Terms & Conditions

YOUR APPOINTMENT

At the time of your pet's appointment, please ensure that they are fit and healthy. Grooming of sick or elderly pets is entirely at the owner's risk. If your dog has any health or mobility issues, is on medication, or is recovering from recent injury, please ensure you state this at the point of booking. I will then be sure to handle your dog with extra care as necessary or suggest that a groom may not be possible at that stage. Grooming may expose underlying skin or health problems that I cannot be held liable for, and I will ask that you seek veterinary advice.

Please do not feed your dog 2 hours prior to their appointment and please ensure they are adequately toileted before visiting. 

Pets with extremely matted coats will be charged extra. If I feel that de-matting your pet would cause too much stress and discomfort I may recommend a complete clip down. This will dramatically change your pet's appearance, as their hair will be short and close to the skin. Please scroll further down for our matting policy for more information.

If your pet becomes ill whilst in my care, the groom will be stopped and you will be contacted to collect them. If I cannot reach you on the phone, I may call a vet and unless it can be clearly shown that Little Fern Dog Grooming is liable, all vet costs shall be at the owner's expense. If an injury becomes apparent after the grooming session, it must be reported within 24 hours otherwise I am unable to accept any liability.

DEPOSIT

A deposit of £30 (£40 for grooms over £70) will be paid at the point of booking via bank transfer to secure your appointment. This is included in the price of your overall groom. This deposit will be kept in cases of no-shows, or if appointment is not cancelled with 48 hour prior notice. For consistent cancellations, I will ask for full payment of the groom upfront or deny service. No deposit is required for nail clipping appointments.

PAYMENT AND CANCELLATION

There is a 48 hour cancellation policy. Cancellation or any changes must be made at least 48 hours before the appointment, otherwise the deposit is non refundable. I will email you your booking confirmation on booking, along with email reminders 7 days and 1 day before your groom. Failure to attend the appointment without prior notice will sacrifice your deposit and I may deny future service.

Payment will be made on collection. I accept cash, card, and bank transfer. Please note I do not accept cheques.

LATE ARRIVAL & COLLECTION FEES

If you are more than 15 minutes late arriving for your dog’s appointment I may not have time to complete the groom and it will count as a missed appointment and you may be charged for the full groom. Please contact me if you are running late so I can see if I can accommodate.

If you do not collect your dog at the agreed time a late fee will apply. This is charged at £15 per 20 minutes (from 15 mins late). If I have had to cancel the following dog as a result I may also charge 50% of the groom I have had to cancel. I work on a one in one out system so that there is no crossover with dogs in my studio, so please be mindful that I may lose work if you are late for pick up.

BEHAVIOUR AND WELLBEING

I will do everything possible during your dog’s groom to keep them calm and happy, however if your dog becomes aggressive during the groom, I will terminate the groom for the safety of myself and your dog and the full amount will be payable. I have the right to refuse any dog for any reason. I am unable to accept XL dogs due to the size of my space and working independently. I will not accept dogs with a bite record or dogs who have required more than one groomer to handle them in previous grooming environments. Upon booking, I will ask for a description of the dog, and previous behaviour at salons. In cases where the dog shows signs of aggression during a particular treatment (e.g. nails being trimmed), a muzzle may be necessary for me to complete the task safely and to a good standard. I will ask you prior to your appointment if you will allow the use of muzzles. If the treatment is deemed impossible (with or without muzzle), I will inform you on collection and suggest a course of action.

For dogs who are not comfortable being blast dried (high velocity dryer), please wash your dog at home thoroughly and let them air dry before bringing them in. I do not have a cabinet dryer (for dogs who cannot be dried with a blaster).

SAFETY & RESTRAINTS

Whilst your dog is being groomed, neck straps and belly straps will be used where necessary to restrain your dog to prevent injuries (such as falling off the table). Your dog will never be left unsupervised on the table with or without restraints. For dogs with particular health, respiratory or mobility issues, the use of restraints will be modified accordingly for their safety and comfort.

MATTING POLICY

Where a dog is heavily matted, and the mats cannot be brushed out without causing pain or stress I will clip/ shave off the coat to relieve the discomfort caused by tight matting. I will always put the wellbeing of the dog before aesthetics. Where possible, I will text or call to notify you prior to clipping. 

Under the ‘Animal Welfare Act 2006’ we cannot cause pain, suffering, injury or disease and therefore I can terminate a groom if it is deemed that your dog requires veterinary attention at any point during the mat removal process. Any health issues found or injuries which occur must be cared for by a vet. I will not be held accountable for injury incurred from the removal of matted hair. 

Please also note that if your dog already struggles with the grooming process, then matting can further heighten their fear and stress. If I feel that there is a risk to either myself or them by continuing, I will stop the groom, with full amount payable and advise you to seek vet advice.

Where there is significant matting, the grooming fee will be higher. This is due to the additional time necessary and wear and tear on equipment (matting blunts blades and scissors very quickly).

It is known that there can be a variety of skin and coat problems that may occur after a complete shave down of a dog, particularly, the double coated and heavy wool coated dog breeds:

·         Loss of hair growth

·         The coat not growing back in the same texture and/or colour prior to shaving

·         Bald patches

·         Hyper pigmentation of the skin. Darkening of the skin where the coat has not grown back

·         Loss of guard coat (top layer of the coat)

·         Coarse re-growth of hair in different directions

·         Exposure to the elements, sun/heat damage or stroke; cold increment weather

·         Exposure to bug bites

·         Reduced protection from bush, sticks, scratching etc.

·         Dog may feel the need to lick shaved area that feels exposed, this must be discouraged if happens as secondary infection of the skin can occur

Knowing that any and all of the above conditions can occur, by agreeing to the Terms & Conditions, you give permission for your dog to be shaved down in circumstances of excessive matting.

FLEAS

If your dog has fleas, I need to be informed prior to the appointment. This is to prevent cross contamination of other dogs and contamination of my studio. Please be aware that appointment rescheduling may also be necessary to avoid the spread of fleas to other dogs. I reserve the right to refuse to groom a dog with fleas until they have been successfully treated. If fleas are found during the groom, I will treat your dog with flea shampoo which kills any fleas on the body. However, you will subsequently need to treat your dog with a suitable flea product from your vet, along with your home, bedding, car, etc. You will incur an additional fee of £10 to cover the cost of flea shampoo, and the products required to decontaminate the salon.  

DATA PROTECTION

Client records will be kept for 7 years, and then destroyed before recycling. You have the right to request any information I hold about you, and copies will be provided within 30 days. I will not share your details with any other organisation. However, from time to time I may contact you by text or email with news, offers and service updates. I may also photograph or video your pet and use these images on my website, Instagram or Facebook page. Please let me know if you do not wish to receive such information or do not want me to use images of your pet.

COMPLAINTS

Prior to the groom, an initial consultation will take place to discuss how you prefer your dog to be groomed/styled. In the event that you are not satisfied with the groom, please communicate this to me immediately so that it can be rectified where appropriate - this may incur additional cost if you have decided to deviate from the previously agreed styling. Please note, if I do not have time to rectify the style immediately (or your dog doesn’t allow it due to pick-up excitement), I will do my best to accommodate a further appointment for you as soon as possible.

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you are happy with your dog’s groom, both in terms of how they look or how they have been treated, please feel free to leave me a positive review and post photos on social media, and tag my facebook or instagram. If, on the other hand, you are dissatisfied with the groom for any reason please discuss this with me personally before posting negative comments or reviews on google or social media. I will then resolve any issues with you directly.