Client Intake Terms of Service and Policies

At Faith & Fido Grooming, we value our client's pet(s) and make every attempt to ensure your pet's grooming experience is as safe and enjoyable as possible. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions! You can sign off on the TOS in the Client Intake Form.

These are available on our website to view any time. Clients consent to them in the Client Intake Form and they will be updated yearly. If any changes are made sooner than that, the edit will be sent out for confirmation from the clients. Updated forms need to be received every year by March 1.

Accidents and Authorization to Seek Veterinary Care in Case of a Medical Emergency

Client is required to provide preferred vet contact information and location. Accidents are rare but they do occur. We are handling sharp tools around moving, feeling creatures. We employ extra caution and care in all cases, however, cuts, nicks, scratches, quicking of nails, and other issues are conceivable. The safety and comfort of your pet/s is our first priority. In the unlikely event that an accident occurs, you will be alerted. There is also possibility of other medical emergencies arising when pets are in a new/less familiar place. 

If we believe the situation is critical and the owner/additional contacts are unavailable in the event of a medical emergency while in our care, this release grants us full authority to seek medical attention from the nearest vet clinic at the owners expense. If the owner is available, arrangements will be made to meet at the vet or for the animal(s) to be picked up by the owner to tak

Allergic Reactions to Grooming Products

You recognize that possibly new grooming products will be used on your dog, to include but not limited to, shampoos, conditioners, de-matting
sprays, etc. If your dog has had any type of allergic reaction to products in the past, ensure you have expressed this to F&F above.

If your dog does have sensitive skin or allergies, I will always advise to use a hypoallergenic shampoo. It is your responsibility to disclose
previous or current skin allergies or irritations.

Vaccines

It is strongly advised that all pets be up to date on vaccinations (distemper/parvo, bordetella, rabies) in order to be provided with grooming services. Not having vaccines can put your dog and our groomer at risk. 

  • Should your pet bite or injure the groomer at any time while in our care, and rabies vaccine has not been administered, you may be held liable on the state level if we need to seek medical treatment.

 

Puppies are most highly expected to have had at least the first round of vaccinations. We sanitize thoroughly between clients and avoid overlap as much as possible. 

If at any time F&F LLC is required to have record of vaccinations, or requests proof for any reason, I will be able to provide that proof. 

You may also go ahead and attach it to the Intake Form.

Ticks & Fleas

We make every effort to be a flea-free environment. As a preventive measure we use exterminator grade spray indoors and outdoors, that are also safe for dogs to be around,  bi monthly and after fleas have been brought in on dogs. 

If your pet has fleas, they will receive a flea bath, especially if you have selected it as ok when providing pet info. It is the fastest preventative measure we can take to protect our HOME and salon space. You will be charged an extra fee depending on size of dog. The fee helps cover cost of flea products used and post-cleaning required to sanitize and properly clean the facility for other clients.

Flea treatment options are: 

  • Capstar/Capaction (+$8 per pet)
  • Flea shampoo (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO PROTECT ALL CLIENTS COMING SAME DAY - price depends on size) - Ask what we have available day of, what we usually have is linked. Bio-groom Wahl
  • Cancel appointment ($25 fee)
  • Use Repel 35 Flea Spray (price depends on size)
  • Flea Dip (only available for dogs under 40lbs and with advanced notice, price depends on size)

 

Services for Dangerous or Aggressive Animals

By the way, Boomer over there is not a dangerous or aggressive dog, unless it's aggressively loving!

Muzzles, Cones and Restraints May Be Used

If your pet is too agitated or becomes unsafe to groom, we reserve the right to refuse any additional service before, during, or after grooming, and the client will be charged a grooming fee for what was done up until that point. If the groom was completed, an additional charge may be added to the final total to reflect the extra time and precaution required to get done. (Up to +$35 an hour)

We don't muzzle unless your pet specifically requires it. Other techniques of calming your pet are explored first, and muzzling is only used as a last resort.

Other restraints used are basic grooming tools, such as the groomer's helper, groom loop, hammock, and padded belly strap. Any of these items can be shown to the owner on request, and are only used the length of time necessary to help the groom be completed.

Muzzling or coning your pet is harmless, and it protects both the pet and the groomer should the animal be scared or have behavioral issues. Muzzling a scared animal can sometimes even calm it down, allowing the grooming process to continue.

Payment

Payment is due at pickup. If you are unable to pick up and an alternate is coming, please pay in advance or ensure they have the ability to pay the fee in full. We accept credit, debit, check, cash, zelle, and cashapp.

While we have a payment link option as well, use of this service will cost an additional $5 due to extra fees incurred to the business.

Tipping groom service:

Tips are never expected but always appreciated.  If paying by card, you may add a tip prior to tapping/inserting card into reader.

If paying via link and wish to digitally tip, you will need to notify F&F of this upon paylink request with the exact tip amount prior to the link being created. It cannot be added by the client at time of payment.

Gentle, Rush-free Environment

F & F is a gentle, compassionate salon. We do not rush grooms or push the dog beyond their threshold. 

The first groom is usually longer than future grooms, so that we can get familiar with each other and the pet can sniff the yard and room, sit with me on the floor, and gain some trust and confidence.

We give a time quote. If it seems it will take longer than quoted, we can either proceed with the groom,  pause and finish the groom within the next 7 days, or just call the groom done till the next visit. The groomer will update you if there is some difficulty.

If the dog is only stuggling with one or two parts of the groom, like nail trims, or brushing, or the sound of the clipper, we recommend scheduling the dog for a mid-point touch up session, brush out, or nail trim so that we can do some desensitization exercises to help your pet become more comfortable with what they are struggling with.

We take pride in the care we give our clients. We will not push to complete a groom when the dog is beyond stressed and doing so would become dangerous for pet and groomer. It's better to pause and return in a few days, wait till the next groom or mid-appointment point for a touch up session, or mutually agreed upon solution between pet parent and groomer that the aspect that sets the pet off will not be performed during a groom session here and that possibly vet/medicated assistance will be sought, or to admit that F&F is just not a good fit.

Arrival Times for Drop off and Pick up

Please arrive promptly for your appointment. We cannot accept clients arriving more than 10 minutes early, and you will be asked to wait until closer to appointment time. 

We have limited holding space. We send a heads up via your preferred method of contact with a time to arrive. Please try to arrive as promptly as possible so we have adequate time to clean up for our next groom clients. Arriving for pick up too early can cause your pet to become distracted and we may not be able to complete the groom. 

If you need us to hold your pet before or after the groom we must know 24hrs minimum in advance - we do not always have an area available to hold your pet safely and securely. This may also incur an additional dayboard fee. Each 30 minutes after the time stated for completion you may be charged an additional $5. This will not exceed the dayboard fee of $25 (plus tax).

F&F is in our home - please do not walk in to pick up or drop off your pet. 

Cancellations/No Shows + Saturday Fees

You will receive a courtesy appointment reminder 1 to 3 days before your appointment. Failure to confirm is equal to cancelation and your appointment may be given to another client.

Our policy is typical to any groom salon / service business - In the event a client cancels with less than 48 hour notice, regardless if the appointment was made weeks or 2 hours in advance, Faith & Fido will require a $20 (or 30% if a bath and tidy service) cancellation fee per pet booked, with an exception on Saturdays which is discussed below. You may have the option to avoid the cancellation fee by rescheduling.

If a client no call no shows or cancels (NCNS) 2 times, you will need to pay a $25 non-refundable fee to get back on the schedule. The NCNS fee does not count as a booking fee and will not be applied to the next appointment, should you make a new appointment. In the event NCNS happens more than 3 times, we will no longer be able to book you.

Saturday bookings are HIGH DEMAND days. If you are a Saturday booking, sufficient notice is IMPERATIVE.

Due to this, the first last minute cancellation on Saturdays will incur a 50% charge of the total groom fee; the second last minute cancellation on Saturdays will incur a 100% charge of the total groom fee, and you will be removed from Saturday as a service day option.

You have several options to pay:

  • A link will be sent to you via email or text message to pay with card (the link incurs a $5 convenience charge)
  • Zelle
  • Cashapp

 

As a small business, not to mention a specialty service serving one at time, each cancellation greatly impacts us and is a loss of income, making it more difficult for us to care for our family's financial needs.

As difficult as it is for us to need to charge these fees, we hope it encourages our clients to be mindful and notify us as soon as possible when they realize they cannot bring their pet in.

What happens if the groomer cancels on you?

Should the groomer cancel on you, a reschedule will be made as soon as possible. This has been a rare occurrence but has happened a few times! Emergencies occur, bad weather strikes, and humans get sick. We will make every effort to not cancel but should it happen and a reschedule is needed, and we are unable to accommodate within 7 days, we may offer a small discount or an upgraded service for the inconvenience.

Interruptions During Grooming Services

It is requested that you do not interrupt the groomer during grooming services. Please do not enter the shop until you have gotten a phone call or text from us informing that your pet is ready. Repeated offenses may result in the groom stopping and the pet being sent home as is, and full price required because we had the dogs appointment made, the service was attempted to be completed, but it became unsafe to continue due to repeated interruption causing the pet distraction. Please contact us if you have any questions or groom direction corrections soon after dropping off – by text is best – but repeated contact cannot be answered for safety reasons.

Satisfaction

Your satisfaction is extremely important to us. If you are dissatisfied with your groom for any reason, please contact us within 48 hours and we will organize a time for you to return for a free adjustment at the next available time within 7 days of the original groom.

Photographs and Videos

Signing this form gives Faith & Fido, LLC permission to take photos and videos of your pet for our client files and for use on our website and social media for transparency with the pet parent to show how your dog acts for grooming, and how the groomer acts towards your pet. It also helps advertise our grooming salon, educate the pet owner and other viewers on how to help with between grooming maintanence, and helps build up a positive reputation. 

Grooms are also recorded for safety purposes and may be reviewed in the event of an emergency occurring while your pet is in our care.

Owners are welcome to provide a microSD card (64GB+ is preferred - 32GB cards stop recording at the 30 min point and have to be restarted so a continuous video flow is much harder to maintain). We can use your card while your pet is in the shop. It will be saved for our records as well, and returned to the owner at pick-up.

Matted policies

Animals with matted coats need special attention and tend to take longer to groom than a non-matted pet. Mats are painful for the animal, and we will not leave mats on a pet that comes to see us. "Humanity over vanity" is our motto. We will not cause your pet any major or unnecessary stress by dematting (using a tool to cut through and brush out mats/pelting).

Why Mats are Serious Business
Mats in an animal's coat can become so tight that they pull at, damage, and tear the skin.
Heavy matting can trap moisture and biological matter on the pet's skin, causing mold, fungus, or bacteria to grow and cause skin irritations. Pelting is matting that covers the majority of parts of the body. This kind of matting is the most painful and difficult to remove from the pet.

Best Practice Solutions
When possible, we will spot shave or mildly demat by brushing out very small patches. “Very small” is relative but usually the size of a marble behind an ear, or a golf ball size bunch on a tail. These kinds of mats are easily hidden by other fur so shaving out is an option.
Pelting cannot be spot shaved.

The best and most comfortable solution for the pet is to be shaved all over, and that is what the owner should expect when there is thick matting over the majority of the dog.

Dematting a large area/areas can actually do more damage than good, breaking and splitting the hair, making it mat faster in the future. A shave down is a full reset to help grow back healthy hair!

Warnings and side effects
Removing a densely matted coat might result in nicks, cuts, or abrasions. Itching, skin redness, self-inflicted irritations or abrasions, and hematomas especially on the ears are all possible side effects of mat removal.
Pets may also experience short behavioral changes in some situations.

Prevention and Defense Against Mats
Grooming visits should be scheduled every 4-8 weeks for the best defense. We offer full grooms but also bath and tidy services, as well as between-groom brush out services. At-home brushing and combing 1-3 times a week is also highly urged. The groomer will be happy to go over how to properly line brush and comb with you.

By checking the box below, you acknowledge that your pet may need to be shaved to remove matting, and that you understand the risks involved.

Matted grooms incur an additional fee because it is time intensive and causes additional wear and tear on grooming equipment. Our time is in demand, and our time is valuable. It is also a skilled task to safely remove the matting, especially when it is more severe.

You have to sign off on the following:

  • I agree and understand that my dog may be shaved due to matting. The groomer has told me of the risks and side effects, and also the causes of matting and how to prevent it in the future.
     

 

Double/Triple Coated Shave Down

It is known that there can be a variety of skin and hair coat care problems that may occur after a complete shave down of a dog, particularly with double/triple coated dogs (like huskys, shepherd, aussie, eskimo, and so on). 

Those problems may be the following but not limited to:

  • Hair growth may stop completely even with a healthy dog
  • “Coat Funk”- the coat may not growing back in the same texture and/or color prior to shaving
  • Matting becomes a bigger possibility than it would be otherwise, meaning consistent brushing habits will still be needed
  • Bald patches when it starts to regrow
  • Hyper pigmentation of the skin- Darkening of the skin where the coat has not grown back
  • Sunburn
  • Loss of Guard Coat aka Top Layer of Coat -  this leaves mostly only undercoat, which is what sheds most. It is soft and fluffy like cotton.
  • Skin issues, damaging the follical and pores, especially if reverse shaving is needed to evenly remove to the desired length.
  • Coat re-growth in different direction (cowlick’s)
  • Clipper shock - this is when a dog is not accustomed to being shaved, resulting in almost neurotic behavior of greatly increased itching, scratching, and biting at themselves because they are feeling sensations they are not used to. This can last a few days to a few weeks. You will need to keep an eye on them and be able to stop them from causing further skin irritation; a cone or other device that will block them off from reaching sensitive areas is advised.

There are times when a double coat shave down is unavoidable, such as medical necessity due to large and multiple hotspots or skin infection, and shaving will allow quicker cleaning and treatment; old age and sanitary reasons, like incontinence or IBS/IBD; or prior and consistent shaving, as once the coat is shaved, proper maintenance may mean shaving can never be discontinued because its more prone to matting and patchy regrowth. 

Knowing that any and all of the above conditions can occur, I, the owner of this pet, authorize Faith & Fido to shave down my double/triple coated pet.
I hold Rachel and Faith & Fido, LLC, harmless of any liability should any of the mentioned conditions occur to my pet at any point after the groom.

I know and understand that after being shaved, if the shave is extremely short, I should apply sunscreen to my dog prior to them going outside for at least the next three weeks to protect them.

 

Sunscreen from Chewy

Sunscreen from Amazon

  • Senior and Medical Dog Release Form

I understand that my pet(s) have medical condition(s) and/or is/are senior(s). I am aware that grooming can cause stress that can exaggerate or expose new problems, or even lead to a serious medical event or death.

I understand there are mental and behavioral changes in senior dogs or dogs with medical conditions, and they are groomed for comfort only and not appearance.

I release Faith & Fido, LLC from any liability should any problem/medical issues occur.

I am solely responsible for any and all medical bills related to my dog, and should an emergency arise, I give permission to Faith & Fido, LLC to seek veterinary care at the nearest veterinary clinic. I understand that Faith & Fido, LLC has the best interest of my pet in mind and will do everything to keep my pet safe.

If Faith & Fido, LLC feels that grooming will be too stressful for my pet, the groom will be stopped immediately and I will be contacted.

Creative Color Release Form

 

Waiver and Release Form Liability for Services at Faith & Fido, LLC

CREATIVE GROOMING/ COLORING RELEASE FORM

I agree to release Faith & Fido, LLC from any responsibility and liability concerning the application, processing and/ or consequences of the permanent chemical procedures that will be applied to my dog(s) hair and consent to have my dog(s) undergo the creative grooming process.

I release and hold Faith & Fido, LLC, and its employees and its agents harmless against any and all liabilities, damages, and/or expenses arising out of or in connection with actions, claims, and/or damages resulting in personal injuries and disabilities (physical and/ or psychological) that I might incur as a result of the chemical altercation through permanent chemical processing of my dog(s) hair.

Creative Grooming

I release, hold harmless, and forever discharge Faith & Fido, LLC, its employees, agents, officers, directors, affiliates, successors, and members from any and all claims, demands, debts, contracts, expenses, cause of action, lawsuits, damages and liabilities, of every kind and nature, whether known or unknown, in law or equity, that I ever have or may have, arise from or in any way related to the services being provided to me by Faith & Fido, LLC provided that this waiver of liability does not apply to any acts of gross negligence, or intentional, willful or wanton misconduct. Said service may include, but are not limited to nail art, ear bling, nail trims, pet facials, hair coloring, hair texture changes, creative grooming products and tools, hair cutting and style as well as removal of matted hair.

I, the below named client requested the service performed by the groomer at Faith & Fido, LLC.

I acknowledge that whenever natural hair color pigment has been dyed or otherwise altered by a client at home or in another salon, color correction may be needed. I acknowledge that the color correction procedure I am having done can be further damaging to my dogs hair.

Faith & Fido, LLC will perform the color correction service with the understanding that the damage occurred to the client's dog hair prior to service performed at Faith & Fido, LLC. Since the hair was previously damaged, color correction may not achieve total satisfaction to the client. In fact, it might take more than one visit to accomplish the desired result. We will try to achieve the results desired to the best of our professional ability.

I understand that additional conditioning treatments may be recommended and/ or necessary for my dogs hair maintenance and that permanent damage to my dogs hair is possible due to the chemical application.

By this waiver, I assume any risk, and take full responsibility and waive any claims of personal injury, death or damage to personal property associated with such services by Faith & Fido, LLC including but not limited to temporary or permanent damage to my dogs hair or unsatisfactory results from the said services being provided to me.

This waiver and release contains the entire agreement between Faith & Fido, LLC and myself, and supersedes any prior written or oral agreements concerning the subject matter of this waiver and release. The provisions of this waiver and release may be waived, altered, amended, or repealed, in whole or in part, only upon the prior written consent of Faith & Fido, LLC. The provision of this waiver and release will continue in full force and effect even after the termination of the service being provided to me, whether by agreement, by operation of law, or otherwise.

I have read, understand and fully agree to the terms of this waiver and release. I understand and confirm that by signing this waiver and release, I have given up considerable future legal rights. All products, equipment and tools used by Faith & Fido, LLC are safe on dogs. All dyes and colors used are non-toxic and vegetable based in our facility. I have signed this agreement freely, voluntarily, under no duress or threat of duress, without inducement, promise or guarantee being communicated to me. My signature is proof of my intention to execute a complete and unconditional waiver and release of all liability to the full extent of the law. I am of legal age or older and mentally competent to enter into this waiver and release.

Summary

Every coat is different and will hold color differently. The color may not show up true to what you or we want or intend. The color may wash out/ fade much faster or may hang on much longer than intended. Colors labeled temporary, semi-permanent, permanent are relative based on the condition of the pet's coat and hair shaft. Every pet has the potential to react to ANY product regardless of past sensitivities. If we notice any reaction during the color processing, we will stop immediately. We are not working on a still canvas. We will attempt any dye job to the best of our ability but we cannot make any guarantees.