dog boarding

We are based in the rural outskirts of Billingsurst, West Sussex and licensed with Horsham District Council to offer home dog boarding and day care services.

​We provide home dog boarding services for small to medium sized dogs for holidays and those times when you are unable to look after your dog.
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Our visitors can enjoy as much peace and quiet or as much fun and play as they like when they stay with our family in the rural outskirts of Billingshurst.

It is important that our visitors like family life and are good with other dogs and children.  We have lots of space here and dogs have plenty of choice at all times as to how much interaction they want with everyone else .  All interactions with children or other dogs will be supervised.

Dogs enjoy our secure fields for off lead exercise and enrichment and they also have plenty of time to play or relax in our garden.
We are lucky to have lots of trees which provide plenty of cool space for evening potters when the weather is hot.
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​The sand school, yard and barn are good places for dogs to play and exercise in bad weather and for little dogs, there really is plenty of space to play in our home.
Whether you have an elderly dog who likes a potter or a lively character who loves to play, we will ensure they have a happy time at Cottage Farm.
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new Intake procedures

For license compliance, all new intake must be assessed as suitable for being boarded within our setting so that we can ensure both safety and high standards of welfare.  In addition to a prior meet and greet, dogs must attend a suitable and minimum of 24hour trial period before they be accepted for a stay of more than three nights.  

Due to recent changes of policy within our licensing district, it is now the case for license holders, that in order to meet higher standards, trial nights can only occur when there are no other dogs on the property.

There are two possible issues with the change. Firstly that the trial night will not be entirely representative of what the setting is like when other dogs are staying here. The other is that like many other borders, I do not have many days aside from my holidays where I am not working. This means I will lack opportunity to offer trial nights or accept new clients.

It is also true that for stays of three nights or less that there is no requirement for a trial night and therefore a dog could be accepted into a home boarding setting after a successful meet and greet for a short stay. After a successful short stay a dog can be subsequently booked in for longer stays.

Going forward I must manage the intake process in a manner that allows me to be compliant and also to make sure we are able to assess each dog's suitability. As well as ensuring safety for all dogs, we also want to make sure all visitors feel safe, relaxed and happy when they come to stay with us - it is their holiday too!  Additionally, our clients want to be confident that their dogs will love their holiday - long before they set off for theirs!

1: All new intake will start with a meet and greet. If this is successful we will then progress to a trial night/period and this can be done in two different ways:

2: If I have a day without any bookings I will offer it to you for an obligatory trial night. Bear in mind that the new conditions for trial nights do not allow me to assess whether your dog will be happy in our more typical setting with potentially 3/4/5 dogs on site. For this reason, if I do not know your dog well, I would also invite you to bring your dog for an additional day care or morning after a successful trial night.

3: If I am unable to provide a trial night on a day when I do not have bookings and within the time you need to secure dates I might consider offering your dog a two night stay. Your dog would join us during a time when we are operating in a more typical/realistic manner. Provided that is successful you would then be able to make your booking without any further assessments.  

I do charge for trial nights at a rate of £30 per night. An additional trial day would be charged at £20.

Terms

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING TERMS & CONDITIONS

Dogs must be up to date with vaccinations and all parasite control. PLEASE BRING VACCINATION CERTIFICATES WITH YOU.  We are obliged by the council to keep an up-to-date photographic record of all vaccinations.

In most cases we will only accept neutered dogs but there are occasions where we might be able to help - this will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

DROP OFF AND COLLECTION
I will be flexible about drop off and collection times where possible.  Holiday boarding is classed as per each night with collection on the final day by 10am.  If you are later to collect than midday an additional day care charge will be made.

FOOD 
Food is not included and you should bring the food that your dog is accustomed to eating.

PAYMENT
A 50% deposit/place holding fee is due at the time of booking in order to confirm your place.  The 50% deposit/holding fee is non-refundable under any circumstances.
The remaining balance is due in entirety the day before the drop off date.
Should you return early from your holiday and choose to collect your dog early, there will be no refund for any remaining days.
Payment may be made by cash or bank transfer.

Prices

Holiday Boarding
For bookings ranging from a single night to longer stays:
1 Dog - £30 per night
2 Dogs from same home - £50 per night
3 Dogs from same home - £60 per night
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​​Day Care
I can provide day care, the drop and collection time suggestions work around my school run and provide two options for a shorter or longer day depending on your needs.  If you require different times it is always worth asking me.
8am or 9.30am - 3pm/4.30pm: £20
8am or 9.30am - 5/6pm: £25

More than one dog from the same family for day care? £5 discount off above prices for second and third dogs.

Seasonal Price Increases
The following days will incur an additional fee of £20 per dog:
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.
No pick up/drop off on December 24th, 25th or 26th

Add-ons
Collection after 10am -  additional day care rate as above depending on whether you have one or more dogs - I tend to provide some grace up until midday.
​30min 121 Obedience training session - £20
Bath, blow dry and groom - £20
Quick brush over for dogs whose coats are matt free and clean but need a daily quick brush over - £3 per day
Administering medication such as pills or eye drops - £3 per day