14/05/2020
I will be messaging this to all my customers later today individually but this is my latest announcement
Hello everyone,
ALERT – LONGGGGG message
I hope you, your family, friends and all your lovely pets are keeping well still.
Following the latest Government announcement on Sunday night, I have taken the decision to remain closed for now.
Before I start this diatribe I’d like to say that if you are desperate, then there are several local groomers reopening now, PLEASE do not feel obliged to wait for me if your dog is in discomfort and needs groomed sooner than I can offer.
Ok my reasons:-
• There are certain measures I need to put in place such as how to manage
2 metre social distancing , hygiene/ disinfecting, payments etc properly and keep myself, my family and every client safe.
• At the moment I’m struggling to get my head around the fact that we can’t visit family and friends unless we remain 2 metres apart yet somehow it’s ok for people to come to my house and hand me their dogs safely.
• If England can manage to do the right thing in the next few weeks then I will reconsider for June
• BUT even then the number of dogs I can groom on my own will be decreased per day. My time for each dog will be increased in order to be able to disinfect the salon, all equipment, leads, handles etc appropriately between dogs.
• Another reason the number of dogs will decrease is because, during these weeks of not working, I have realised that my back, shoulders, wrists etc issues have alleviated somewhat and I feel physically less ancient and I’m loathe to go back to that feeling.
• My own dogs have become used to spending more time with me and have become increasingly clingy. My poodle, my princess, especially is suffering as she dislocated her hip four weeks ago and I have to pick her up to stop her running around or getting reinjured from our big dog and I basically am stressed about her redislocating it again.
• “IN THE RUSH TO RETURN TO NORMAL, USE THIS TIME TO CONSIDER WHICH PARTS OF NORMAL ARE WORTH RUSHING BACK TO”
Going forward:-
I have a list of everyone whose appointment has been cancelled. You will not need to do anything as I will get in contact with you once I have a planned opening date.
When that time comes, I will however prioritise dogs who will be more desperate than others
I will try to group dogs together in relation to welfare risk/priority. All wool coated breeds especially Poodle crosses, will be classified as a higher risk.
Those that have waited the longest for an appointment will be classed as highest priority within their group.
This will also apply to dogs with medical issues or whose coats are more likely to cause them a welfare issue.
This seems the fairest way of rebooking when the time comes and I hope you all will understand and agree.
When I do reopen, I will be operating a strict social distancing policy and will ask that all clients adhere to this. Details will be provided nearer the time.
If you need advice on how to maintain your dogs coat then please get in touch
I appreciate your patience and understanding
Keep brushing and combing
Stay safe
Xx
