Enrollment Process
To ensure that each Bark-A-Bout guest is healthy and will be happy in our social environment, as well as to insure the well-being of all our clients, we require that each pet go through our Enrollment Process. This process enables us to acquaint ourselves with your dog and understand which services would be most beneficial.
The Enrollment Process consists of fulfilling the requirements listed on the Requirements List and completing the Meet - N- Greet.
Requirements List for all guests:
- Completed Application and Care Form
- Non-aggressive behavior
- All dogs must be brought into our facility on a collar and leash- NO retractable leashes are permitted.
- Free from parasites (fleas and tics). All dogs are inspected upon entry into the facility. If parasites are found they will be flea bathed and dipped at an additional cost to you.
- Must be in good condition of health (No coughing, vomiting, diarrhea 48 hours prior to arrival at the facility)
- Signed Client Agreement - Clients will sign a liability waiver and certify that their pet has not harmed, nor shown threatening aggressive behavior toward, any person or animal.
- Signed House Rules agreement.
- Vaccinations - All dogs must be current on all
the following:
- DHLPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus) – Current within one year
- Bordetella– Intranasal-good for up to 6 months. Injectable-good for up to 1 year
- Fecal exam– Current within one year
- Rabies. – Current within one year
Proof of vaccinations will need to be provided to our front desk staff prior to your pet's check-in.
*Important*
It is
important that your
dog receive his Canine Cough/Bordetella vaccination at least two weeks
prior to their stay. A Canine Cough vaccination is much like the flu
shot for a human in that, after vaccination, there is the possibility
that the dog will contract a mild form of the strain. As a result, your
dog may be contagious for two weeks after vaccination. To read more
about Canine Cough and the vaccination issues, please read
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_kennel_cough.html.
Meet - N- Greet
We respectfully require each dog to go through a Meet - N- Greet so as to determine program placement and enrollment eligibility. It is important for us to insure that we’re not accepting an aggressive or anti-social dog into our daycare packs. The Meet - N- Greet takes between 15 to 20 minutes to complete; however you would not need to stay the entire time. Your involvement is needed for about the first 10 minutes.
Step #1 - We begin by meeting with you and your dog as we go over your dog's completed Application Profile.
Step #2 - We evaluate your dog without you present. We would like for you to stay on sight in the viewing lounge during this time when we bring your dog into our meeting room. In this meeting room, we interact one-on-one with your dog. This step consists of observing posture signs, noting reactions to objects, situations, and light obedience commands, and doing some husbandry handling.
Step #3 – In this step, we attentively bring other dogs into the meeting room - one at a time - in order to observe the response/play style of your dog. The observation process of Step #3 is similar to that of Step #2; however, this time it is with other dogs present. Being able to positively interact with other dogs gives your dog PlayGroup Certified status. Upon your dog successfully completing this last step in the enrollment process, we would love to introduce your dog to the other PlayGroup packs for the next few hours (complimentary visit). If your dog does not meet our PlayGroup Program Requirements we will discuss alternative appropriate programs for your dog, such as a one-on-one play program.
If you decide to enroll your dog in a PlayGroup Program, Bark-A-Bout requests a one day per week commitment. This provides a safe structure to the PlayGroups. Re-introducing dogs to the "regular packs" proves to be very challenging and stressful for some dogs, just like sending a child off to a new school for the first time. Dogs need structure in their lives. Dogs not attending daycare PlayGroups for an extended period of time will need to be reevaluated and then re-introduced to a PlayGroup.
*Important Note*: The evaluation is not a guarantee. A dog’s behavior may change as the dog adjusts to a new environment. All new dogs are subject to a trial period. A daycare package may only be purchased after a dog has successfully completed a trial period. A trial period consists of 5 daycare visits.