foot of Main Street, with paved paths, benches, restrooms and parking, and it allows dogs on leash. Main Street's sidewalks are dog-friendly and several shops put water bowls out. Sand City Brewing welcomes leashed dogs. If you want a longer walk, the Jerome Ambro Memorial Wetlands Preserve on Seaside Court in Northport is one of the Town's named on-leash trails. Town leashes must be six feet or shorter, and Town Code keeps dogs off all town beaches except paved areas and boardwalks.
Questions people actually ask
Are you in Northport or East Northport?
East Northport — 16 Laurel Rd, ZIP 11731. Northport village is 11768. The confusion is old and well earned: even the LIRR station called Northport is physically in East Northport.
Do I have to live in East Northport to book?
No. There is no residency anything. We take bookings from anywhere.
Can I find out the price before I show up?
Yes, at least the range. Bath and brush runs $35 to $120 and a full groom with haircut runs $70 to $155, both set by your dog's weight, and both ranges are published on the grooming page. That is more than most salons around here put in writing.
Are you open Sunday?
Not at East Northport. Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5, closed Sunday and Monday. Our Ronkonkoma salon at 835 Portion Rd is open seven days, 9 to 5.
Do you board or take dogs for the day?
Not here. East Northport is grooming only. Daycare and overnight boarding are at Ronkonkoma.
Where is the nearest off-leash dog run?
The Town of Huntington runs one at the Huntington Animal Shelter, 106 Deposit Rd, East Northport 11731 — Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm. It is roughly two-thirds of an acre with waste stations, a shade pavilion and running water. Entry needs a free Town-issued permit picked up at the shelter office, and dogs must be licensed, spayed or neutered, current on rabies and at least four months old, two per visit.
Check the ranges, then pick a time.
Both weight-based price ranges are published on the grooming page, and you can book a Tuesday-to-Saturday slot there in a couple of minutes.
See pricing & book ›16 Laurel Rd, East Northport, NY 11731 · Tue–Sat 9–5
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