Petpals franchise owners across the UK are successfully completing the Ofqual Level 3 Professional Daycare and Boarding course. This new qualification will enable them to achieve the ‘Higher Standard’ in the Animal Activity Licensing Regulations, updated by DEFRA in 2018.
Licensing now requires that to meet the ‘Higher Standard’, a member of staff with a relevant Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, OFQUAL, regulated Level 3 qualification must be present during the working day at the Day Care or Boarding establishment.
Petpals Buxton, Sefton, Leeds North, Hendon and Darlington West are now fully qualified and a further 15 franchise owners are currently taking the course and will qualify soon.
Sharren Redmond ,who started up her Sefton Petpals business in November 2018, said: "What a great course; I feel so much more confident and professional in running my Petpals business now. It was a huge amount of work requiring large amounts of research, reading and writing but I loved it and am so glad I am now qualified to the Higher Standard for the benefit of my clients and their dogs.
"I will of course be sharing my new knowledge, passing on the relevant information to my team so we can all benefit from the course.
"Although I have been a dog owner myself for many years and thought I knew everything there was to know about caring for a dog, the course makes you look at things from a very different perspective.
"I had to learn about a wide variety of dog care subjects, from what different breeds of dog are like, how they play and interact with other dogs, to warning signs from a behavioural point of view. My customers often ask me ‘why does my dog do xyz..’ and now I can tell them.
"The course has really sparked my desire to know more and I wouldn’t rule out doing a dog-behaviourist qualification in the future."
Kevin Thackrah, MD of Petpals, said: "We are delighted that Sharren, Deborah, Lisa, Mike, Chrissy and Sallyann have completed their Ofqual Level 3 Professional Daycare and Boarding Course qualification.
"As an industry we are overrun with people starting up dog walking and dog boarding businesses on a whim, with no previous experience or qualifications and we embrace and welcome any and all efforts to raise the standards in our industry.
"Even before the new regulations, all of our franchises were, and always have been CRB checked, insured and have taken a Dog Handling Skills and Pet First Aid course.
"We are pleased that Petpals Sefton, Buxton, Leeds North, Hendon and Darlington Wet will now be qualified to the Higher Standard for boarding and dog care, with many others following on in the next few weeks."
