Dogs do not innately know how to stay away from home or be boarded. They do not innately understand being away from you, the social aspects required of them, how to rest in a sleeping space that isn't home, and how to disengage from busyness.
Our responsibility, together with you, is to help your dog learn how to participate positively in a daycare or boarding environment, how to engage with and respond positively with the demands of an environment that isn’t home, and how to be able to rest well.
SETTING YOUR DOG UP FOR SUCCESS
If your dog has never been boarded before and never—or very infrequently—attends a daycare, then the transition to staying away from home can be challenging and stressful for your dog.
You want your dog to not just be physically safe, but to feel psychologically and emotionally safe and secure. You want them to do well and for their experience to contribute to their wellbeing and be enjoyable.
We want them to do their absolute best emotionally, psychologically, and physically; we want them to thrive, and we want the work we do with them to support all the work you do with them at home in creating a dog secure in relationships and life.
Dogs are emotional and relational based; their ability to enjoy their environment, to relax and play or feel confident in where they are comes from their comfort with us and in our environment and the relationships and connections they build with us and our staff.
This program is ideal for:
Contact us at 587-787-3713 or or send us an email and we can connect you with a trainer for discussion on assessing and supporting you and your dog.
Guests who board with us participate in a daycare program suited to their social comfort and confidence. We can begin with day support helping your dog grow in comfort and confidence with us, our team, and our environment and schedule.
Schedule and daycare program is personalized for each dog.
We can schedule drop-in sessions, short experiences and positive relationship building with our team and your pup to build their confidence.
Schedule, frequency and focus of each experience is personalized for your dog.
Once you and we are confident of your dog's comfort with our environment and team, we can schedule a trial overnight or several overnights to ensure you have complete peace of mind and your dog has complete comfort.
We can schedule consistent intermittent overnight experiences between longer stays for your dog to maintain their comfort and relationship.
Set up a 30-minute consultation with a trainer. A consultation is $30. We apply $15 of this once we implement your dog's personalized boarding prep plan.
Even if your pup comes to daycare or has boarded before, our plan for all dogs begins here.
Bring your pup and all your questions! This meeting gives us an important time to discuss your schedule and needs and plan some first steps.
The trainer will recommend preliminary steps and a plan and will provide updates on how your dog is progressing and make recommendations to ensure your pup is ready for their stay away.
Dogs are relational and emotional. We focus on building your dog's trust and comfort with us and in our environment. A safe physical space is important; a space where a dog feels emotionally safe is just as important.
A private sleep space is essential for each dog's safety during sleep and eating and provides a necessary reprieve from shared social space. If a dog has no experience with spending time in a kennel, they will exhibit anxiety and stress.
We focus on creating positive associations and a relaxed calm state of mind so your dog can disengage from activity time and be calm and comfortable resting. During boarding, your dog's quality of sleep and rest is as important as the quality of activity time.
Dogs are family-based, and their security and comfort and ability to get benefit from social experiences and environments relies on their ability to feel comfortable in a place and comfortable with the people who they trust and rely on for their sense of security.
It's natural for your dog to be attached to you, but learning to be calm and comfortable away from you is essential to their wellbeing, whether at the vet, the groomers, or at their daycare or when boarding. Providing opportunity for your dog within an intentional and positive environment builds your dog's confidence, fosters independence and creates a calmer, more adaptable dog.
Creating the best possible experience for your dog takes intention and planning—from both you and us— including helping your dog learn to be in a calm, restful state, helping your dog learn how to disengage from the activity and stimulus of play & helping them build relationship and confidence
A boarding preparation plan is developed by our trainer in consultation with you. What the plan looks like specifically depends on your schedule, your dog, and how your dog progresses.
We will credit $15 from this consultation toward implementing the boarding preparation plan.
Half days or full days of daycare can be scheduled based on your dog's play program (social, CLASS or personal play)
Half-hour drop-in visits with the trainer to build trust with us and comfort in our environment. May include activity time, settle sessions, relationship-building sessions. Session length, frequency and focus determined in consultation with the trainer.
Discounts for pre-boarding nights available. Your trainer will discuss options based on your consultation.
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