Board and Train Dog Boarding Reviews Pre Boarding

Pre-Boarding

Many people have concerns about boarding their dogs, particularly if it is the dog's first time or if the dog is "elderly." These concerns are valid and at Misty Pines we take them seriously.

Please visit our Learning Center to read an article about stress and how the different kinds of stress affect our pets.

It is worth noting, before moving on, that bringing a puppy to the kennel at an early age will help to familiarize the pup with the sights, sounds, smells and staff of the facility and will help to ease anxiety about boarding later in life. Socialization is the most important aspect of raising a puppy. This means more than taking your dog to the park to socialize with other dogs and humans. The meaning of socialization stretches to encompass as many experiences as possible that the dog may have to deal with during it's adulthood.

First-Time Boarders

If your dog is, let's say, 5 years old and has never been boarded and typically spends all day at home, boarding him for 10 days while your family goes on vacation could be very stressful for him. He's never been here and probably never heard a pressure washer before. He may have never used a dog door. Has he used an automatic watering bowl that fills itself back up? Does he have people walk past him multiple times a day while he's in his crate at home? Has he ever been in a crate? All of these are things the he will need to get used to in order to have a good boarding experience.

Taking the time to do a few Pre-Board sessions before a long boarding for your dog will be monumental in helping him deal with the stress of boarding. We recommend bringing the dog in for at least 4 hours ($14/dog), during which time he'll be put in a kennelf for a while and then put out in a play-yard, if you would like him to have playtime while boarding. These two activities will give us insight into your dog's reaction to kennel life as well as to other dogs. When you pick your dog up from a Pre-Board, we'll let you know how your dog did and if he needs to attend a couple of these sessions.

Occassionally we'll recommend doing an over-night if the 4 hours sessions were a little rough and if you're going to be leaving the dog on an extended stay.

The 10+ Crowd

Unless very well socialized, elderly dogs are more prone to stress in a new environment than younger dogs. Furthermore, stress can be more physically damaging to an older dog and may lead to serious health problems.

Any dog over 10 years of age that has not boarded at Misty Pines before, or maybe not since they were very young, will be required to do a Pre-Board of at least 4 hours. If there are health issues already present, we may require an over-night to ensure that the problem does not worssen when separated from the owner/family.

As stated above for the younger dogs, Pre-Boarding sessions are a great help to those dogs who are already a little tentative and generally help the dog have a pleasant boarding experience with us.