Grooming Policies and Practice
Grooming Policy
Please read the following carefully before booking a grooming appointment with us.
When booking into Doghouse, we assume you have read and agreed to all the following terms.
CANCELLATION POLICY.
Do you charge a cancellation fee for grooming?
At Doghouse we understand that life sometimes gets in the way and that appointments can get forgotten, which is why we send you a text and email reminder of your appointment 48 hrs before you are due.
Appointments can be re-arranged or cancelled up to 24 hrs before your scheduled appointment without charge.
If you contact us with less than 24 hrs notice then a cancellation fee of £10 will apply. If we cannot fill the appointment we will have to charge you the full cost of the appointment. If you simply do not show up then I’m afraid we will also have to charge you the full cost of the appointment. As a small business, we unfortunately cannot afford to lose out on income for these appointments so please let us know in plenty of time if you can't make it!
LATE ARRIVAL POLICY.
What happens if I'm late for my grooming appointment?
If you are late for your appointment I'm sure you will appreciate that we cannot always manage the schedule in a way that means we can complete a groom as planned, we will always try to manage the schedule to allow us to finish a groom but in the event we can’t, you may need to book a short follow-up appointment to complete the groom and there will be an additional charge for this.
LATE COLLECTION POLICY.
What happens if I'm late to collect my dog from their grooming appointment?
If you are running late to collect your dog please let us know! We will obviously take good care of your dog while we wait for you to return but in the event you are more than half an hour late there will be a charge applied as we will need to allocate a member of staff to attend to your dog.
MATTED DOGS POLICY.
Are you still able to groom my matted dog?
We know that no owner deliberately let their dog become matted, but it does happen quite easily and it can be very difficult to groom a dog with a matted coat. So we wanted to give you some information on how we deal with a matted coat and what you can expect from a groom if your dog does have a matted coat. The most important thing to understand is that we will always prioritise the welfare of your dog and that we will not inflict any excessive stress or discomfort to your dog whilst in our care.
When a dog’s coat is matted it may need to have a very short clip, this can cause irritation as the blades have to run below the matt very close to the skin which takes longer than a regular clip and means the clipper blades can get very hot so the groomer has to take regular breaks in order to let the blades cool to avoid burning your dog’s skin. It is also possible that we may uncover nicks, cuts or other potential problems which have been hidden by the matted hair. As the owner, we ask that you agree that DOGHOUSE cannot be held liable for any after-grooming effects of matt clipping procedures or problems uncovered on a badly matted, neglected coat, which could include, but are not limited to, the following: itchiness, skin redness or self-inflicted irritations/abrasions from excessive rubbing. Please be aware that there is a much higher risk that the dog’s skin could be nicked with the clippers as we have to get the blade underneath the matt in order to remove it and although we will make every effort to avoid it, it does occasionally happen that we nick the skin. DOGHOUSE cannot be held liable for any injuries or nicks that occur as a result of a clip off due to matting.
If a dog has excessively matted ears, bleeding at the tips of the ear can occur when the matting is removed, this is because the delicate blood vessels have been restricted by the tight matted hair and releasing this pressure means blood rushes to the tips of the ears and can cause the ears to split at the tip. Obviously, we will do everything we can to avoid this happening but it is sometimes unavoidable, so please be aware that there is a possibility it could happen. If it does happen we would recommend taking your dog to the vet for a check-up, explaining that the ears have been trimmed due to excessive matting.
DOGHOUSE will always act in the best interests of your dog and we reserve the right to interrupt or abandon the groom of any dog for the safety of the groomer and the dog, as we believe that no dog should be subjected to undue stress or discomfort during a groom.
We highly recommend brushing your dog very regularly if they tend to become matted often, we sell a wide range of brushes on our website here and we have written a helpful blog on how to brush your dog to prevent them from becoming matted here too.
ARE THERE ANY BREED'S YOU DON'T GROOM?
There are some breeds of dog which we feel are not suited to grooming in our salons. Chow Chow’s and Shar Pei’s are two of them, due to their reactive nature and desire to protect we feel they are less likely to feel confident and calm in our busy salon environment and are better suited to a salon where they are not over stimulated by the presence of other groomers and dogs moving around them.
We appreciate you taking the time to read this and if you have any questions or concerns please do ask your groomer or a member of staff.