The death of a pet is hard on any owner. Make it a part of your customer service plan to prepare for this situation because it’s inevitable and you don’t want to be caught off guard. It’s not easy to know what to say or do when one of your clients is grieving over a pet, but all of your customers will appreciate your time, comfort, and support through this hard time.

Our own ways of mourning tend to seep into the ways we help our clients deal with death and grief, but you will be a better support system for any client if you understand that people grieve in different ways. There is no “right” way to express emotion because everyone is affected by their own experiences, cultural backgrounds, and religious beliefs.

Here are a few things you can do to comfort your client to the best of your ability:

1. Validate their grief. Non-pet owner friends and family may make your customers feel as if they are overreacting in being emotional over a lost pet. Let them know that you understand how important their pet was to them and that you can sympathize as a pet lover and owner.

2. Send a sympathy card that’s personalized and signed by you and your staff. Let them know that you care on a personal level and that they can lean on you for support.

3. Have a tissue box handy at the front desk. This may seem like a small detail, but this minute gesture may be a saving grace for a customer that unexpectedly falls into tears. Available tissues will also reassure them that they are not the only ones who grieve so they don’t have to worry about publicly showing emotion.

4. Provide them with an outlet for their emotions. Let them talk, express anger, and do what feels right to them at that moment. Dealing with grief comes in different stages, so it’s best to be prepared for any ways your customers will act.

“Dogs are people too!” is a commonly heard amongst the canine-loving community. Dogs do feel the same stress response that we humans feel when we are put into uncomfortable situations. When welcoming a new dog, most facilities require a temperament test to see how dogs respond to humans and other dogs. If you find that a dog is skittish about staying the night then you’ll want to make sure you know the basics to easing their discomfort.

Stressed out dogs cause other dogs in close proximity to be stressed out as well. You don’t want one dog’s anxiety to create a domino effect with the rest of the pack. Solving the problem upfront and comforting a dog from the start will nip the problem in the bud before a single dog’s problem turns into a multi-dog one.

Here are a few things you can do to welcome a nervous dog into your facility:

1. Maintain a routine

It may take some extra effort to make sure you follow a dog’s home routine, but you want your business to be a home away from home rather than as temporary storage. Customers are always on the look out for facilities who are flexible enough to pay special attention to their dogs.

At the time of check-in, make it a habit to ask the pet owner for any special instructions such as specific feeding, medicine, nap, and play times that you can note in your kennel software. Recreating a dog’s home schedule will reinforce familiarity and help anxious dogs to adapt better to new surroundings. You’ll also receive reminders to administer medications once you add the dosages into your Pet Health Record. A printable Room Card will also help you keep track of these important feeding and medicinal times. Relieve a pet parent’s burden of guilt by providing an environment that is as close to comfort as a dog can get.

If a dog has a bed or home food that they prefer, especially during an overnight stay, then make a note of it in your PawLoyalty kennel software for your employees to reference later. Don’t be a “one size fits all” facility. Making small adjustments to customize a dog’s stay will prove to customers that you provide genuine care for each dog that comes in.

2. Recommend extra playtime.

Some resorts may be all-inclusive, but we recommend you have “extra playtime” or “cuddle time” as an add-on activity, especially for skittish dogs that need more affection. Some dogs are adverse to anything new and hesitant to adapt. The extra playtime can help them familiarize themselves with your staff and other dogs and allow them to enjoy their stay.

3. Do not reinforce anxious behavior.

It’s not recommend to give a dog a treat when he or she is scared or acting aggressively. Treats are seen as rewards for good behavior, therefore you will only want to give a dog a treat once they have calmed down.

In PawLoyalty kennel software, you can look up a dog’s behavioral habits and social history in the Pet Health Record. On your end, you can add special notes about a dog’s stay or change in behavior to share privately with your staff members or publicly with pet owners so that owners can check in on their dog’s social progress.

4. Distract them with toys and activities.

Take their mind off of their stress levels with a game. If you can get a dog to have fun, they’ll forget about all their worries. Start them off with one-on-one playtime with you. A game of fetch or a Sniff N’ Seek scent exploration activity should do the trick. Gain their trust and then slowly integrate them with the other dogs. Try putting them into a playgroup of dogs preferably with relaxed temperaments, or at least similar size.

As a business owner, you know that your loyal customers are what make your business. You literally could not do it without them. They allow you to do what you love and it is important to make a point to share with them the gratitude you feel.

People like to feel appreciated and and your customers come back because, alongside your amazing services, is a warm and welcoming attitude. Trust is a foundational component to any customer-business owner relationship. No loving pet owner would leave their furry family member in a foreign environment unless they truly believed their pets would be in good hands.

Genuine gratitude through “thank yous” and small gestures of kindness can help to build that trust. This is why we want to stress that it is important to invest in your customers because they will keep coming back and telling their pet owner friends about how wonderful your company is.

Here are a few ideas for ways that you can show your customers appreciation:

1. Customer Appreciation Event

Have a customer appreciation event. Highlight that one of the great joys of working in this industry is the community you create around you. Often the best gift you can give your customers is to allow them to share in that community and meet other like-minded, animal loving people. It could be a "yappy hour" where people come for some appetizers and mingle or it could be a week long event where you give everyone who visits a little something special like a homemade dog treat or polaroid of them and their dog.

2. Hand-written greeting cards

Send out cards and emails during the holidays. Hand-written ones are the best, especially for your regular customers. Bonus: Buy dog treats in bulk and tie them to the cards with ribbon. Written well wishes to the owner and a small gift for their pet is sure to win over your customer!

3. Discount Cards & Family/Friend Referral Specials

Any holiday can be made into something special, especially when you are running a small business, which means you know each and every one of your customers. Run a discount special, like 30% off one night boarding for current customers or 20% off for their family and friends. This will make the current customer feel appreciated, give them an incentive to come back, and give your business a list of prospective clients among their family and friends. Make sure your customers know about your referral program, so that they will have more of an incentive to tell their family and friends about your business. A free daycare or night’s stay for each referral should do the trick! Market any promotion with the PawLoyalty email marketing kennel software feature so you can conveniently send one email blast to all of your current customers.

4. Useful Merchandise

For marketing purposes, you should be thinking of handing out freebies so that loyal customers can tote your logo around. Just make sure you are giving away useful items that won’t just end up in a junk drawer or as a chew toy. A few things might be a tote bag or a water bowl for the dog on-the-go.

The Senior Citizens of the canine world are undoubtedly troopers! But as strong as they are, their fragile states should always be given special attention during their stay.

Vets classify a dog to be a “senior” when he or she is about 7 years old, but depending on the dog’s size, smaller dogs have shorter life spans and their senior years hit a little earlier on.

From alleviating joint pain to administering feedings, seniors need to be prioritized in your daily routine. Here are a few ways to make sure they are happy, feeling at home, and completely comfortable at your facility:

1. Separate them from other dogs.

Most facilities separate dogs through size and temperament. If you haven’t thought to separate senior dogs into their own playgroup, then consider it! As if you were running a care home, keep them in one place away from hyperactive dogs to ease their moods. Have one employee in charge of all senior dogs so that they will receive all the one-on-one attention they need.

2. Give them a comfortable outdoor experience.

While playtime may be at specific times of the day for more active dogs, recommend a purchase of extra playtime to pet owners so that their dogs can combat any joint pain. This is where comfortable flooring is also a necessity, especially outdoor. While concrete is a durable surface, senior dogs may not find it so appealing when they want to lie down on a soft area. But even if you do have concrete floors, you can always tuck blankets and extra cushioning in a shaded area for dogs to relax on.

Go the extra mile by being a doggie masseuse. A massage treatment would be a helpful service to add to your menu. When you massage a dog’s joints, make sure they are lying in a position that won’t strain them. Check on them from time to time to see if they need help to change position or to give one side of their body a break from their weight.

3. Feed them as they would be fed at home.

Try to keep older dogs on their same at-home feeding schedule, as well as with the same type of food. Recommend to your customers that they should bring their own food from home so as not to disrupt their dog’s diet or eating habits. Seniors tend to have more sensitive digestive tracts and can be prone to diarrhea.

Ask pet owners to fill out their pet profiles with diet information in PawLoyalty kennel software. This will allow you to print out a room card with a feeding chart and check off the times the dog was fed and how much food was eaten.

4. Stick to their medication schedule as prescribed.

Being responsible for dozens of dogs at a time can make it difficult to keep to tasks that don’t flow with the regular facility routine, but having a Pet Health Record to keep track of medical information and to send you reminders will be a huge help.

Alongside the feeding, your kennel software will allow you to take note of when you administered the medicine and how much of it was consumed.

5. Be aware of their reduced physical senses.

If a dog cannot see you or hear you, your approach may be surprising, which might cause them to see you as a threat and react aggressively. Hold them gently and let them adapt to your presence before trying to move them. Make noise on your way as a warning so that you don’t startle them. Be patient if they tend to have the attitudes of grumpy old men.

6. Every dog has his time to pass.

If a senior dog passes away during their time at your facility, then make a plan of informing their owners and knowing what you will do with the body for the time being. It’s a disheartening part of having a pet in your care, but accepting it and training your employees on how to deal with death and the deceased pet owners will help. Make it a part of your plan to also remove a deceased pet from your kennel software so that their owners will not continue to receive notifications from your email marketing campaigns.

Throw Us a Bone!

Do you have any insights and tips on care for a senior dog? Share them!

2. Send out Automatic Alerts