There are 3 over-arching themes that we have found that make your dog much more comfortable and less stressed while boarding either in our homes or at the facility. Those 3 things are: having a food motivated dog, a dog that is crate trained, and a dog that is comfortable and can relax away from you. If your dog is all 3 of these things, the chances of your dog enjoying their boarding stay increases exponentially! Then your dog is essentially having a fun vacation while you are away! If your dog doesn't have one or more of these skills then the odds of them being stressed, making it not such a fun time, greatly increases.
Building Food Drive:
The most beneficial thing you can do to help your dog be more comfortable in their boarding stay is to build their food drive. A dog that is properly food motivated should eat their kibble willingly for training sessions or they eat their food quickly out of their bowl at scheduled times. The worst thing you can do, that ruins a dog's food drive, is to free feed (access to food all of the time) or adding things like chicken, cheese, broth, or a meal topper to their food to get them to eat.
Food is one of the best ways to get a dog over the stress of a new situation. We have found that a dog that loves their food warms up to a new situation much faster than a dog that isn't motivated by food.
From years of boarding dogs, we can usually tell which dogs are free-fed at home within the first day or two. These dogs frequently do not eat any of their food (as they are stressed or distracted with the new environment and routine). Often, they do not eat any food for 3 or more days. Sometimes they will go over a week without eating anything. This is obviously not good, and greatly increases the risk of getting an illness during the boarding stay as their immune system is not as strong as a healthy dog that is eating and not stressed.
If you are struggling to build food drive or would like to learn more, check out our free online class Setting Your Dog Up For Success
Crate Training:
Many people are super excited when they discover our boarding dogs go to one of our trainer's homes each night. However, some people are excited because they do not crate their dog or their dog is not good in a kennel so they think their dog is going to be less stressed in a trainer's home. However, your dog still will have to be crated during their boarding stay- even if they stay in a trainer's home. For example, your dog will be crated if we have to step out of the house to run errands and overnight for bed time. If your dog is not crate trained we are now adding another element of stress ontop of already being in a new situation. Not to mention, if your dog is not super food motivated and they don't eat their food during their training session(s), we have to put their food in their kennel since our personal dogs are highly food motivated. Your dog's food cannot be left out in the house because other dogs will eat it. If they are not crate trained (comfortable in a crate) and not highly food motivated, they won't eat their food in their kennel either. Again, they may go days or longer before finally eating. If they are highly food motivated, this generally can make the crate a more exciting place if they are not a huge fan of the crate to begin with. Regardless of their food motivation, it is important that they are crate trained so in the moments of doing errands, or overnight when we cannot supervise, they are not stressed. Not to mention there are other possible life moments when it would be a good idea to have a dog who is comfortable in a crate (for instance, if your dog ever injures itself or has a surgery at the vet and is crated after, etc).
If you are struggling with crate training or would like to more, check out our online class Crate Training & Games.
Relaxation Away From You:
One of the skills most people struggle with is teaching their dog to be comfortable with being away from their person. We are seeing more dogs with separation anxiety as more people are working from home and their dogs are not spending much time away from them. A lot of us like it when our dog is constantly cuddling with us or follows us around the house. But this can be a sign of anxiety. Basically the dog is always near us because we are their safety blanket. So it is very important to teach them that they can be calm and comfortable when they are away from someone. This skill is very important if your dog is going to board with us for a variety of reasons. Not only are they going to be away from you, they will also have to spend time away from the person they are boarding with throughout their stay. Again, since most dogs stay in our homes, they may have to spend time away from us while we run errands, do chores, etc. Not to mention, our day at Daycare is structured in a way where dogs have to practice the art of relaxation without direct interaction with other people. Many of our boarding dogs do get attached to the trainers they are staying with. But some show significant anxiety if the staff member is in a different play yard as them. Your dog will be less anxious and better of psychologically if you teach them how to be confident on their own without needing a security blanket. It is all about balance!
If you are struggling with relaxation or would like to learn more, check out our online class The Art of Relaxation.
Comments