2021 Newsletter
Dear Valued Customer,
This is our first newsletter since 2019. If you no longer wish to receive our newsletters, please unsubscribe at the bottom of this message or just let us know.
As 2019 progressed we communicated with our customers by newsletter on several occasions. Most of these newsletters dealt with customer service issues arising from our growth. These problems included over booking, arrivals without reservations, over-crowding and increased demand for services exceeding our fixed capacity.
2019 was a year where we had to learn how to manage our capacity in an equitable way, recognizing how disappointing it is to deny a reservation request or rescind a daycare reservation.
Accommodating boarding reservations is an economic survival imperative for our business. For this reason, it has always been our policy to limit daycare attendance in periods of high boarding demand. Daycare has always been closed during Holiday periods. There were other periods in the summer of 2019 where we had to cancel forward daycare reservations to accommodate boarding demand.
Coronavirus changed things for 2020. Although we had a strong summer and full holidays, we did not experience the capacity issues we faced in 2019. Even with the pandemic, our customer list has continued to grow, reflecting the growth in housing in our neighborhood.
We are now seeing increased demand for boarding services. As the population gets vaccinated and the pandemic wanes we expect a surge of boarding requests over the summer and fall as people travel again.
We do expect to have to employ capacity management practices in 2021. This will involve limitations on daycare attendance during periods of peak boarding. Limitations on daycare will be communicated directly to customers if and when the need arises.
We do have plans to address capacity constraints. In 2019 we began planning for an expansion of our business. Our request for rezoning has been approved by the City Council and we are preparing plans for permitting. Our plan is to build a new, 3,500 square foot building with 7 synthetic turf yards. Our current facility is 2,000 square feet with 2 synthetic turf yards. When our new facilities open, we expect to have adequate capacity to serve all our customers for the foreseeable future.
We hope to commence construction by May with completion early next year. Construction activity will enter the property via a new, temporary construction entrance off Youngblood Road. Our existing driveway and parking will remain completely accessible during construction.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Vaccinations
All dogs in attendance must have current vaccinations for Rabies, Parvovirus, Distemper and Bordetella. Owners must provide proof of their dog’s current vaccinations prior to admission.
Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday 7AM to 7PM
Saturday and Sunday 9AM to 6PM
We ask early arriving customers not to bring their dogs to the front door until we are open. Our staff needs time prior to open to attend to dogs on their first run outside in the morning and to prepare for arriving dogs that day.
Holidays
Our holiday schedule for 2021 is;
Spring Break 4/1 to 4/11
Memorial Day 5/28 to 6/1
July 4th 7/1 to 7/5
Labor Day 9/3 to 9/7
Thanksgiving 11/23 to 11/29
Christmas 12/22 to 1/3/2022
There is a $6.00 daily surcharge per dog during holiday periods. The daycare program is closed during holiday periods.
Holiday boarding reservations are confirmed by the customer paying a deposit of 50% of the estimated boarding bill approximately 10 days prior to the arrival date. If the customer cancels the reservation after that date the deposit is refundable only if we are able fill the reserved space with another dog.
We are almost full for this Spring Break and expect to operate full during this holiday period. Customers with Spring Break reservations will soon receive an email invoice to pay their deposit which will be due by March 20.
We are encouraged by the growth of households and the dog population in our neighborhood and we are looking forward to expanding our capacity to serve more customers and clients.
Thank you for your business.
Laurel Oak Farm Dog Kennel