ABOUT DOLMAN DOG GROOMING POLICIES

 

We welcome you and your dog to be groomed and cared for at Dolman Dog Grooming under the following terms and conditions. In booking your dog with us online, by telephone in person or any other method, you do so accept our full terms and conditions. Please read our terms and conditions fully prior to your appointment.  

Theses terms are on my forms required to be signed for on your first appointment theses are usually sent to you on booking.

 

Your Dog’s Health & Welfare is our primary concern at About The Dog and this is reflected in each of our services. We would like you to pay attention to the following policies we have in place in order to protect your pets and our staff within our salons: 

*Any complaints towards your dogs groom must be mentioned to us 48 hours after the grooming appointment has been completed.

 

*All pre-existing health conditions must be discussed with us prior to grooming. 

 

*All dogs are groomed at the owners risk. We retain the right to refuse grooming to a dog which we believe is too unwell/infirm/aggressive/fearful/unfit to be groomed - if we have to end a grooming appointment early and a dog is mid-way through a groom, we reserve the right to charge for the full appointment depending on the circumstances, at our discretion. We may ask you to bring your dog back another time as soon as possible in order to complete the groom if it cannot be completed within the allotted time. 

 

*Behavioural Issues must be honestly disclosed prior to grooming. Failure to do so may result in extra charges if extra time or an additional groomer is required to complete the groom. We reserve the right to terminate a groom should the dog be too fearful or stressed to continue, or the dog poses a risk to itself or us.  

 

*Fearful dogs are welcome, however a rehabilitation programme may be set in place to re-train your dog to be groomed in a relaxed and comfortable manner. This may require more frequent appointments until your dogs behaviour improves, or he/she learns to be groomed without fear.  

 

*Sometimes our groomers can discover health / skin / dental issues which you may not have been aware of previously. If our groomers discover any issues or concerns, these will be disclosed to you upon collection, for you to then seek veterinary advice. Dolman dog grooming cannot be held responsible or liable for the discovery of ailments or issues during the grooming process. 

 

*Advice may be given, however our staff have no medical training and are not vets. We cannot and will not diagnose or treat your dog for any medical issues. 

 

*Accidents thankfully are very rare, but do happen. In the event of an emergency, you consent to us seeking medical attention. This will be at owners cost. We will always contact you as soon as possible. 

 

PARASITE & FLEA POLICY 

 

Will you groom my dog if he/she has fleas or ticks / other parasites? 

 

If you discover your dog has fleas prior to your appointment, please let us know as soon as possible. We will rearrange appointments for dogs with fleas wherever we can to prevent contamination. If the dog arrives to their appointment with fleas we will reject the dog and you must pay the full price of your appointment.

 

We always check your dogs for fleas prior to bathing and if we do discover your dog has fleas prior to bathing, we may turn them away to prevent contamination. 

 

It is possible however, that we only discover fleas on your dog when bathing or grooming has already commenced. In this instance, we will continue to groom your dog, however we have to use preventative measures to stop the spread of them to other animals in our care. 

 

Dogs presented with fleas will be bathed in a flea-repellant shampoo (containing natural ingredients), unless asked not to. A charge will be added to your total groom price depending on the severity to cover the cost of additional measures to clean equipment and fumigate treatment of the salon as this usually means me shutting for the rest of that day. 
The cost would depend on loss of income for that day so please bare this in mind.

 

If we discover a tick on your dog’s coat during a groom, our groomers are trained to remove ticks with a tick-removal tool and they will do so to try and relieve the dog from discomfort. Due to the nature of the parasite and the way they attach to the dog’s skin, we cannot always guarantee that 100% of the tick is removed in the salon and you may need to seek further advice from a vet. 

 

We will always call to contact the primary person on file, plus any other contacts we have for your pet prior to carrying out any tick removal, however if we cannot reach you we will perform the process required for the welfare of the dog - this may be to not continue the groom, to groom avoiding the affected area or to remove the tick and the decision is at the groomers discretion. 

 

Please note, there may be additional charges if additional time is required to perform a groom due to ticks being present. 

 

If we suspect your dog is suffering with any other form of parasite, we will contact you as soon as possible. We may apply the same policy per our ill or infirm dogs or as per the flea policy above. 

 

CANCELLATION/NO SHOW POLICY

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Do you charge a cancellation fee for grooming?

 

At Dolman Dog Grooming we understand that life sometimes gets in the way and that appointments may need to be rearranged. This is why we send a text and email reminder of your booking 48 hrs in advance of your appointment.  

Appointments can be re-arranged or cancelled up to 48 hrs prior to your scheduled appointment time without charge. 

If you contact us with less than 24 hrs notice then a cancellation fee of 60% of your appointment. If you fail to contact us and do not attend your appointment, you will be charged the full cost of the appointment before you can rebook again . 

 

If you would like to book an appointment following a no-show, please note you will be required to pay for the next appointment upon booking in addition to your missed booking. 

 

LATE ARRIVAL POLICY

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What happens if I'm late for my grooming appointment?

 

We have strict appointment times in each to allow our myself enough time to complete grooms to a high standard in a stress-free environment. We ask customers to attend their appointments promptly. If you are unable to attend an appointment on-time, we will try to accommodate your dog as much as possible, however this can result in the whole groom not being performed if the groomer runs out of time. 

 

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. If you are running 20 minutes or more late, we have the right to refuse to groom and it will be treated as a no show.

 

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 do let us know as soon as possible. We will of course take good care of your dog while we wait for you to return, however in the event you are more than fifteen minutes late I reserve the right to apply a late collection charge to cover the cost of the additional time required to care for your dog and the effect this has on other appointments as i work 121 with reactive dogs a lot and offer the personal 121 service as a home from environment and can not facitiate extra dogs and dogs mixing outside there family ( Not worth the risk)

please also understand I have my own dogs too.

 

 

MATTED DOGS POLICY

 

We understand that sometimes it can be hard to keep on top of your dog’s coat at home and matting can occur, sometimes without you even realising. Matting can cause irritation and sores to your dogs skin if left untreated. Mild matting can be painful, however in severe cases, it can cut the circulation to your pet’s skin and cause haematomas (severe bruising) which are harmful to the dog. 

 

In the event that your dog’s coat needs to be clipped down due to severe matting, About The Dog is not liable for any post grooming effects such as skin irritation in matted areas or redness (which is not without risk). We will always prioritise the welfare of the dog and our priority in this instance is to reduce discomfort or stress. Small areas of minimal matting can be brushed out for a maximum of 15 minutes on dogs that are comfortable with the procedure. This will be at our discretion as to whether the dog is tolerating the de-matting. 

 

More severe cases of matting may require a complete shave of the coat. This can result in a very short coat length, however much more comfortable for the dog. Advice on maintaining a well kept coat is available from our groomers upon request. We also sell many different tools and brushes in our shops which can help with maintenance of the coat in-between appointments. If you prefer to keep a longer style on your pet, we recommend Wash & Go appointments in-between Full Grooms to keep the coat brushed and clean and help prevent matts from occurring. 

 

I will always discuss prior face to face or call to contact the primary person on file, plus any other contacts we have for your pet prior to carrying out any de-matting or shaving, however if we cannot reach you we will perform the process required for the severity of the matted coat. The following prices are charged to cover the additional grooming and wear & tear on our equipment 

 

Large area that requires the whole body to be shaved short. £10 extra

 

Severe matting that requires to be shaved from nose to tail £15-20 extra

 

owners staying while I'm grooming 

 

As a holistic/no-force groomer, your dogs are provided with respite breaks for a drink, a leg stretch and toileting during the entirety of its groom. I work at your dogs pace not mine.  Brand new dogs will take longer to groom on their first session, I'm a stranger, so I like to build up bonding/trust practices during the groom with aspects such as play and touch desensitisation.   I also invest a significant amount of time with nervous/anxious dogs by providing decompression breaks.   Therefore, the groom sessions do take longer than it would a conventional groomer.  I will not enter into negotiations or complaints regarding my grooming duration when I make my ethos clear at initial contact. 

Owners present during grooming

I have a specific style of working where the dog is able to build up trust whilst I'm reading their body language, I need their focus to be on the process, not on their owners.  Having owners present is a distraction for the dog. I have had owners stay in the past and will offer if I feel it's needed but there has been a tendency to want to get involved with holding their pet etc , Which can be a help or hindrance ... my ability to not only do my job, but to follow my ethos as the groom becomes quiet forced which is not what I do . For those reasons, unfortunately I do not often have owners present for grooms unless I feel this is the right decision for your dog. 

 

We appreciate you taking the time to read this and if you have any questions or concerns please ask .

 

Photographs

Your dog may be photographed before, during and after its groom. These images may be used on the Dolman Dog Grooming website, Facebook page, Instagram, promotional material etc unless you specifically request us not to do so.

 

This Privacy Policy is required as a part of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it is necessary for us to inform you of the information we keep about you and your pet, how it is used and stored and to receive permission for specific information to be stored and used.

 In the Grooming Salon, the following information is stored on a dog grooming card:

​Any details you have given to us about yourself, such as your name, phone numbers, and e-mail address’.

• Any details you have given to us about your dog, such as, his/her name, age, breed, colour, gender etc.
• Any details of what we have done to your dog as part of the grooming process – blades, combs used, where we have scissored, nails trimmed, date of the visits etc.
• Any traits/likes or dislikes of your dog, such as, sensitive feet etc.
• Your dog`s temperament within the salon – good, nervous, hard, tendency to bite etc.
• Any medical problems that either, you make us aware of, or that we find as part of the Grooming process, such as (lumps, bumps, warts, heart murmur etc.)

These details are kept in hard copy (filed alphabetically by dogs` name) and are locked away each night. 

Your name, dogs name, your address, and contact numbers are entered into the form to enable me to contact you about appointments, to advise when your dog is ready, send cards, in case of emergency, etc.

Your name and contact number along with your dogs name are also stored on my mobile phone (only for regular clients), again to enable me to contact you for the above reasons. No other details are held on my mobile phone about you and my mobile phone is kept safe and secured by the available security settings on the device.

You can also ask to view your card at any time. If you move away from the area, you are welcome to take your card with you to give it to your new groomer or you can destroy it.

Any non-returning customer cards will be destroyed within 3 years of non-attendance to our salon.

​Our website:

You can browse and visit our website without providing your name and contact details. Like many websites, our server logs capture details of your operating system and browser software, IP address, URL, including the date and time of your visit. We use cookies to analyse how our site is used by visitors. If you do not wish cookies to be saved to your system, you may change your browser settings.

You might choose to provide your contact details if you do any of these things:

• Submit a query

 We may use your personal information in the following way:

• to respond to enquiries made by yourself
• to send appointment reminders via email and text message
• to send vouchers and promotions
• to ask you for reviewing us
• for market research purpose
• for record keeping purpose
• to deal with enquiries and complaints
• to contact you in connection with your appointment, dog collection or drop off, cancellations or rescheduling

We have a copyright policy so please do not take photos or details from website, social media or anything regarding Dolman Dog Grooming with out permission!!!​

With thanks 

 

Courtney 

Dolman Dog Grooming 

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