Dogsfevr Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 no your not & don't let anyone make you second guess.We run kennels with opening hrs & have learnt after 23 yrs that pandering to clients doesn't end with success & the same few are the ones that take it for granted every time. We will certainly work in with people in special scenarios but it still must fit in with the the dogs in boarding best interests as the safety & care of our clients dogs comes first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I would be less annoyed about the hours than living in poop for a week Surely no kennel would do that, that is terrible I think 90% of the problem was that the regular kennel owner / manager was away and her friend filled in. And her friend was clueless. She kept telling me that some dogs get the runs in a kennel situation (this would be the first time that happened to my dog) and her excuse for not keeping her clean was "she (the owner) should have told you the hydrobath was broken". WTF. I'm not sure - a month later that I'm calm enough to ring up and discuss it nicely - not that anyone seems to answer the phone. But I need to get on with it. My vet advised not reporting it to the RSPCA without talking to the owner first. I guess what I want to hear is she gets the hydrobath fixed and never ever lets her "friend" mind the place for her again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) Well you can get buckets of warm water and towels!!!!! Just out of interest in the last two days had I done every out of hours convenience call for those that asked I would have been at the keenels on 5 occassions outside my normal hours. On the two days I actually get time to do stuff with my kids. None were an emergency, all were just because it was convienient for the owner, they wanted to leave a bit earlier or a lack of foresight and planning. I thank you all for your input Edited June 7, 2015 by OSoSwift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I have hours for pet sitting. I get people who want me to pop over at 10 pm because it's when their dog gets fed or 5am... If they don't like my hours they can find someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha bet Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 OSoSwift.... you and I both run a similar type of business - we take 20-30 dogs... if you want to check my website there are a few things I mention on my page about opening hours that you might find interesting. I've been going for over 20 years and found that I have put my foot down about certain things when it comes to clients. Basically if they can't be prepared to try and work with my system then they can take there business elsewhere as after all I have a family as well and this is also my home. Some of my rules I have learnt to introduce...... 1. We have drop off/pick up on Saturday morning (by appointment) till 11am... then we SHUT to the public... we open up for drop off and pick up (by appointment) on Sunday between 5-6pm.......and we stick to it because this is the chance for us to have family time, kids sports, or go out and have dinner with friends, or even just to kick back and have a bottle of wine without feeling like I'm being unprofessional. If a client doesn't respect our private space then I don't want them as a client. 2. We don't have opening hours....ALL drop off and pick up times are by appointment.... that way EVERYONE has to make a time that is mutually convenient.... this allows me to plan my day around organising dogs, kids, banking, household chores and a chance to jump in the pool if I want. If someone is leaving a dog for 2 weeks or longer and they are catching planes etc. then we try to be a bit more flexible... but it is not worth fussing around for someone who just wants two day stay. As a small business - I explain to people we don't have staff sitting around during normal business hours waiting for people to turn up - however as a small business we get to know them and their dogs on a personal level. Stick by your guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Thanks AB, I think I have read your webite in my internet trawling but will go and look again. My kids are part of a Remote Car club and they race on Sunday mornings from 9 to 12. One good thing about having no opening hours on a Sunday morning is it is a day I can get up do the dogs a bit earlier and then take the kids to soccer or RC club or whatever. I also occasionally attned Equestrian club days which are also a Sunday, start 9am finish by 12. I have had people get cranky because I am not in the office at specific times they call and I am like well I don't sit there from 7 to 7 just incase someone calls!!! But yes a small business means we get to know your dogs very well there are not large numbers of staff where communication can be easily lost. It also means that we are human and cannot be there 24/7. Yes I have been asked if I sleep at the kennels, and if not who was going to be watching their dog overnightas in, in the kennel building while the dogs slept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simply Grand Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Oooo, well then can you come and sit around while my dogs sleep when I'm out at work?! :) In all seriousness, I think kennels being unattended overnight is not something that occurs to people in general, because we tend to be at home at night with our dogs, so people find it a bit daunting at first to think of their dog alone overnight on the premises. Night time tends to be scarier than daytime in our minds. However in reality most dogs are left unattended in their home environment for hours while people are at work/out doing whatever. And a dog secured in a kennel is likely to actually be safer than in a house or backyard so logically it isn't an actual problem, I think just something we as humans have in our heads. I think it's worth remembering that it may come as a surprise to some people that there won't be someone there monitoring their dog 24/7 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 I am there as in we are home but not sitting in the kennel building and it is a little way away from the house. The other kennel in town is in the industrial area and has no-one onsite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha bet Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Yes our kennels are next to our backyard, about 50m from our house and we can hear if there is any commotion as well as a cct camera to my phone. I can get out of bed and be in the kennels in perhaps 3 minutes. They public don't actually realise how it all works with boarding kennels... I think sometimes people think we have a staff member walking up and down the aisles checking their babies every 10 minutes .... Consider a "major name' Kennel for example in the Industrial area of melbourne near Tullamarine.... they run about 200 or more dogs, charge nearly twice my price, their kennels are about a quarter of the size of mine and dogs only get 10 min out of the run (apparently). I think the public would be surprised to find that there is no one in residence at this location overnight..... yes they probably have a fire alarm system, security patrols checking outside the factory and cct cameras.... but in reality how long would it take staff to be there if there was an emergency. Factories catch fire.... even with sprinklers and security patrols.... it would be 20-30 minutes before staff arrive and try to remove dogs out of a multi storey building... People were horrified that the kennel burnt in SA and dogs died.... this can also happen with a modern kennel built in a factory. Even when people leave their dogs with a Pet Sitter... they do not understand the risks.... It sounds lovely to have your dog staying with a Sitter, but the reality is at someones house or even if at your own... problems happen. People can leave a gate open and dog gets out.... Sitters might go out for dinner and dog gets out... Sitters have friends over and perhaps someone teases your dog and it might bite someones kid.... Your dog might end up having a fight with the Sitters dog.... A storm happens and your fence is blown over and dog gets out..... There are always some issues and it isn't until something happens that the public realise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denali Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I do not think you are being unreasonable at all. I would stick to your chosen rules. i do dog grooming from home and get the same "Oh can i change it to tomorrow? Can i come in a few hours instead? Can i leave her there all day then?" No. If you do, you will ruin my entire day of appointments and create one bit fat mess. I respect and work with the scheduled opening hours, but if I am a long term customer I expect some flexibility occasionally to deal with a delayed flight or such. If I am not a long term customer I would never even ask, but when a kennel I had spent thousands of dollars with over many years refused to let me pick up 15 minutes late with prior warning, I dumped them and took my business elsewhere. I do think that is being unreasonable. I agree. You shouldn't be above the rules just because you are a long term client. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podengo Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. In my experience having spent years working in kennels, the more you give people the more they take and the more they demand. My boss went overseas to see a dying family member and left me in charge of their kennels with just their own animals being boarded there, and ended up taking two more cats belonging to a lady as a very special favour as she was desperate. This lady was the absolute bane of my life, turning up at all hours (we had told her we were closed to the public for the 2 weeks my boss was away) wanting to visit her cats, beeping at the house when I didn't come out and answer the gate, calling my boss on their holiday in the UK swearing about how I wouldn't let her in etc... When she relented I eventually had to schedule a time for her to visit her cats and she stayed for an hour longer than agreed to, and bitched and moaned about how the litter was too deep in the cats litter tray, the sides of the food bowls were too steep and the cats were obviously very unhappy as they weren't running around meowing at her like normal (they were sleeping up on a shelf in the sun and wouldn't come down!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diva Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I respect and work with the scheduled opening hours, but if I am a long term customer I expect some flexibility occasionally to deal with a delayed flight or such. If I am not a long term customer I would never even ask, but when a kennel I had spent thousands of dollars with over many years refused to let me pick up 15 minutes late with prior warning, I dumped them and took my business elsewhere. I do think that is being unreasonable. I agree. You shouldn't be above the rules just because you are a long term client. It is a business relationship, thinking of it as 'above the rules' is a bit childlike. I think the op's position is fine actually, she is showing plenty of understanding and some are trying to push the boundaries, she is right to stay clear on what she can and can't accomodate. In my example, I had worked with that kennel for years, been flexible when they needed it, and they didn't reciprocate when an airline let me down. That is the great thing in a market with some breadth, I got to take my large and regular amount of business elsewhere because they showed no repricocity and offered no reason why not. When they rang to inquire sweetly why they hadn't had my dogs for a few months I told them and they were shocked and claimed it would never have happened, they were still there for an hour after closing and for such a good client 15 minutes was nothing blah blah blah. Too late, I had found another business with better service. I seldom need to board these days, but I still use the second place when I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denali Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I respect and work with the scheduled opening hours, but if I am a long term customer I expect some flexibility occasionally to deal with a delayed flight or such. If I am not a long term customer I would never even ask, but when a kennel I had spent thousands of dollars with over many years refused to let me pick up 15 minutes late with prior warning, I dumped them and took my business elsewhere. I do think that is being unreasonable. I agree. You shouldn't be above the rules just because you are a long term client. It is a business relationship, thinking of it as 'above the rules' is a bit childlike. I think the op's position is fine actually, she is showing plenty of understanding and some are trying to push the boundaries, she is right to stay clear on what she can and can't accomodate. In my example, I had worked with that kennel for years, been flexible when they needed it, and they didn't reciprocate when an airline let me down. That is the great thing in a market with some breadth, I got to take my large and regular amount of business elsewhere because they showed no repricocity and offered no reason why not. When they rang to inquire sweetly why they hadn't had my dogs for a few months I told them and they were shocked and claimed it would never have happened, they were still there for an hour after closing and for such a good client 15 minutes was nothing blah blah blah. Too late, I had found another business with better service. I seldom need to board these days, but I still use the second place when I do. Yes, i agree that it is a business relationship, but the rules are in place for a reason.. usually many good reasons actually. It just takes one time, you offer leniency and then they are pushing for it next time- and the amount you go out of your way just increases. In the end it ends in disaster/unhappiness. And ive found its the long term clients who are the worst for this! Not saying thats what you would do at all- but many others would. If the second place has better service perhaps it all worked out for the better anyways! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I do not think you are being unreasonable at all. I would stick to your chosen rules. i do dog grooming from home and get the same "Oh can i change it to tomorrow? Can i come in a few hours instead? Can i leave her there all day then?" No. If you do, you will ruin my entire day of appointments and create one bit fat mess. I respect and work with the scheduled opening hours, but if I am a long term customer I expect some flexibility occasionally to deal with a delayed flight or such. If I am not a long term customer I would never even ask, but when a kennel I had spent thousands of dollars with over many years refused to let me pick up 15 minutes late with prior warning, I dumped them and took my business elsewhere. I do think that is being unreasonable. I agree. You shouldn't be above the rules just because you are a long term client. Just to clarify I think in this case the kennel was being unreasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denali Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I do not think you are being unreasonable at all. I would stick to your chosen rules. i do dog grooming from home and get the same "Oh can i change it to tomorrow? Can i come in a few hours instead? Can i leave her there all day then?" No. If you do, you will ruin my entire day of appointments and create one bit fat mess. I respect and work with the scheduled opening hours, but if I am a long term customer I expect some flexibility occasionally to deal with a delayed flight or such. If I am not a long term customer I would never even ask, but when a kennel I had spent thousands of dollars with over many years refused to let me pick up 15 minutes late with prior warning, I dumped them and took my business elsewhere. I do think that is being unreasonable. I agree. You shouldn't be above the rules just because you are a long term client. Just to clarify I think in this case the kennel was being unreasonable. I see. I feel the opposite. I guess its many years of people taking advantage of my kindness that has left me bitter and unbending from the rules now IMO, rules are rules. Eg. the daycare near me charges $1.50 per minute if you are late to pick up your kid at the end of the day. So many times now i have thought of implementing something like that for my salon because i have had to change my plans to fit around someone else picking up or dropping off their dog at a different than agreed time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Not unreasonable at all. The last kennels we had, the phone went to an answer phone about 1/2 an hour after closing time. The message on the phone very clearly stated the opening hours. Once a week, at the very least!. I'd have someone leave a message that they'd drop Fluffy off at xxx pm the next day, and xxx was always outside the open hours they'd just been told on the answer phone message The previous kennels we had a client who would book in from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon every single weekend in summer, they went to their apartment at the beach. Three Sunday's in a row they phoned to say their car had broken down and they would be "about an hour late". The first time I let them do it, the second time I charged them for the Sunday night (we charged by the night in those days), the third time I said we were closed and they would have to come on Monday morning. They booked their dog in Saturday am to Monday am for the rest of the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 We had one regular who started showing 15 mins late... the first 2 times was ok.. then it was 30 mins and so on. We always had 2 staff on site, so if he was going to be late he got charged 2 x what an hour of pay would be, if they wanted any longer it got higher... it was actually cheaper for them to pick the dog up the next day... but they still did it! Now i work in retail the same customer used to come in and try the same thing! show up at 5 mins to close, hang around 30 mins to an hour and leave... I asked them what time they finished their work and they said 4pm.. they just rather shop as late as possible to avoid annoying customers.... I told them the next time that we had gone to Auto alarms for the shop, that at 15 mins past the hour they turned on themselves and would couldnt stop it, he now shops in normal business hours and has never tried it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakita Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 If I'm not sure if I can get Ernie out of his regular kennel within hours - I book him for an extra day. Sucks but um, dem's the rules. I've dropped him off the night before as well. I don't think you are being unreasonable. I think very much like Stressmagnet. We kennelled our girl once and never even thought/ considered to drop off or pick up out of the stated hours. We dropped her off a day early as we couldn't get there at drop off time plus it gave her more time to settle in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) The few difficult clients are the worst part about running a boarding kennel. Far worse than picking up poohs. Another way to handle the 'outside of hours' problem is simply add, and make public, a hefty charge for after hours pickup . . . as many vets do for after-hours emergencies. If someone has a good cause and no money, you can always make an exception (and thereby appear as generous). But it's surprising how willing people are to do a schedule work-around to save $100! Edited June 9, 2015 by sandgrubber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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