General Requirements for Dogs

• Dogs must be up-to-date on their vaccinations, or have a current titer test. Dogs with infectious diseases are not permitted to attend any class for any reason.
• Dogs must be at least 6 months old, preferably over 12 months old (especially for those who lack experience with sports or working dogs). Dogs over 12 years of age need to contact me before enrolling, unless they are already competing in scent work (in every level from Novice through to Ultimate). 
• Dogs must be free from significant cognitive decline (the exception to this is the Scent for Fun class, but dogs must have permission from their vet)
• Dogs must have a good range of motion in their neck, and be free from pain (either naturally or through pain-relief medication). 
• Dogs with a vision impairment who are new to scent work need to contact me before enrolling in a class. 
• Dogs who are prospective or current assistance dogs need to contact me before enrolling in a class

Behavioural Requirements of Dogs

• Dogs issued with Dangerous or Menacing dog orders cannot enroll in any class
• Dogs who wear a muzzle for the safety of either themselves or other people or dogs can only enroll in Scent for Fun. All muzzles must have plenty of pant room, easy access for food and have sufficient ventilation (dogs who are a bite-risk must be wearing a bite-proof muzzle)
• Dogs must be comfortable waiting in either a covered crate or in a vehicle away from you. If you are concerned about this, please contact me and we can discuss. 
• Dogs who will bark, lunge or growl at other dogs more than around 10 meters away from them should contact me before enrolling in a class. This is flexible for dogs enrolled in the Scent for Fun classes, but please send me a message before enrolling.
• Dogs who are human-reactive (bark, lunge or growl at people for any reason) should contact me before enrolling in a class.

Requirements for People

• Children under the age of 10 are not permitted to attend a class. Regardless of age, everyone who is in attendance must be able to remain quiet, calm and still while other dogs are running. 
• Children must be over the age of 15 before handling a dog. Regardless of age, everyone who is handling a dog should be physically capable of doing so, and be able to keep their dog away from others. 
• Attendants who are under the age of 18 must be actively supervised at all times by a parent or guardian.

Do you have a reactive dog and are worried about potential triggers? Please send me a message, I’m happy to talk through any concerns you may have. I’ve also got a list of potential environmental triggers in each venue available for you, and I’m happy to have a chat about which venue would likely suit your dog the best. Please note, I’m here to support you and your dog

General Requirements for Dogs

• Dogs must be benefitting from the walks
• Dogs must not be showing signs of pain
• Dogs cannot be on heat at the time of the scheduled walk

At any time during the walk, the walk may be terminated. This will only happen due to one of several extenuating circumstances. These include;

• The dog has begun to show signs of pain. This will typically be some kind of gait irregularity, such as limping.
• The dog has begun to fatigue (not just tire). This can increase the chance of injury
• The weather becomes severe. This is generally lightening or hail.

I’m always happy to roll payment over to a future walk, reschedule or refund a walk before the walk commences, especially if severe weather is expected to occur

Small Business Insurance is issued by QBE. You can read the full policy wording here. Insurance renews on the eleventh of July each year. Please contact me for proof of insurance documents. 

Emails and online forms are held on servers run by Google. I recommend viewing their privacy statement for more information. The forms are designed to collect only necessary information. 

Direct Deposit payments come through to the Commonweath Bank of Australia. For more information on their privacy policy, please view their website. The bank records are kept for at least 5 years (this is a legal requirement).  

Invoices come through either Zoho invoices or Stripe Invoices. If you would prefer, I’m happy to prepare an invoice through Microsoft Excel, where the information will be stored locally on my computer. If you have a preference, please let me know before you book a service. 

Information from many of the in-person behaviour sessions is collected on paper. These paper documents do not contain any bank details, addresses or other sensitive information. They contain your (the person who made the booking) name, and other information provided on your initial form. These documents are hand-shredded (no less than 3  years after the last consultation), and then recycled with normal household waste. 

I do not sell or share your personal data with anyone without your direct permission (if I need to send your history on to a veterinarian or veterinary behaviourist we will discuss this together first).

On days where the heat is potentially hazardous, sessions may to moved to different times or dates to reduce the level of risk. The risk level to the dog will also depend on several factors including the breed and age of the dog. As a result, the temperature at which the session will be moved will depend on the individual dog.

When sessions are moved due to heat, a refund, payment rollover or rescheduled sessions is always offered.

Your photos and videos will not be posted publicly online without your written or verbal permission. Photos, videos and descriptions posted will not contain any personal information (I’ll censor any phone numbers on your dogs tag or collar). You can revoke this permission at any time, just let me know. 

When the trainer is responsible for the cancellation of a class or session, the class or session will either be refunded or postponed to a new date. When classes run in sequence, the course will be extended by an additional week, and the classes will run as usual starting the week following the cancellation (where possible). 

When an attendant of a single private session cannot make it, every effort will be made to reschedule to another date. Sessions that are cancelled less than 6 hours before the scheduled time will be unlikely to be refunded. Most sessions held in paid venues will be unable to be fully refunded, no matter when the cancellation is made. Unfortunately this is out of my control, and is part of the terms of service of many of the hire locations. 

When an attendant of a group class cannot make it, no refund can be issued. However, if the cancellation is made with sufficient time before the first class, and the space can be filled, a full refund will be offered. 

Risk of injury, illness and similar circumstances is fairly low, but still present. Every effort is made to reduce the risk, make clients aware of unavoidable risks, and encourage the use of PPE to reduce risk. When any injury, illness or similar circumstance occurs in a Creature Animal Behaviour session, Creature Animal Behaviour holds no legal responsibily. Any attendant of a session run by Creature Animal Behaviour agrees to this and the other terms and conditions when they enroll in the class and/or choose to attend a class.