Car park full, reception full
Your drop-off hours are 8 to 11 and 3 to 5. On the first Saturday of the holidays it feels as if everyone arrives at five past eight. The car park fills, owners queue out of the door with excited dogs, two dogs take a dislike to each other in reception, and staff who should be settling new arrivals are stuck at the desk checking cards and taking payments.
Collections are the same. Families landing on an early flight turn up at opening time, all at once, and each wants a quick chat about how their dog got on.
Opening hours are not a schedule
Most kennels offer drop-off and collection windows rather than appointments, because appointments sound like more admin. But a window with no limit means the arrivals bunch up, and nothing in the booking tells you who is coming when.
- Owners pick the first available time out of habit or to beat the traffic.
- Staff cannot plan who is needed on the desk and who on the runs.
- Collections are not prepared in order, so dogs are fetched while owners wait.
- Balances, belongings and medicine are gathered on the spot.
- Late arrivals outside the window are handled by phone, one by one.
What the rush costs
Changeover days are when mistakes happen: the wrong bag of food goes home, medication is left in the kitchen fridge, a lead is lost. Reception is also where dogs are most likely to clash, which is a welfare and safety concern for your staff and customers.
For owners, the first and last impressions of their stay are a queue. That shapes how they remember you more than the week in between.
Arrival and collection slots, with limits you set
We add slots to the booking itself so arrivals are spread and staff know what is coming.
- When an owner books, or later from a link in the confirmation, they choose an arrival slot and a collection slot. You decide the slot length and how many dogs or cats per slot.
- Slots fill up visibly, so owners naturally spread out. Busy slots show as full, not hidden.
- The day before, owners get a reminder with their slot, what to bring and the balance due, with a link to pay in advance.
- Staff see a timed arrivals and collections list. Collections are prepared before the slot: dog groomed if booked, belongings bagged, medication record printed.
- Owners running late use a link to move their slot, and the list updates.
| Before slots | With slots |
|---|---|
| Everyone arrives at opening time | Arrivals spread through the window |
| Staffing guessed | Desk cover planned from the list |
| Collections fetched while owners wait | Dogs ready before the slot |
| Balance taken at the desk | Often paid in advance from the reminder |
Slots can be flexible: you can allow owners to arrive anytime within a longer window for quieter days and switch to limited slots only on peak changeover days.
A Saturday you can staff for
On Friday afternoon you can see that ten dogs arrive in the first hour, eight in the second and four in the third. You put two on the desk until ten, then move one back to the runs. Collections for the early flights are ready in the collection area, each with its bag, its medication sheet and its balance already paid.
Does this describe your changeover day?
- Drop-offs and collections all happen at opening time.
- You cannot tell in advance how busy reception will be.
- Belongings or medication have gone home with the wrong family or not at all.
- Dogs have clashed in reception during busy periods.
- Owners wait while their dog is fetched and their bill is worked out.