Please note, we do ask that all new dogs come in for a trial before booking in a longer boarding stay. Normally a daycare is sufficient for this. If submitting a booking request for a boarding stay, please also book in a daycare trial or contact us for dates that we may have available for a trial otherwise we will contact you to arrange this separately and pop your boarding booking on the waiting list pending a trial.
We can only hold your required dates for 2.5 weeks from the time of your initial enquiry/booking. If a trial has to be delayed due to out of date vaccinations or needing to get the kennel cough vaccination done before coming into us, we cannot guarantee that we will still have those dates available by the time you are ready to bring your dog in for their assessment.
Why do we ask for a trial?
It gives us a chance to meet them and for them to familiarise themselves with us
To see how they settle into our setting and routine
To assess them with other dogs
Check there are no issues with continuous barking, aggression or destructive tendencies
We are currently only taking on dogs who are sociable and you can determine whether your dog will be suitable to come in for a trial using our suitability flowchart (see further down the page).
We will ask for your dog to do a trial daycare before booking in a longer stay, to give us chance to meet them and see how they get on and make sure they will be suitable for overnight boarding. We don’t want to find we are having problems with your dog settling after you have already gone away and the last thing we want to do is cause you stress whilst you’re on your holiday!
We may also suggest some further settling in days on the lead up to a longer boarding stay. This helps to make sure you know your dog will have a fab holiday and that they have already met us and familiarised themselves with our routine. Cat’s are also welcome to do a short settling in stay, however we appreciate most cats aren’t keen on a cat carrier and car journey and they generally take a couple of days to really settle into their space so a trial for cat boarding is not required unless this is something you and your cat would like to do.
Our criteria for dogs
We do require for dogs to be:
- Absolutely 100% with other dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds as they will be expected to run off lead in a large group of other dogs with no issues and show no aggression whatsoever
- Be fully vaccinated including for kennel cough, this is a separate vaccination to their boosters so always double check this (see our dog vaccination schedule for more information on this)
- Male dogs need to be neutered if over the age of 18 months in order to go into our social group (see our neutering guide for more on this policy)
- Female dogs must not be in season- please see our season cycle guide below for when they can come in
Use our suitability flowchart to determine whether Haleswood is the best fit for your dog.
What to expect from a trial
- You will drop your dog off during our morning hours (preferably by about 9:30am)
- We will assess them on their own with us first to make sure they are happy and comfortable in a new situation with new people and no issues being handled
- Your dog will be shown and settled into their room whilst we wait for all of our other guests for that day to arrive, this also gives them chance to decompress and take it all in!
- We will then assess your dog, on lead, with one of our really good, regular dogs and check there is no problems with aggression, dominating, humping or any other issues
- Once we are happy, your dog will be fully introduced to the social group and we will make sure they are happy in a range of situations with dogs of all shapes, sizes and activity levels
- Your dog will also be assessed on how well they settle into their own room and ensure they don’t have problems with separation anxiety, barking or being independent
- When you collect your dog at the end of their day during our afternoon hours, we will feedback to you how they have been and whether we think they will be fine to come to us again in the future