For dog boarding facilities, pickup day can be one of the busiest parts of a pet’s stay.
Pets need to be checked out, belongings need to go home with the right pet, invoices need to be finalized, and staff need to make sure any requested services have been completed. When a boarding stay also includes a bath, nail trim, grooming appointment, or another service, there are even more details for your team to keep track of.
That’s where the right dog boarding software can help.
With Kennel Connection, departure services allow boarding and daycare businesses to schedule additional services that take place before a pet heads home. By keeping these services connected to the pet’s existing appointment, your team can have a clearer picture of what needs to happen before pickup.
What Are Departure Services?
Departure services are services provided to a pet before they leave a boarding or daycare stay.
Depending on what your facility offers, these can include:
- Baths
- Grooming
- Nail trims
- Other customizable services
Instead of creating a separate appointment, you can add a departure service to the pet’s boarding or daycare appointment in Kennel Connection. You can select the service, set the price, assign an employee, and enter the appropriate date and departure time.
For example, a pet parent may book a five-day boarding stay for their dog and ask for a bath before pickup. The bath can be added as a departure service to the boarding appointment, giving your team a record of the service that needs to be completed before the dog goes home.
Keep Departure Services Connected to the Stay
One advantage of using dog boarding software for departure services is that the information stays connected to the pet’s appointment.
In Kennel Connection, departure services can appear on the grooming schedule, where they are color coded to distinguish them from regular grooming appointments. The service is also noted on the kennel card, daycare card, and grooming log.
That means staff members in different areas of your facility can see the service that has been requested.
When multiple employees are involved in caring for a pet, having that information available in the system can help reduce the need to rely on handwritten notes, separate calendars, or someone simply remembering what was requested.
Coordinate Services with Pickup Times
Timing matters when a service needs to be completed before a pet goes home.
When you add a departure service in Kennel Connection, the out time can be used to help determine when the grooming appointment should be scheduled. This can help your team plan the service around the pet’s expected departure.
For example, if a dog is scheduled to leave boarding at 2 p.m., the grooming service can be scheduled earlier in the day, so the dog has time to receive their bath before their owner arrives.
Having these details organized in your dog boarding software can make it easier for your team to plan the day and know which pets need additional attention before pickup.
Give Pet Parents More Options During a Boarding Stay
Departure services can also be a convenient way to offer additional services to clients who are already boarding their pets with you.
A pet parent may need to schedule a bath, nail trim, or grooming appointment but not have time for another trip to a separate facility. If your business offers these services, they can be completed during the pet’s existing boarding stay.
That creates a convenient experience for the pet parent and gives your business another opportunity to provide services during a visit that has already been scheduled.
With dog boarding software, these services can be incorporated into the pet’s existing reservation rather than requiring your staff to manage them as separate processes.
Help Your Team Stay on the Same Page
Communication becomes increasingly important as a pet care business gets busier.
The employee who checks a dog into boarding may not be the same person who provides their bath. A grooming team may need to know when a boarding dog is scheduled to leave, while the boarding team needs to know whether the requested service has been completed.
Keeping those details within your software gives your team a shared reference point.
Kennel Connection also provides a Departure Services report through its Boarding and Daycare reporting options, giving your team another way to keep track of these services.
The goal isn’t to add more steps to your team’s day. It’s to make the information they need easier to find.
Make the End of the Stay Part of the Experience
A pet’s boarding experience doesn’t end until they head home.
The final few hours of a stay can be an important part of the overall client experience. When a dog goes home clean, freshly groomed, or with another requested service completed, it can be a convenient way to wrap up their visit.
For your team, having those services documented alongside the boarding appointment can make it easier to understand what needs to happen before pickup.
This is one of the ways dog boarding software can support more than reservations and check-ins. It can help connect the different services that take place throughout a pet’s stay and give your team a clearer view of the entire appointment.
Simplify the Last Step of a Dog’s Stay
Departure services may be just one part of managing a boarding facility, but they can have a practical impact on how your team handles busy pickup days.
By connecting baths, grooming, nail trims, and other services to a pet’s boarding or daycare appointment, Kennel Connection helps keep those details organized and visible to the team members who need them.
