Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon reserves the right to charge 100% of the grooming fee for any missed appointments, or appointments that are cancelled within 24 hours. If the appointment is rebooked, we reserve the right to charge a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the groom price upfront to secure the appointment.  If more than 2 appointments are missed, there will be a termination of your contract with us and you will be removed from our customer list.  Bark ‘n’ Bathe understands that life happens and sometimes cancellations are unavoidable, but please give us a much notice as possible if you need to cancel or reschedule so we can offer your appointment to someone else.

Your appointment time is held for 15 minutes from the start time, if you are running late please contact the salon to advise.  If you are to be more than 15 minutes after your appointment has started, it is classed as late and your appointment may have to be cancelled or rescheduled to the next available date. Please understand that when you are late, it effects our ability to offer the high quality of service that we pride ourselves on and impacts the remainder of our day.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon do not offer holding facilities for dogs.  On arrival you will be advised of the collection time and if you are late to collect your dog, it hugely impacts the appointments for other customers that day.  We offer a 15-minute grace period for collection, once this time has elapsed, we reserve the right to charge £5 late collection fee and charge £5 every 15 minutes after this time for pet-sitting services.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon believes in humanity over vanity therefore we will not demat your dog if it is deemed too bad. Pets with severely matted coats need extra attention. Mats in a pet’s coat grow tight, and carry huge health implications including skin tearing, sores, and skin infections. Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon will not risk serious injury or undue stress to your pet by de-matting. Any matting will be removed via clipping to ensure as little pain and stress for your pet as possible.

When necessary, removing a heavily matted coat includes risks of nicks, clipper burn, cuts or abrasions due to warts, moles or skin folds trapped in the mats. Heavy matting can also trap moisture and urine near your pet’s skin allowing bacteria to grow, causing skin irritations which are exposed during the grooming process. In worst case scenarios, torn skin from mats can even harbour maggots. After effects of mat removal can include itchiness, redness, self-inflicted irritations or abrasions and in some cases, failure of the hair to regrow. Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon will provide an aftercare guide. Pets that are shaved are also prone to sunburn and should either have sunscreen applied daily or should be kept out of the sun until the hair grows sufficiently to protect the skin. In some cases, your pet may also exhibit brief behavioural changes such as hiding away, becoming timid or over sensitive. These changes will fade quickly, and our best advice is to continue treating your dog as normal and do not overreact to their severe haircut, this shows them that everything is ok and they will come round quicker.

Booking regular grooming appointments is the best defence against matting becoming a regular occurrence. You will be advised what schedule you should have your dog on to ensure the best care of their coat is achieved. We also offer short appointments to educate owners on home grooming techniques and can recommend the best, affordable, equipment to ensure that the dog is receiving the best chance at staying mat free. Please enquire via salon for more information on these sessions.

If the matting of your dog’s coat has been extensive, there will be an additional fee added to your groom price. This will range from an additional 50-100% of the groom price depending on the extent of the matting. Dematting dogs with our equipment, clippers and scissors, damages the blades, blunting them quicker and requiring us to have them sharpened to use them again safely for our other customers, this damage is taken into consideration when the additional fees are calculated.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon may take photos and/or videos of your dog while they are in the salon and use them, and possibly your dog’s name, on their social media accounts and/or for promotional, marketing or advertising purposes. Please let us know if you would prefer not to have your dog on our social media outlets.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon has the right to refuse service for any reason we deem reasonable, if we do not feel we can safely groom your dog without causing a danger to itself, the groomer or students. Grooming may be stopped mid groom if we feel there is danger to your pet or our groomer, grooming fees may still apply.

We will NOT tolerate any abusive or violent behaviour from customers towards our groomers or students, and any such behaviour will result in an instant refusal and ban of service.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon will not necessarily deny your dog a groom if it is aggressive. We understand that most dogs are aggressive through fear and if we can work with them to alleviate these fears and safely groom them, we will do so.

It is important you inform us when booking in about any behavioural issues your dog may have, including, but not limited to, aggression towards people, dogs, any previous incidents, previous groomer experiences and bite history (if there is one) so we can implement strategies to reduce stress and precautionary measures can be taken to reduce the risk of injury to your dog, our students and the groomer.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon reserve the right to refuse a groom if we do not feel comfortable after meeting the dog. If the dog is in desperate need of a groom for welfare purposes, we may allow you to stay if we feel the dog is too much for us to handle safely but we will not progress (no matter how far the groom has gone) if the dog becomes too agitated and more aggressive.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon does not provide muzzles in the salon. If your dog requires a muzzle for grooming, this must be provided by you, and your dog must be trained and comfortable with wearing the muzzle for the duration of the groom. Depending on behaviour, you may be asked to fit the muzzle before you leave the dog in our care. If the dog is too aggressive and becomes dangerous, we will halt the groom, and they will need to be collected immediately to prevent further stress or aggression.

If your pet should badly bite, scratch or injure the groomer or any students, due to not informing us of any behavioural issues, the owner agrees responsibility for any/ all related medical bills, recovery costs, loss of income and equipment damage. A £50 fee will be charged on top of the full groom cost (no matter how far along) if any of the above occurs due to misinformation.

When grooming, there is always the possibility an accident could occur. Grooming equipment is very sharp, please be assured we use extreme caution and care in all situations at Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon, but sometimes accidents do happen. Possible problems that could occur include cuts, nicks, scratches and quicking of the nails (clipping nail too short catching the quick leading to bleeding). In most cases this can happen when a pet is wiggling, moving around or displaying aggression.

We make every effort to ensure your pet is groomed as safely as possible, but if your pet does not accept the process, it can be dangerous to continue the groom, and we reserve the right to stop the groom if it is unsafe for your pet. Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon uses Leucillin spray, Johnsons Antibacterial Powder for dogs, cats and small animals and Trimmex powder to clot blood on any accidental quick cuts on the nails.

Erin is trained in pet first aid and we have a pet first aid kit in the salon. If a serious accident occurs while your dog is in our care, we will stop the groom immediately, contact the local vet (Thrums Scone) and contact the owner with an update.

By using our services, owners verify their pets are up to date with vaccinations. Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon reserves the right to ask for proof of vaccinations if we have reason to believe otherwise. Please be mindful that diseases, such as kennel cough, caused from not vaccinating can be extremely contagious to other pets and in some cases can kill. Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon wants to provide the safest possible environment for your pet to be groomed in, so please ensure you do not put others at risk.

Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon strives to be a flea/tick-free salon. If your pet has a known flea or tick infestation, we will ask that you reschedule your grooming appointment once the flea or tick problem is under control. Pets with a flea or tick infestation carry a risk of anaemia, infections, and other health problems. If fleas are found on your dog whilst in the salon, we will bathe your dog in a flea shampoo. Due to the nature of flea infestations spreading rapidly, we will have treat the salon resulting in cancelling the remainder of our day; this will incur a £50 charge onto your grooming bill (even if the groom isn’t completed it will still be charged on top of the full groom price). Your dog will be wet on its return to you.

We recommend that you contact your veterinarian for advice on the best treatment for your situation. A topical monthly flea preventative may be the most effective choice. Treating all pets in the family, as well as treating your home will help in keeping fleas and ticks under control for the long term.

Pregnant dogs will not be accepted for grooming at Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon. Please advise us if you think your dog may be pregnant so we can cancel or reschedule until it is confirmed if she is/isn’t pregnant.

Nursing bitches will also not be groomed at Bark ‘n’ Bathe Grooming Salon. Grooming a nursing bitch will remove or alter her scent leading to puppies refusing to feed.