Meet and Greet

This session is free of charge and usually takes about an hour. This is a chance for you and your dog(s) to meet Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care staff and their dog(s). The Registration Pack for New Clients should be filled out before attending (one pack per dog, please), and you will be able to look round the premises and observe how your dog reacts to and interacts in this new setting. Hot and cold drinks are provided!

Settle

This session is also free of charge. During the settle, you leave your dog with us for up to two hours. This gives our staff an idea of how he/she will behave without you, and also shows your dog that you will come and get them after leaving them here. This is very important, particularly with dogs who are unused to being separated from their owners and/or dogs that have had multiple homes.

Your dog may also be taken for a short walk during this time, to help them to settle if they are nervous or just so that we can see how they react outside the home. We will not allow your dog off lead during this walk; meeting new people and dogs, and being in a new environment will naturally be a little stressful, and this may affect your dog's recall. If your dog seems happy, we will allow them the length of an extension lead or training line.

This session can follow straight on from the Meet and Greet or be arranged for a different day. How soon we carry out the settle is entirely dependant on how your dog reacts during the Meet and Greet; please bear in mind that each dog is different and will not necessarily behave in the same way here, among other dogs, as they do at home. Some dogs will benefit from one or more half day daycare sessions at this point, which will be discussed with you when you collect your dog at the end of the settle.

Please bring your dog's lead and any other walking accessories, ie. harness/halti/muzzle, and any food that they may require during the settling period.

Overnight Settle

In order to ensure that you and your dog are completely comfortable and relaxed, Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care offers an overight settle session at a reduced rate of £10.

This part of the settling process is unnecessary for daycare and walking clients, but you are welcome to book an overnight settle regardless, if you would like to. An overnight settle typically begins with you dropping your dog off to us at about 6pm, after your dog has had their dinner. (When a dog is anxious, they often don't feel like eating and we don't want them to potentially spend the night feeling hungry as well!)

Your dog will stay the night with us, and then join us and the other dogs in our care for a walk the following morning. If your dog is not displaying signs of stress, we will aim to find a safe area where we can let them off lead (with your permission) for a short time and practise some recall training. This is to strengthen the relationship between your dog and his/her caregiver, and ensure that he/she has reliable recall to us.

After the walk, your dog will be taken back home with the others, where you can collect them shortly afterwards. This is usually between 11am and 12 noon.

Please bring your dog's bed/blanket, any food/treats for the evening plus their breakfast for the following morning, their lead and any other walking accessories.

Please do not bring toys to any of these settling in sessions as dogs in a pack environment can become possessive.

Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care reserves the right not to accept a dog for daycare or boarding (including any settle sessions) should we feel that the dog is in any way unwell and possibly contagious, be host to worms and/or fleas, or be aggressive in any way.

Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care has a ZERO AGGRESSION policy; should your dog(s) become aggressive in any way, in the home or outside, the owner will be contacted IMMEDIATELY and asked to remove the dog, and the contract between Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care and the owner will be terminated with immediate effect.

Boarding Clients

Once Meet and Greet and Settle sessions have been succesfully completed and an Overnight Settle booked, a boarding booking can be made. A deposit of 25% of the total booking will be payable, via bank transfer, at the time of booking. Should you wish to cancel your booking, this deposit is NON REFUNDABLE.

The remaining balance will be payable either on the 1st day of the month of the booking, or two weeks prior to your dog's arrival, whichever is sooner. Any payments to Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care made between the time of booking and the day that the balance is due, will be treated as NON REFUNDABLE voluntary payments.

Cancellations

Any booking cancelled one week or less before the booking is due to commence will NOT be eligible for any refund.

Any booking cancelled one to four weeks before the booking is due to commence will be eligible for a refund of 50% of the REMAINING balance on the date of cancellation.

Any booking cancelled more than four weeks in advance of the planned commencement date will be eligible for a full refund of the REMAINING balance on the date of cancellation.

If the booking should be cancelled by Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care, we will aim to refund all payments made up to that point, with the exception of the initial 25% deposit which remains NON REFUNDABLE as stated above.

Intact Dogs and Unneutered Bitches

Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care do not have a blanket ban on intact dogs or unneutered bitches but we do require time to get to know them before we accept them for boarding or regular daycare/walking. This usually means that the owner will need to be open to meeting us on walks, followed by Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care staff walking the dog, before allowing their dog to attend daycare sessions with a variety of other breeds, ages, and temperaments. This can be incovenient, we know, but as a general rule, the raised hormone levels of intact males and/or unneutered bitches can often upset the pack equilibrium. This can potentially cause fights amongst the pack members, cause off-lead dogs to completely ignore their recall cues, and so on; none of these behaviours are planned; rather, the dog acts on a very instinctual level and therefore can be (or can become) unpredictable. Only after Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care staff are confident with handling your dog, will you be able to make a boarding or regular daycare/walking booking.

ALL intact males and unneutered females will require a "Cleaning Deposit" to be paid; please see the "Cleaning Deposit" section of the terms of booking.

Bitches in Season

We regret that we are unable to accept bitches in season due to the terms of our license from Thanet District Council.

Less Sociable Dogs

In the instance that a dog doesn't settle well in a pack environment, ie. is anxious or prefers to co-exist rather than be pestered to play, Auntie Kirsty's Canine Care are still happy to care for them. As long as they get on with the resident dogs, we are willing to not take any other dogs during the time that yours is in our care. This service does mean that we are potentially turning away business, so will be charged at double the usual prices to cover our potential losses. It is advisable to give us as much notice as possible if you require this service.

Cleaning Deposit

As dog owners, we all know that most dogs are bound to have at least one toilet accident indoors at some point. It's unfortunate but it does happen, and for many reasons; a puppy still learning the rules of house-training might not have learned to ask, or may forget to ask, to go outside. A rescue dog may be living in a home for the first time and still be learning to adapt. An anxious dog will often toilet where they are standing, without conscious thought. Any dog may urinate in a submissive gesture to another. Some intact males have an unfortunate tendency of urinating on/against every available surface to scent mark the boarding premises as their own personal territory. Bitches coming into season often display destructive "nesting" behaviour, and once in season can leave blood stains wherever they walk or sit. Even perfectly house trained dogs that are genuinely not destructive can display this behaviour as it completely instinctual.

While any visible marks can usually be removed fairly easily, it is much more difficult to eradicate the scent left behind, which causes others to urinate in the same place to leave their own scent over the top; it's the same as happens in the park when one dog urinates on a bush and every one of his friends follows suit.

The Cleaning Deposit is a charge of £60 that is returned to you in full if your dog doesn't incur any cleaning charges.

Cleaning charges include, but are not limited to, purchase of cleaning equipment for the home and/or transport vehicle, replacement of any toys that may be destroyed, and professional carpet cleaning.

All charges deducted from your Cleaning Deposit will be itemised and a record of these charges will be provided to you along with the remainder of your Cleaning Deposit.

Boarders

The Cleaning Deposit is payable via cash, paypal, or bank transfer at least one week before your dog is due to arrive.