Asheville, North Carolina
A grooming salon where every coat gets its own table
Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming is a small salon on Thistle Street in Asheville, North Carolina, that bathes, hand-dries and styles dogs and cats one table at a time, with no kennel banks, no cage dryers and every price printed before the visit.
- Today at the table
- Tue–Fri, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
- Saturday, 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM
- Sunday and Monday, closed
- Every coat dried by hand
- Cats on Tuesday and Thursday mornings
How the salon works
Slow enough to ask how the coat actually behaves
Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming books one table at a time and leaves room in the appointment for the comb-out that comes before the clippers. At check-in a groomer runs a comb through the coat, asks where it mats between visits and how the pet takes water, dryers and having its feet held, and names the price there and then.
The prices on this site are the prices at the counter. Light tangles are brushed out at $15 for each quarter-hour; a coat pelted tight to the skin is reset short instead, because combing it out would hurt, and that is said before any work begins.
On the board
Services and what each one costs
Every service at Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming is priced here as the counter charges it, with ranges set by weight and coat. The exact figure is given at the check-in comb-out, and nothing is added at the table without being said out loud first.
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Bath and breed haircut
$85–$155
90 to 135 minutes
Two botanical washes, a gentle hand fluff-dry and a clip and hand-scissored shape to the breed or to the owner’s own style, with sanitary trim, ears cleaned and nails smoothed. It suits doodles, poodles, terriers, spaniels and shih tzus.
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Bath, brush-out and tidy
$60–$110
60 to 90 minutes
A deep bath, a full hand-dry and a brush right through to the skin, with the face, feet and rear tidied and no length taken off the body. It keeps a coat clean on a four-week rotation between haircuts.
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Double-coat de-shedding
$90–$145
Timed to the coat
An omega conditioner soak, a warm-air blowout and careful line-combing take dead undercoat out of a husky, shepherd, golden, corgi or lab. A double coat is never shaved here, because it insulates against heat as well as cold.
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Quiet-hour cat groom
$95–$140
60 to 90 minutes
A bath, a full comb-out and a lion or sanitary trim for cats, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when no dogs are in the salon. Mats are released with patience and without sedation, and a cat that has had enough is stopped.
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Nail Dremel, ears and paw balm
$28
About 15 minutes
Nails filed smooth with a Dremel, dewclaws included, ears cleaned and checked, and a soothing balm worked into dry paw pads. It is added to the end of any groom or arranged on its own between appointments.
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Puppy’s first gentle groom
$52
45 to 60 minutes
A first groom for a puppy under six months, built around treats and calm handling: a warm bath, the dryer on its lowest setting, paws held, nail tips taken off and the face, feet and sanitary area tidied, at the puppy’s own pace.
The question every appointment opens with
Tell me what the coat does in the six weeks after a groom, not how it looked on the afternoon you collected the dog.
The salon
A corner salon on Thistle Street, run from the table
Maren Holloway opened Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming with two tables, no waiting area and a price list printed where it could be read before a dog arrived. The salon has stayed that size on purpose. There are no kennel banks and no heated cage dryers: a pet arrives, is groomed straight through and goes home. Every appointment starts with the comb, behind the ears, under the front legs, along the belly and at the base of the tail, the four places matting starts.
An appointment is given the length the work needs rather than the length the diary would prefer, and the groomer who starts a dog stays with it through to the dryer. Older pets get a lowered table, breaks to sit and a calming Happy Hoodie for the dryer, and every coat is dried by hand and checked so that what leaves the salon is what was agreed.
Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming bathes, clips, scissors and finishes coats only. There is no veterinary treatment, no sedation, no flea dip, no dyeing and no shaving of a double coat to stop it shedding, and anything that belongs with a veterinary surgeon is named as such rather than treated at the table.
Pictures
At the table, in the bath and at the dryer
Behind the tables
The groomers at Bramble & Paw
Four certified, Fear-Free groomers share the tables, and each has two services the salon sends their way first. Any of them can be asked for by name in a message.
Maren Holloway
Owner and master groomer
Maren Holloway opened Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming and still takes the first table every open day. A National Certified Master Groomer with 14 years behind the shears, she does the precise breed cuts and the gentle sessions older dogs need.
Theo Parrish
Senior stylist
Theo Parrish holds an IPG certification and a canine esthetician certificate and has nine years at the table. He takes the heavy double coats and the sensitive-skin baths, and chooses each conditioner to the skin underneath.
June Okafor
Feline and small-breed groomer
June Okafor is a Certified Feline Master Groomer with eight years’ experience. She runs the dog-free cat mornings on Tuesday and Thursday and has a steady hand with Yorkies, Maltese and Pomeranians.
Callie Brandt
Puppy and bathing specialist
Callie Brandt holds AKC S.A.F.E. certification and pet first aid and CPR, with five years at the salon. Puppies meet her first, and nail-shy dogs are won round over short, treat-filled visits.
Said afterwards
What clients wrote after the appointment
“Winnie has a thick Bernedoodle coat and I had been warned elsewhere it would all have to come off. Maren combed through her with me at check-in, showed me the two tight spots, and gave her a plush three-quarter-inch teddy cut instead. Two hours ten minutes, start to finish, and she came out soft and happy.”
“Duchess is an eleven-year-old Persian mix and the last place wanted her sedated by a vet. June took her on a dog-free Tuesday morning, released every mat by hand and had her finished in fifty-five minutes. She came home calm, clean and without a single nick. The next date was written down before I left.”
“Biscuit is an eighteen-week-old mini poodle and this was his first proper groom. Callie had treats in her pocket, ran the dryer on its lowest setting at a distance first, and kept the whole thing to forty-five minutes. Before we left she showed me how to brush his ears at home so they do not knot.”
Asked often
Worth knowing before writing to the salon
Which service should be chosen?
Coat type and how long it has been decide it. A wash, hand-dry and tidy of the face, feet and rear is the bath and tidy; a full clip or scissored shape is the breed haircut; a husky or shepherd blowing its coat wants the de-shedding spa; cats come in on the quiet mornings. Naming the breed and the date of the last groom gets a straight recommendation back.
Are the listed prices final?
The ranges are set by weight and coat, and the exact figure is given at the check-in comb-out. The one thing added is de-matting, at $15 for each quarter-hour, or a $22 flea bath and sanitation charge if fleas are found, and both are said before the work begins.
Does this website book an appointment?
No. The Book action opens the contact page, and the contact form sends a message a groomer reads during opening hours. Neither one holds an appointment until the salon replies and confirms a time.
Can a particular groomer be requested?
Yes. Naming the groomer in the message is enough: Maren for breed cuts and seniors, Theo for double coats, June for cats and small breeds, Callie for puppies and nails. If that groomer is not in on the day asked about, the reply offers the days they are.
Visiting the salon
Where the salon is and when it is open
Thistle Street, Asheville
Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming works from a corner on Thistle Street in Asheville, North Carolina. The salon has two tables and no waiting area, so pets are dropped off at the agreed time and collected at the time the groomer gives at drop-off, once the coat is finished and dry.
Opening hours
- Tue–Fri
- 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
- Saturday
- 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM
- Sun–Mon
- Closed
Arranging a groom
A message naming the breed, how the coat is kept now and roughly when it was last groomed comes back with a service, a price and a time. Nothing is held until the salon has replied and a time is agreed.
Talk to the salon
Ask about a groom before anything is arranged
A message reaches Bramble & Paw Pet Grooming directly and is read during opening hours. Nothing on this page holds an appointment on its own.
The column
A short note when the salon changes something
Holiday hours, a groomer joining or leaving, a price that moves. Two or three notes a year and nothing else.