Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions for Canine Plus
These Terms and Conditions are intended to ensure safety, responsibility, and welfare for our clients. By using the services provided by Canine Plus, you agree to abide by these terms and conditions. We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time, and it is your responsibility to review them periodically.
1. Formation of Contract By accessing our website or using our services, you are entering into a legally binding agreement with Canine Plus. Any changes to these terms and conditions will take immediate effect upon posting, and your continued use of our services constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
2. Behaviour Referrals Canine Plus operates on veterinary referral only and works in collaboration with referring veterinarians to provide canine behaviour consultancy services. A veterinary referral is essential to ensure collaborative care and consideration of the animal’s medical history.
Prior to the appointment, clients will be required to arrange for the following information to be returned to us:
- Veterinary Referral Form: To comply with the guidelines of the professional organisation and to work with the referring vet, the vet must complete and sign our Referral Form and include the animal’s clinical history.
- Questionnaire: The owner must complete our Owner Questionnaire as fully and as honestly as possible, citing examples where necessary.
- Video footage: Providing video footage of your animal’s behaviour on a day-to-day basis can aid the consultation process. Videos of the problem behaviour are not necessary so please do not create a bad situation to capture one. If you have recordings already, then that will be useful. If the behaviour occurs, then please capture it only if it is safe to do so.
It is important that the above information is returned prior to the consultation. Failure to do so may delay the consultation or incur additional costs due to postponement of the appointment. If there is a scheduled appointment but the prerequisites have not been returned prior to the appointment, Canine Plus reserves the right to cancel your appointment.
We work in collaboration with the referring vet as they oversee the continued medical care of the animal, keeping all the animal’s information under the same clinical notes, we work as a team of 3 – us (Emily Smith at Canine Plus), the referring vet and the client. A veterinary referral is essential to ensure we work as a team to provide practical solutions for the behavioural issues presented. Moreover as the animal will not be examined physically by Emily Smith, it allows us to consider the medical history of the animal, where pain or other disease processes may influence behaviour.
Once referred, a consultation can go ahead. Our behaviour treatment plans are created by Emily Smith and are bespoke for each individual patient. Emily Smith may discuss cases anonymously with other clinical animal behaviourists or veterinary behaviourists and if necessary, a case may also be discussed with other behaviour specialists in various fields.
Behavioural issues are often complex, therefore, before proceeding it is necessary that any potential pain or underlying medical condition is diagnosed and understood.
Prices are per animal referred unless agreed otherwise in advance. Other animals in the household and animals belonging to friends or family will need to be referred separately by their vet. We work on veterinary referral only and are unable to offer advice on animals that have not been referred to us. If it was found that another animal in the household is directly impacting the behaviour of the animal and that needed significant intervention from us, additional charges may apply.
By engaging our services, you acknowledge the importance of veterinary involvement in the behaviour treatment process. Prior to the appointment, clients must submit the required paperwork, including a Veterinary Referral Form, Owner Questionnaire, and any relevant video footage of the dog’s behaviour. Failure to provide these documents may result in appointment postponement or cancellation.
3. Behaviour Treatment Plans Behaviour treatment plans are tailored to each individual patient and are created by Emily Smith.
The animal’s treatment plan or Behaviour Modification Plan will be produced for the client’s needs based on the behavioural diagnosis and specific to the animal’s requirements and situation as well as any other relevant factors. It will provide advice and guidance on how to work with your animal and their problem behaviour. Over the 3 months of follow up, the BMP can be put into place and any issues can be discussed.
4. Payment Full or partial payment (if pre-agreed) is due after the consultation at the time of receipt of an invoice. Clients intending to claim on pet insurance should check directly with their provider. We do not initiate direct claims and will not be liable for any costs incurred. Please note: if you intend to claim on your pet insurance, please check directly with the policy provider as policies do vary. Whilst we are able to complete an insurance claim form on a client’s behalf, we are unable to initiate direct claims from your insurance company, therefore fees must be paid to us in the first instance. We will not be liable for any costs you may have incurred in preparation for your consultation/s.
5. Recording of Consultations and Sessions Consultations and sessions may be recorded for quality assurance purposes. By consenting to the recording, you agree to the storage of such records by Canine Plus. Sharing or duplicating recordings without permission is prohibited. Consultation and sessions may be recorded and remain the sole property of Canine Plus. When consenting to the recording of such meetings, you are consenting for all participants (including children if they are present) and agree to us storing such records. The sharing or duplication of all or part of any recording is prohibited unless prior permission is gained from Canine Plus.
6. Ownership of Records and Reports All records and related reports (in whatever media) held, produced or created in relation to your animal(s) and/or its related investigation and treatment, remain the sole property of Canine Plus, and will be retained by us. Reports and summaries of treatment plans and consultations that we have performed remain the property of Canine Plus, even though we have raised an invoice for undertaking these. On request, copies, will be passed directly to a veterinary practice or animal professional. We may record and retain telephone calls and emails. We may also retain physical and digital files about you and your animal. By using our services, you accept, acknowledge, and consent to us collecting and retaining this information. We reserve the right to retain, backup, review, restore, delete, destroy, or erase any personal data that we hold about you in accordance with our data protection policies.
7. Scheduling and Rescheduling Appointments can be rescheduled up to 72 hours in advance. Failure to notify us of changes may result in forfeiture of the appointment. We reserve the right to alter appointment times or dates due to unforeseen circumstances. Rescheduling with less than 72 hours notice may incur a fee. If you fail to keep an appointment without notifying us, we are not obliged to reschedule.
8. Cancelling Cancellation with less than 72 hours notice may incur a fee. If during a behaviour treatment plan or period of follow-up we receive no contact from you or response to our communications in a period of 3 months, we can conclude that you have cancelled treatment. No refunds will be given for consultations or packages after the initial consultation.
9. Legal Claims Any legal claims arising from our services are subject to UK jurisdiction.
10. Medication. As part of a consultation or behaviour package with Canine Plus, we may recommend the use of certain medications. As a veterinary behaviourist, Emily Smith is able to make these recommendations. If necessary, a case may also be discussed with other veterinary behaviourists. Canine Plus not provide the actual prescription. We work in collaboration with your vets as they oversee the continued medical care of your animal, keeping all your animal’s information under the same clinical notes, we work as a team of 3 – us (Canine Plus), you and your vet. We as the behavioural referral recommend the appropriate medicine for your dog’s needs based on the knowledge we have obtained about the animal from their clinical history and consultation with the owner and/or vet. We don’t take bloods or clinically examine the animal, we are therefore advising based on our knowledge thus far and we recommend these to the vet, as they are the animal’s prescribing GP practice. The recommended medications will be detailed in the vet report provided. Your vets will usually prescribe and dispense, the medication, depending on their stock, but if the medication is a human medication, your vet may issue a written prescription for you to take to the human pharmacy to collect. Many of the medications used in veterinary behavioural medicine are off-license for animal use and are prescribed and recommended taking this into account.
11. Success. The success of a behaviour modification programme is down to the hard-work of the owners. To successfully treat a behavioural issue it may take a significant amount of time, hard work and commitment from every member in the family, as well as those of us working to help improve the animal’s quality of life. There is usually no quick-fix for a long-term behavioural change, therefore owners must be aware of the effort required before undergoing referral. If adjunct therapy is recommended, for example, the use of medications, then this is in addition to the behaviour modification programme, and will be unlikely to be successful if used alone.
By using our services, you agree to these terms and conditions. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected].