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Smart Grooming Scheduling

Schedule appointments around the dogs you groom and the time your team needs. Minouflow uses your service lengths, groomer availability and salon capacity to determine which appointments fit, with booking rules you can adjust for your salon.

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Tuesday, July 21
8am9am10am11am12pm1pm

Jess

Bella

Full groom, 3 hrs

Otis

Bath and tidy

Lunch

Wren

Puppy intro

Mara

Tank

Full groom

Scout

De-shed

Lunch

Piper

Full groom

Quinn

Moose

Full groom

Juno

Wash and go

Ivy

Waiting on client

Lunch

Tub conflict at 10am
AnxiousBarker
Kept out of the same hour

Booking flags and tags

01

Calendar and scheduling

Manage appointments in day and week views with custom appointment colors. Drag an appointment to reschedule it or adjust its length directly from the calendar, then review and save the change.

Choose the calendar’s time increments and row height to suit how you work. Appointment details can be edited from the calendar, including the assigned groomer and selected service.

Appointment lengths and pricing

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Set appointment lengths by service group and weight range, with individual service lengths saved for dogs that need a different amount of time. Selected add-ons and configured booking rules can also add time to an appointment.

When you change an hourly-priced appointment’s length, its price is recalculated using your pricing settings. Set-price services keep their price when the length changes. Groomer-specific time adjustments account for that groomer’s pace separately from the client’s charge.

03

Groomer to dog matching

Set which groomers can take dogs with particular handling needs. Your salon defines the handling levels and tags, and each groomer can be assigned the levels they accept.

A dog can also have a list of allowed groomers and separate preferred groomers. Online booking and Minnow AI use the applicable restrictions when finding an appointment, while preferences help choose among eligible groomers.

04

Weight limits and capabilities

Set a maximum dog weight for each groomer, with a separate limit available for dogs new to the salon. Booking checks those limits against the dog being scheduled.

When a weight has not been collected, the system can use the upper end of the breed’s weight range from your catalog. A service that requires an actual weight for pricing asks for that information before booking.

05

Tub and table limits

Set how many tubs and tables each location has. Minouflow checks the resources an appointment needs against appointments already booked at that location.

Staff can see capacity conflicts while booking, and online booking and Minnow AI check configured resource limits before accepting an appointment. You can also create additional resources and connect their use to services or dog tags.

AnxiousBarker
Kept out of the same hour

Booking flags and tags

Create flags and tags to identify dogs with special booking needs. Configure rules that keep dogs with the same tag apart, or prevent two different tags from overlapping.

An anxious dog can be flagged when booking during a time a known barker is scheduled. Staff see the conflict when arranging the appointment, and self-service booking checks the configured restrictions before accepting the time.

Flexible lunch scheduling

Let lunches move automatically within a start-time window you choose. Minouflow keeps the lunch’s full length and looks for a placement that reduces gaps around appointments.

Online booking and Minnow AI can offer a time that requires a movable lunch to shift, provided the lunch still fits. A lunch you drag into place stays where you put it, and ordinary blocked time remains unavailable.

Schedule optimization

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Control which available times clients can book. With “Pack the day” enabled, booking can offer times next to existing appointments or at the beginning or end of the groomer’s day.

For a tighter schedule, enable “Grow from booked visits” to offer only times adjoining appointments once that groomer’s day has a booking. You can also allow larger gaps and set the smallest acceptable gap. These settings change the openings offered through online booking and Minnow AI.

09

Block scheduling

Use block scheduling when several dogs arrive for the same part of the day. Each groomer can have their own block start times and capacity as part of their work schedule.

Set how many spots a service uses within a weight range, so an appointment that requires more work can count toward more of the block’s capacity. Clients are offered blocks with enough room for their booking, and each location can have its own booking style.

10

Staff schedules and time off

Build availability from each groomer’s work schedule, including alternating weeks and changes for specific dates. Time off removes that groomer’s availability for the affected dates.

Staff who work at more than one location are matched to the location on their schedule for that day. Online booking and Minnow AI offer appointments within the groomer’s scheduled hours.

11

Groomer-specific time adjustments

Give a groomer more or less time for particular service groups or services. Their adjustment is included when Minouflow calculates the appointment length and checks whether it fits.

Time and price adjustments are separate. A groomer who needs an extra 30 minutes for a service can receive that time without automatically adding 30 minutes to the client’s bill.

Trainer requirements

Set which services or service groups a groomer can take only when a designated trainer is scheduled. Booking checks that an eligible trainer’s shift covers the appointment.

The requirement is based on the trainer being scheduled for that time. It does not require the trainer’s calendar to be empty.

Double booking

Enable double booking if your salon allows a groomer to work with more than one dog at a time. Set the maximum number of overlapping dogs per groomer in Calendar settings.

You can also allow staff to choose start times outside a groomer’s scheduled hours. Online booking and Minnow AI continue to use the groomer’s scheduled availability.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use different appointment lengths for different dogs?

Yes. Service groups and weight ranges can have different lengths, and an individual dog can have a saved length for a particular service. Groomer-specific adjustments and selected add-ons are also included when calculating the appointment time.

Can I reduce small gaps between appointments?

Yes. Schedule optimization can limit the openings clients see to times beside existing appointments. You can also allow gaps above a minimum size you choose.

Will flexible lunches get shortened to fit another appointment?

No. Moving a lunch preserves its full length. Booking checks whether the lunch still has somewhere to fit before accepting an appointment that would require it to move.

Can different locations use different scheduling styles?

Yes. A location can follow the salon’s booking style or use its own. One location can book one dog per groomer from start to finish while another uses block scheduling.

Does every change in appointment length change the price?

No. Hourly-priced services can be recalculated when their length changes. Set-price services keep their price, and a groomer’s own time adjustment is handled separately from the amount charged.

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