The only things we need are:

• Your pet (obviously!)
• Their vaccination certificate (if not emailed prior)
• Any medications (clearly labeled)
• Food (only if your pet requires a special diet – please label it clearly)

We do not need any toys or bedding. You can leave your pet’s collar on if you wish.

When you first arrive to drop an animal off, these are the steps that normally occur:

• Please notify the office you have arrived (please leave your pet in the car or outside with someone and don’t bring them inside whilst you do this).
• We will discuss any food and medications requirements (these also need to have been mentioned at the time of booking) or questions you have.
• We will need to sight your pet’s vaccination certificate if we haven’t already
• Please make sure you provide us with an emergency contact. This person must be able to be contacted if you are away, cover vet costs if you are not available and pick up your pet if you are unable to.
• We will get you to read and sign our Disclaimer
• The invoice will need to be paid in full, if this has not already been done.
• We will then collect your pet from you either in the car park or from the office and will take them to their accommodation.
• Please ensure all cats are in proper cat carriers to bring them inside to help prevent escape. Please ensure all dogs are on leads.
• We will then give any of your belongings (like leads) back to you to take home.

Check in and check out times are Monday to Saturday, 8 am – 12 pm.

We are closed to the public on Sundays and public holidays.

Please note: Pick up is not available after 12 pm on the day of departure. If you cannot pick your pet up before 12pm, they will need to stay until the next day and an extra day of boarding will be charged. An alternative is that we may be able to drop your pet home to you. Please enquire for Home Drop off prices.

We provide premium dry food from Royal Canin and Lifewise for all dogs and cats.

You are welcome to bring food from home if your pet is on a special diet or you would prefer they ate their normal food. Please ensure the food is clearly labelled with your pet’s name and instructions. Please note there is a $3 / meal surcharge for feeding your pet’s own food. There is no fee for feeding Veterinary prescribed foods. 

If your pet’s food is frozen, please supply it in clearly labelled daily portions so we can just defrost what we need each day, preventing spoilage. Please also be aware, that in very hot weather, fresh frozen food may not be the best option.

We also recommend that if you provide your own food, you bring in more than you think your pet may eat. With all of the extra exercise dogs especially tend to have with us (running around all day with their friends) they tend to have an increased appetite. Being able to feed them more allows us to make sure they get enough food to prevent any weight loss from burning all of that extra energy!

All pets require proof of up-to-date vaccinations in order to stay with us. Dogs require C5 vaccinations and cats require F3 vaccinations.

It is a legal requirement that all pets must be fully vaccinated up-to date to board. In general, vaccines must be renewed yearly. If you are unsure, please contact your local vet to check.

If your pet is not up-to-date with vaccinations before they stay with us, we are unfortunately unable to board them. An exception to this is if your pet is just coming up due for vaccination now. If this is the case, we may be able to organise a mobile vet to do the vaccination on site for you! This saves you time and takes the stress away from you. Please contact us to check if we can assist with this.

If an animal has been overdue for vaccination, then they should have their last vaccination at least 2 weeks prior to their stay for us to accept them.

We will attempt to contact you and/or your emergency contact if there are any health concerns and prior to any veterinary treatment. If we cannot get hold of anyone, we will seek veterinary care if it is in your animal’s best interest and for their welfare.

We have a mobile vet that regularly visits us and a 24 hour veterinary clinic we can take unwell animals to.

You are liable for any veterinary costs incurred. There needs to be someone available to make the payments directly to the veterinary clinic (either the owner or the emergency contact) as the boarding kennel will not pay for the bills.

We try to post complimentary photos of animals on our Facebook page during our off peak season. However, we cannot guarantee that your pet will feature on our page.

If you would like regular photos of your pets, a Photography Package is offered at a price of $25 and includes 5 photos emailed directly to you once during your pet’s stay. Please note these are not professional photos.

Availability may be variable during peak periods.

If you would like to check how your pet is going, please email us at admin@yarrambatkennels.com.au.  We will get back to you as soon as possible however, this can take some time, especially during our busy periods. We can only provide updates during office business hours.

Please feel confident that if we have any questions or concerns we will call / email you or your emergency contact and will seek veterinary care if it is warranted.

Please try not to ask for frequent updates as constant disturbances take our pet carers away from being able to spend time with and care for your pets.

There is a Photography Package available if you would like to see how your pet is going also.

Yes, absolutely! Inspections are run between 10 am and 11.30 am Monday to Saturday. No appointment is necessary. We cannot wait to show you around!

Please note that during our busiest periods inspections may not be possible though. If you are unsure, please call us to check prior to visiting.

Unfortunately you cannot go to your pet’s room with them.

There are several reasons for this, including that we want to minimise the disturbances for all pets, allowing them to feel more comfortable. In addition, as often pets are staying in shared accommodation, having an owner in there with other animals can lead to jealousy. This can lead to animal and human safety concerns.

Indeed, we also find that pets tend to settle best if they don’t connect you, their owner, with their current accommodation. It means they don’t expect to see you in their rooms when you are away as they don’t associate you with the area.

We do always welcome inspections prior to your pet’s arrival if you would like to see where your pet will be staying and ask any questions you may have. Our inspection times are 11 am – 1 pm Monday to Saturday.

Any dog that is with us for more than 4 days receives a complimentary bath the day before they go home.

This is a Hydrobath and blow dry ONLY and is not a full groom, trim and style.

A Hydrobath is available for dogs staying less than 4 days at an extra price. The price ranges from:

• Small dogs  $25-45
• Medium dogs $35–45
• Large dogs $35–60

Dogs with thick undercoats, coats which have not been maintained or with challenging behaviour may incur an additional cost or may be unable to be bathed.

We accept cash, Visa, MasterCard, EFTPOS and bank deposits. We do not accept cheques or American Express.

Any bank deposit payments must be made at a minimum of 3 business days before the arrival date to be accepted. Please put your animal’s first and last name as the reference number and email us to let us know you have paid if using this method.

Full payment is due on or before the first day your pet stays with us or your booking will be cancelled.

Off peak times do not require a deposit to be paid.

Bookings for Easter and school holidays require a $100 deposit and bookings for Christmas require a $200 deposit. These deposits are due at the time the booking is confirmed via email.

Deposits are refundable up until 28 days prior to the booking period (excluding Christmas / New Years). Any reservation canceled within 28 days of the booking start date will forfeit the deposit.

Please note that all refunds incur a non-refundable $25 administration fee. This fee is charged irrespective of when the cancellation is made.

A 5% discount on the boarding fee is offered where a family has 3 or more pets staying at the same time.

For long term stays (longer than 28 days), please contact us about a separate, personalised quote. This is offered at the discretion of the administration team.

Pensioners can receive a 5% discount on boarding costs at Off Peak times.

Please note that discounts are not possible during Peak times.

Yes, you can fill out a booking application form online.

Please note that these bookings are applications only and are not confirmed until reviewed by our admin. An email will then be sent to you once your booking is confirmed. This may occur on the same day but can take up to 3 business days.

If you are thinking about booking but you are not yet sure if you want to go ahead, please send an Enquiry, rather than using the booking form. This way we can get back to you about potential availability and options without yet making a booking for you.

We recommend booking as early as possible. We generally book up very quickly for our peak periods, particularly Easter and Christmas.

For Christmas we recommend booking at least 9 months in advance. We recommend 6 months for Easter and 2 months for all other peak periods.

You are absolutely welcome to book at any time though, and bookings do change, but this just gives an indication of how early bookings may be necessary.

Our Peak periods are over Easter and Christmas and any Victorian Public School Holidays.

Peak periods have a minimum booking time:
Easter: 7 days
Christmas/New Years (20th December – 20th January): 10 days

All other school holidays: 3 days

Public holiday long weekends: 3 days

Please see our Pricing page for more information.

Yes, you can absolutely alter your booking dates prior to your pet staying with us. Please just email us at admin@yarrambatkennels.com.au with the new dates you are hoping for. Please note that for peak periods particularly, changes may not be possible.

Please note that booking dates can be changed 2 times (not including the initial booking) at no extra charge. Once a booking is being changed 3 or more times, a $20 administration fee will be charged.

Please let us know at the earliest possible time if you need to change the length of your pet’s stay. We require a minimum of 24 hours notice.

During Off Peak times, you will only be charged for the days that your pet stays. Extending your pet’s visits during these times is often possible, but please contact us to make sure.

During Peak times, you will be charged for the original days booked, even if you decide to pick your pet up early. Extending your pet’s stay, particularly over Easter and Christmas, is generally not possible unfortunately, as we are usually fully booked. You are welcome to contact us and check though.

You will need to contact us if you wish to extend your pet’s stay over other school holiday and public holiday periods to enquire if there is availability.

If there is unfortunately no room to extend your boarding, and you cannot collect your pet, we will contact your emergency contact to come and collect your pet for you.

All animals that are being delivered and collected via a Pet Taxi  must have their invoices paid BEFORE their return home.

We accept cash, Visa, MasterCard, EFTPOS and bank transfer.

Any bank deposit payments must be made at a minimum of 3 business days before the arrival date to be accepted. Please put your animal’s first and last name as the reference number and email us to let us know you have paid if using this method.

We have the LARGEST ALL DAY exercise yards of any of the local kennels! Additionally, all dogs have access to these at no extra cost!

The ALL DAY exercise yards are all 10 m x 4 m.

The dogs also have very large, indoor temperature controlled kennel spaces to rest in.

Weather depending, we have All DAY exercise yards for EVERY dog that stays with us.

This means we leave the dog’s doors into the exercise yards open all day so the dogs can go from inside their kennels to outside as they choose.

We only close the doors overnight between the hours of 3 pm and 8 am.  The dogs then sleep indoors in large, temperature controlled kennels which have floor heating in winter and evaporative cooling in summer.

Some dogs have shared exercise yards while others have their own yards, but this is dependent on the temperament and breed of each dog.
Dogs that are sharing exercise yards are only ever paired with similar sized dogs with compatible temperaments. The exception to this may be where there are dogs from the same family.

A small number of breeds, anti-social dogs and all dogs that are not desexed may require single kennels and incur a higher fee.

Breeds requiring single kennels include Akita, Bull Arab, Bulldogs, Bull Terrier, Cattle Dog, Chow Chow, Doberman, German Shepherd, Great Dane, Greyhound, Heeler, Husky, Mastiff, Malamute, Maremma, Mountain Dog, Ridgeback, Rottweilers, Staffies and any Staffy crosses, Weimaraner and all dogs deemed to be anti-social or not desexed.

The breeds listed above may be able to housed together in exceptional circumstances if they are from the same family and the owner requests it. Prices may be variable in these instances so please call or email us to discuss and check availability.

If we find a dog is anti-social during their stay then they will need to be upgraded to a single kennel (subject to availability) and will incur additional costs.

The cat enclosure size is 1.2m wide by 1.6m deep x 2.4 m high for a single enclosure and 2.4m x 1.6m x 2.4m for a double enclosure

Cats from the same family have the ability to stay together in the same room however all other cats have their own enclosure.

No, your pet does not need to be desexed.

Any non-desexed male or female dog does need to be boarded in a single kennel though (please refer to pricing page). We also do not board females that are in heat.

Unfortunately we cannot board animals that are recovering from recent surgery. This is due to injury and infection risks. Generally we accept animals once their stitches are removed though. We do not accept animals that have open wounds or bandages.

Dogs that have had cruciate surgery must wait at least 16 weeks before they can board with us. This is as we cannot restrict the movement of these dogs sufficiently to prevent re-injury in the excitable, fun, kennel environment.

A veterinary clinic may be a better boarding option for any dog that falls into the above categories.

No; we do not accept any animals that we consider dangerous to our staff.

We will board puppies and kittens 2 weeks after they finish their last vaccination in their puppy or kitten vaccination course. Please check with your vet if you are unsure.

No, we do not board pregnant animals.