Payments: Amanda Fox accepts Venmo, Ca$h app, Facebook messenger payments, and cash only. Payment is due immediately upon services being rendered and non-refundable deposit may be required at time of booking.
Each dog is done straight through from arrival. Rates are hourly based on the time required to complete your dog based on size, temperament and skin/coat condition. Rates average $90 per hour starting at groomer arrival time (even if you are late billing will begin at your appointment time as that time has been blocked for you and no other clients can be seen during that time) and ending when your dog(s) is/are finished.
State law requires all dogs be up to date on rabies vaccine. All other vaccines are up to your and your veterinarians choices based on your dogs lifestyle and individual risks. Amanda Fox takes cleaning and disinfecting seriously however no cleaning regimen is 100% effective. Amanda Fox is not responsible or liable for any vaccine preventable disease your dog may or may not encounter or contract during their groom.
All dogs should be on flea and tick prevention. Amanda Fox is not responsible for fleas found on your dog after grooming. Furthermore, any dog brought to Amanda Fox with fleas will be subject to a $15 PER DOG FLEA FEE for the treatment of Amanda's equipment (vacuum, bags,etc) and extra time required for cleaning and containment to prevent flea transmission to the next client. $1 PER TICK removal fee also applies for tick removal. If Amanda finds more than 5 ticks on your dog services may be stopped and you will be asked to take your dog to vet for removal and testing for tick-borne illness.
Injury to your pet: Dog Grooming is a tricky job involving living beings that don't always like or understand whats being done to them, and sharp objects. Rarely this can result in injury. In the event your dog sustains a major injury requiring emergency care Amanda will immediately take your dog to your veterinarian or the closest available depending on the urgency of the situation and distance. You will be immediately notified so you can meet Amanda at the vet.
Cancellations: Amanda Fox Requires at least 24 hours notice of cancellation so she has an opportunity to fill your spot. Appointments cancelled without at least 24 hours notice or no notice are nearly impossible to fill and the time your dog/s were schedule was blocked only for you resulting in loss of 1/4 or more of Amanda's income for that day. As such there is a $25/dog fee for last minute cancellations and no call no shows will be required to pay in full for the time scheduled as well as prepay $25 to rebook. Exceptions will be made on a case by case basis for emergencies.
PICK UP: Amanda Schedules a set amount of time for each dog including a small cushion for issues/play/trust building. At scheduling you will be provided with an estimated pickup time, you will be given a time again at drop off and Amanda will text when your dog is done or almost done to verify pickup. ALL DOGS MUST be picked up within 30 minutes of completion to allow the next client to arrive. Amanda does not have the facilities to separate dogs and keep them safe in the event the next appointment is for an aggressive, ill, or parasite infested dog. If you need to pick your dog up later arrangements MUST be made at least 24 HOURS in advance and Amanda will accommodate on a case by case basis if she is able. There is a $10/hour daycare fee for all before and after groom scheduled daycare. A LATE PICKUP FEE OF $30 per hour may be assessed beyond the agreed pick up time if you leave your dog late without agreement. Amanda may also have outside commitments disallowing her to sit at home with your dog beyond the agreed upon pickup time in which case your dog will be crated in a secure room and locked in and you will need to contact her to arrange pickup all fees may still apply at her discretion.
Puppies: 90% of the time Amanda will not do a complete groom on a puppies 1st visit and its very likely your puppy won't look perfect its first couple of grooms. Amanda will do what she can safely each visit and stop when your puppy has had enough. Puppy visits will also be a minimum of 1 hour to allow play breaks and bonding time. Puppies are often scared and confused as to what is happening with all the new sounds, feels and smells. Puppies also have shorter attention spans, higher energy and are often easily distracted. Amanda Fox highly recommends you start your puppy grooming early, as soon as possible in fact. By 8 weeks old when you get your puppy it should have its first round of vaccinations and should be able to be brought in for its first "grooming" appointment. The first appointment usually involves just a basic service of bath, face, feet and fanny trim and nails with exposure to the dryer but not necessarily being blow dried depending on how they react with each future appointment building on the previous until they are able to have several complete grooms without incident. Home care should involve daily brushing and COMBING with a metal comb, handling of their feet regularly and weekly to bi-weekly nail trims if you are able, and "clipper exposure" by running a clipper or electric toothbrush near them rubbing the casing only around their body and head so they get used to it and accept it isn't going to hurt them. The biggest risk with puppy grooming is the face/head puppies are usually pretty tiny and also very fast and flexible not to mention curious rarely this can result in a nicked ear or tongue from a sudden jump while the ear is being trimmed or the curious puppy licking a scissor. Every effort will be made to prevent injury from occurring including stopping the groom session if it seems too risky and discussing with you steps to take at home to get the puppy used to whats being done. In the event of an injury first aid will be done immediately and you will be notified along with suggestions of next steps. 90% of the time Amanda will not do a complete groom on a puppies 1st visit and its very likely your puppy won't look perfect its first couple of grooms. Amanda will do what she can safely each visit and stop when your puppy has had enough. Puppy visits will also be a minimum of 1 hour to allow play breaks and bonding time.
Senior dogs: Senior dogs like senior humans bodies just don't work quite the same as they used to. Stress effects them more than a younger dog, their joints and muscles have been through a lot in their years, and their system doesn't rebound as quickly anymore. Grooming can be a difficult and exhausting experience for a senior dog especially if they have mobility or health issues. Unlike a lot of salons i will never require your senior dog to stand for their entire appointment and will do as much as i can in whatever position is most comfortable for them before asking them to move. Often the kindest thing for your senior dog is to shave them down a couple times a year if they need haircuts to keep the maintenance minimal and just keep them bathed and their nails trimmed between. Nail maintenance is especially important for the senior dog to put less pressure on arthritic joints and maintain the best traction possible. Sometimes it may be necessary to break grooming down into multiple sessions for senior pets to prevent excessive stress bathing and possibly drying one session and doing the haircut a day or two later to give their body time to recover. Excessive stress (whether physical, emotional or both) increases cortisol levels in the body which in turn puts excess strain on the heart and other organs. Amanda wants your senior dogs grooming to be a pleasant relaxing experience not a traumatic stressful one. If your senior dog starts showing signs of excessive stress Amanda will stop the groom immediately and give your dog a break or end the session for the day. Even an uneventful groom will likely make your senior pup more tired than usual for up to 2 days. Senior dogs also have a higher incidence of slower or not regrowth of hair/coat. If you notice your dogs coat not growing back as usual a vet visit for bloodwork to check various systems may be in order and often recommended by Amanda. Less frequent grooming is also often recommended for your senior pup with tidying up the face/feet/fanny and nails in between and baths as needed. Amanda may be able to offer home visits for these quick neaten ups for your senior pup to make it easier on you and them.
NAILS: Nails can be tricky and sometimes the quick has grown out further towards the tip of the nail than it should have. Nails should be trimmed at least once a month and overgrown nails should be filed every 3 days until they are back to the proper length. Sometimes when clipping the nails your dogs quick may be exposed or nicked and bleed a little. If your dog is resistant to having their nails trimmed and jerks their legs/feet a lot it is possible the nail may accidentally be cut back to far into the quick and may bleed a little for up to 24 hours and may be sensitive like when we cut our nails too far back it feels weird. If your dogs nails are accidentally cut too far Amanda will notify you, apply quick stop and provide you with some at home quick stop to apply to the nail tip to stop the bleeding and make a protective seal to prevent infection. Even when filing the nails instead of clipping them the quick is exposed and could get scraped open on pavement or if the dog scratches on things or is very active. Please notify Amanda at arrival if you prefer your dogs nails to be filed and understand filing takes more time and may increase your fee based on the time required for your dog. If you are uncomfortable with the risk of your dogs nails being quicked you are welcome to request not to have your dogs nails done and instead do them yourself or take them to the vet to be done.
Matting and Neglect: Nobody wants to hear they have neglected their dog but unfortunately sometimes life gets crazy and the dogs grooming needs get neglected, it happens. Matting and nail overgrowth make it much more difficult when time comes for a groom for both the dog and the groomer. If you cannot run a comb from skin to the tips of their hair from nose to tip of the tail and ears to toes before you a groom it is matted. Matting is painful for your dog, the tightly tangled hairs pull at the skin every time your dog moves. If your dog spends time outside there is often sticks, leaves and other debris stuck inside these tangles that may be poking your dogs skin. the hair between the paw pads get tangled and trap moisture and dirt and sometimes are so tight it's like having rocks between their pads. A Matted coat doesn't dry as quickly or sometimes at all and traps moisture near and on the skin allowing bacteria, yeast, and parasites to flourish. Matting can often be started by itchiness or pain that the dog scratches at and sometimes breaks the skin with their nails these scratches are then hidden by the tangled coat and get infected. It takes more time to gently and safely cut this matted coat from your dogs skin and once removed these infections and injuries can be revealed. If the matting is super tight to the skin it may have restricted blood flow to the skin(especially the ears) and some of the hair may already have been pulled out leaving bald patches and sometimes causing scrapes and scratches from the clipper blade trying to get under the tight tangles to cut them loose. The sudden release of these restrictive tangles can cause the blood to come rushing to the skin resulting in hematoma and bruising and even bleeding from the ear tips if too much blood rushes back too quickly. Your dog often feels funny after having all that coat removed, they may feel itchy and tingly from the refreshed blood flow to the skin or just not remember what a breeze hitting their skin feels like. They then scratch or lick themselves creating micro abrasions and introducing bacteria to these micro-abrasions causing "hot spots" and gooey sores. Amanda Fox is not responsible for injuries caused to the dog by themselves after matt removal or for underlying injuries and/or conditions revealed by the matt removal. Amanda Fox will not forcefully break up the matting to save the coat on excessively matted dogs as this is painful and traumatic to your dog and Amanda is not in the business of torturing animals. If you bring Amanda your dog in a matted state it will be shaved down and started over in as safe a manner as possible. a high quality conditioner will be used to replenish and soothe the skin and possibly loosen some of the tangles to save what she can depending on the severity of matting. No promises are given or implied to the length of coat saved on any tangled/matted dog. For longer coat length styles Amanda strongly recommends purchasing and using a quality canine conditioning/brushing spray, tougher than tangles long slicker brush, and a metal comb for home maintenance between grooms and maintaning a frequent grooming schedule.
Anal glands: Anal glands are inside every dog and are usually expressed naturally in healthy dogs. Amanda Fox does not provide internal expression of anal glands as that is in the scope of practice for veterinary medicine and and against the law for a groomer to perform. Improper expression of the anal glands can cause damage and even rupture of the anal gland. Amanda Fox is happy to check your dogs anal glands and gently attempt to express them externally if they look like they need it however if they do not express with a gentle squeeze, they are enlarged or hard your will need to take your dog to the vet to have them checked and possibly internally expressed. If your dog is scooting a lot a licensed veterinarian should check them for issues.