What is this "home boarding" all about?

 

We have a small team of people (called carers) who work at home for us looking after dogs for you (just your dog, nobody else's dog will be there). They are all experienced dog people and they are happy to meet any customer who wants to check them out! Dogs live as part of the family and whatever they get at home we try to replicate in our carers homes even if that means the dog sleeps on the bed, we will match you to a carer who is happy with that. No kennels, just love and attention, walks and companionship.

 

 

 

Ok, I'm interested - how do I get started?

First, browse this site; you'll get most of the basics from here. If you want to have a chat please give us a call on 0191 28 999 21 and we will be happy to answer any further questions you might have. When you're ready to move things to the next phase, we can book you in for your registration:

What is the registration meeting for?

Whether you're booking for day care or boarding, you need to go through a one-off process where we will meet you and your dog at a pre arranged time and place to get to know you both and discuss the care needs in detail. We are meticulous in matching dogs and carers, but we only accept friendly controllable dogs into our care, so this meeting is crucial.

 

What will happen when we meet?

 

Information gathering - when we meet you and your dog we will take down all her likes and dislikes, fears, phobias, favourite games and much much more so we can match her to her perfect carer. We will go through absolutely everything with you regarding the care of your dog. From your idea of the perfect carer, to the dogs personality type and whether or not he is likely to be a good eater!  We will discuss the on/off lead situation in detail and follow your exact requirements - if necessary we will keep her on a lead at all times - no matter what...

Information sharing - we will give you a handbook and a packing list with some reminders i.e. ensuring you keep inoculations and flea, tick, worming up to day, our terms and conditions will be in there too, along with more information in general about what to expect during and after boarding       

Paperwork - we will have to do some form filling and signing and work out your dates and times of collection and deliver

Payment - At this stage you must pay for your registration visit in cash. You will also need to pay in cash or cheque the sum of £25.00 per booking which is your deposit and secures your dogs place. This is non refundable unless we cancel (which we hope will never happen) and it covers the admin costs incurred in the matching and paperwork done when the booking is placed.

 Meeting your carer - You can decide during the registration process or at any time after, and we can arrange it to suit you. There is a fee for this, the reason for the fee is you are paying for the carers time, and our administration charges. We will arrange it for you and tell you what to expect. Of course, you must take the dog with you!

 

What happens after registration?

 

We will be working hard behind the scenes matching dogs & carers.  We're experts - in fact we have a 100% success rate. Once we've met you and your dog we'll have a good idea of which carer will best suit your needs. We have around 35 - 40 smashing carers on our books (and more on a waiting list) to choose from.  That sounds a lot but remember they're not all working all year round, they only take the dogs they want, when they want them, some only take old dogs; others only take small dogs, and so on.  One thing they do all have in common is that they don't work and they are all competent, experienced dog lovers, who I personally trust to look after my own dogs. In fact we are so confident that our carers are the best in the business we are happy for you to meet them yourself if you are still unsure. You can make that decision during the registration or afterwards when I will ring and give you the profile of the carer I think is the right match.  All our carers are carefully interviewed in their own homes, references are taken quite often they become really good friends.

What happens when I meet my dogs carer?

If you decided you want to meet your carer you will be contacted by them and you can arrange a suitable time. We ask that you discuss any misgivings whatsoever, we have lots of carers on our books, and we must must must have happy owners as well as happy dogs.

 

What do I expect on the day?

 

Remember it's a HAPPY day for your doggie - he's going on holiday so even if you feel stressed or glum don't let him know or he'll be worried!  He might be a little confused but in our experience, the boarding dogs always settle in very well - the owners fret much more than the dogs!

 

What happens during the holiday?

When we collect the dog we will take all her belongings settle her in. If there are teething problems you can leave it to us, but if we struggle we will ring you or your named person for help. The dog will never suffer but its very rare that we need to get help. 

If the dog needs professional or medical care during the holiday they will get it no questions asked, we will pay and you reimburse us on your return, please ask for our terms and conditions which has more information.

 

What happens at the end of the holiday?

We'll bring her back to you when you specify, happy, rested and unstressed

What else do you do?

All in all, we will do whatever we can to ease the worry and stress for you, just let us know and we will try to accommodate your request.  **UPDATE:  We've got lots of dogs currently with us who's owners are stranded abroad due to the volcanic ash cloud.  We are in daily contact with the owners by text, the owners know that whatever happens, their dogs are safe and sound with us as long as they need to be here.  In fact, they're treated like one of the family, its nice to be able to help at these times of enormous stress, and the customers know the dogs are the last thing they need to worry about - we can really put our customers minds at ease.**

We can offer grooming while you are away, just ask and we will get you a price. 

Anything we haven't offered that you think we should - please let us know.