HOMESTEAD HELPLINE
Gingr is the system we use to manage bookings, vaccines, payments, and your dog’s care at The Homestead. Once you’re familiar with it, most clients find it pretty straightforward to use.
But we know that new systems can feel a little clunky at first. That’s what this page is for.
We’ve put together simple, step-by-step guides for the things clients ask us about most often. And if something still doesn’t make sense, please reach out. We’re happy to help you figure it out.
Need Gingr Help?
For Gingr-related support, please email:
reception@thehomesteadnottawa.com
Our team is primarily hands-on with the dogs during the day, so we aren’t able to provide real-time support throughout our adventure hours. Helpline emails are monitored during dedicated admin times, and most inquiries are answered within 2 business days.
For quicker help, please include:
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Your name
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Your dog’s name
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A brief description of the issue
Most problems are quick fixes once we take a look together.
Gingr is a tool to support your experience at The Homestead—not a barrier. If you get stuck, reach out. We’re here to help.

Tip #1
Advance to the next step in your booking process by clicking the blue action button. Each button is labelled according to the next step of the booking process.
Tip #2
All bookings submitted are pending requests until we confirm it. Please wait for your confirmation email before bringing in your dog.
Tip #3
Visit Gingr for some helpful videos and instructions.

Booking Procedure Simplified
1. Select your dog 2. Choose your service, dates, and service add-ons. 3. Add your notes to The Homestead team. 4. Review the Estimate- it shows casual pricing only. *Daycare credits will be applied at check-out* 5. Submit your request. 6. Wait for your confirmation email. 7. Pay your boarding deposit.

Booking Multiple Days of Daycare
Through the Customer Portal Follow these steps to submit a recurring daycare request for your pet: Quick Reference: 1. Log in to the Customer Portal. 2. Select your pet and click Book. 3. Choose reservation type, times, and services. 4. Select recurring days and an end date. 5. Click Available Dates and review your schedule. 6. Click Add Dates (if needed). 7. Click Submit Request. For more detailed instructions see below: Step 1: Log In Log in to The Homestead's Customer Portal using your email address and password. Step 2: Select Your Pet From the Home page: Locate the pet you would like to book. Click the blue Book button next to their profile. Step 3: Choose Your Reservation Details On the booking screen: Select your Reservation Type (for example, Daycare). Choose your desired Drop-Off and Pick-Up times. Add any optional Services or Add-Ons you would like included with the reservation. Step 4: Set Up Your Recurring Schedule To create a recurring booking: Select the days of the week your pet will attend. Choose how often the booking should repeat (weekly, bi-weekly, etc., if available). Enter an End Date for the recurring schedule. Step 5: Review Available Dates Click Available Dates. Review the dates generated by your recurring schedule. If needed, click Add Dates to include additional attendance days. Step 6: Submit Your Request Confirm all selected dates and reservation details. Click Submit Request. Your daycare request will be sent to our team for review. You will receive confirmation once your reservation has been approved. Need Help? If you have questions about booking daycare or do not see the dates you need, please contact us at reception@thehomesteadnottawa.com and we’ll be happy to assist.

Viewing Future Reservations
Your Next Reservation: 1. Select Home. 2. Under Welcome, [Your Name]!, you will see your next reservation. All Future Reservations: 1. Select Book. 2. Scroll past New Booking to Bookings. 3. All reservation bookings you’ve made will be listed in chronological order by reservation date. 4. Acceptance decisions on each reservation are marked as PENDING ACCEPTANCE, CONFIRMED, REJECTED, WAIT LISTED, or CANCELED.

Cancelling Reservations
Remember to read our cancellation policy and cancel as soon as possible to free spots for other dogs. 1. Select Book. 2. Scroll past New Bookings to Bookings. 3. Select the reservation you want cancel to view its Booking Details. 4. Select the red CANCEL BOOKING button. 5. Select a reason from the drop-down menu, either Change of Plans or Emergency. 6. Select the red CANCEL BOOKING button to confirm the cancelation.

Rescheduling Reservations
Remember to read our rescheduling policy. You cannot modify a confirmed reservation to reschedule it. Instead, follow these steps: 1. Book the new reservation date. 2. Cancel the former reservation you wanted to reschedule.

Viewing Remaining Daycare Package Credits
1. Select Account. 2. Select Manage Packages & Subscriptions. 3. Each package will show the number of credits you have left.

Uploading Vaccine Records
Be sure the record you want to upload is in JPEG, PNG, or PDF format. 1. Select Account. 2. Select Upload Records. 3. Under New Upload, select the grey box labelled 'Drop your files here', and upload your record by following the prompts. We will be notified once your upload is complete, and we will enter the new vaccine dates in our records as soon as possible to ensure your profile is up to date. To view records you’ve uploaded, select Existing Records and View. To delete a record you’ve uploaded, please email us at reception@thehomesteadnottaw.com and we will do it for you.

Using Your Daycare Credits with Other Services
The Homestead Nottawa team applies payment methods upon check-out. If we see you’ve got a daycare credit, we will apply it as payment. But the challenge comes when there’s a daycare service and other service on one invoice. Gingr doesn’t make it easy for us to pay with two methods. Here’s an example. Scenario: You need to drop off Molly on Monday 8:30am and pick her up Tuesday at 12:00pm. You want Molly to get her nails trimmed while she’s with us. Services Needed: Morning Half Day + 1 Night of Boarding + Nail Trim Payment Preferences: You want to pay using daycare credits and your credit card on file. Challenge: Gingr does not allow two different payment methods for one invoice. Splitting payment types for one invoice requires our Homestead Manager to manually create two new bookings and invoices and modify your existing reservation so the package credits can be applied for one invoice, and the credit card can be applied to the other- a process that takes us about 10 minutes. Solution: You can help us out! You can make two reservations- one for daycare so we can apply the package credit as payment (easy peasy!) and one for boarding and nail trim so Gingr can generate the invoice and we can apply your credit card as payment (easy peasy, especially since your credit card is already on file). This means we spend more quality time with your dog and less time on our computer. How To Make Your Bookings #1 - MONDAY: Morning Daycare (8:30am – 12:00pm). Include a note saying that the drop off is not needed because you’re booking a separate overnight stay for Monday night. #2 – MONDAY TO TUESDAY: Boarding (12:15pm – 12:00pm) + Nail Trim add-on. TIP! Gingr will not let you choose 12:00pm for a drop off because you’ve already chosen that time as your pickup for your morning daycare reservation. So, we need to trick the system, just a little bit, by selecting 12:15pm instead. Include a note saying that you made a reservation for morning daycare. Why? Because it tells us that we don’t need to expect your arrival for Monday at 12:00pm / 12:15pm.

Checking Account Balance & Invoices
After logging into the Gingr app, tap Account (paw icon at the bottom of the screen). Then select Invoices & Estimates. Here you can view your current account balance, see paid and outstanding invoices, and tap any invoice for details or payment options.

