DogBoy's Dog Blog

Vacations are a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but if you have a furry, four-legged friend a vacation could bring up a few problems. Dogs cannot always travel with their owners, and when this happens you have to start looking for someone to take care of your dog while you are away. There are two main paths to take when looking for someone to care for your pup: Dog boardingor a pet sitter. Both options have benefits and risks. By taking into account the personality of your dog, and the pros and cons of each, you can choose the best option for your canine friend.

Pet Boarding Facility

Dog boarding is normally done through a kennel or pet care facility. Many kennels offer a number of great options for your dog. They typically have a number of different employees that can devote time to playing with and caring for your dog. Kennels will also offer an allotted time for your dog to have outside play time. This means your dog will be able to work off excess energy.

As the holiday season approaches, Noodle and I have been talking about how grateful we are to have so many wonderful people and pups in our lives.  We love seeing all of your warm smiles and wagging tails, and we want to think of ways to thank you for all you do to keep the DogBoy's family alive and well.  Noodle had an amazing idea, and I want to share it with you.

We want to invite you to become a special part of the DogBoy's community - an elite group of dog-loving ambassadors who want to be a part of building the future of DogBoy's services and products.  You can be an integral part of growing DogBoy's the way you want to see it grow.  Do you ever walk into a restaurant or other local business and think to yourself, "This place would be so great if they asked me what I think and what I would do differently"?  I know I do.  Well I am here today to invite you to do just that.

We're going to create a Facebook group of DogBoy's Ambassadors, with only those of you who want to actively be a part of giving input about what you want for your dog.  We want to be a part of providing that for you, so please, contact me and tell me you want to be an official DogBoy's Ambassador.

We're also going to have a special Holiday Open House this year to say thank you in person. Come celebrate the season with us on Friday, December 9th from 6-8 pm at the TWC.  We will have yummy homemade appetizers and adult beverages, invite local vets and our wellness practitioners, and have wonderful door prizes to give away.  This party is just for humans, but we will have presents for you to take home to your pups!  Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

For our Christmas boarders, we will be celebrating the holidays again this year with our Second Annual Santa Paws! Purchase any retail item from DogBoy's, and we'll wrap it and open it with your dog on Christmas Eve.  Last year we had so many presents under the tree!  If you are boarding over the Christmas holiday and would like to participate in this fun event, just purchase a gift and leave it with the front desk.  We'll make sure it gets labeled and to your pup, and will hopefully get a good picture or two of the fun, which we will gladly share with you after the holiday.

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for our Private Dog Park, we are almost ready!  We are in the process of ordering the signage and making the final arrangements.  We hope to be open by the first of the year.  We will have an official Dog Park Open House in February.  Thank you so much for your patience!

Enjoy this beautiful weather, give that pup of yours a belly rub, and we hope to see you or hear from you soon!

With joy,

DogGirl

Howdy, Dog Lover!


We also care for many dogs that are more heat sensitive than others. Short-nosed dogs (aka Brachycephalic dogs) like boxers, bulldogs, pugs and puggles are watched especially closely. The roof of their mouth acts like a radiator in a car - short snouts equal an inefficient cooling system.  Other dogs that overheat easily are the very large breeds, like our Pyrenees and mastiffs, as well as dogs on thyroid medications. Elderly dogs and those with heart conditions also have trouble with the heat as well as younger dogs. We keep an extra-close watch on these dogs when they're here in summer months, and you will often see a well-behaved boarding dog spending time in the office when they need to be indoors more.

One of the things that makes DogBoy's extra special is that the dogs we care for get to play outside in playgroups, hand-picked by staff who are trained in dog behavior. On an ideal day, that means they are outside for a full day's play, whether they are here for daycare or boarding.  But your dog's safety is our top priority, which means on days when the temperature or heat index is close to 100 or hotter, they can't play outside all day without overheating.

So what do we do?

Well, when it's this hot outside, we have to change things up a bit.  DogBoy's kennels have always been designed to keep the cool in with reflective roofing and 4' thick concrete slabs that hold on to the earth's temperature.  We also have air-conditioned kennels, so dogs have a comfortable place to cool down.  To take advantage of the cooler times of day, the dogs get playtime in the morning.  And we start early!  We get the AC going in the kennels around 10 am, and when it starts to get hot around mid-day we bring the dogs inside for a rest and cool-down period. On days when we have lots of dogs on the property, we may also bring dogs into the office or to our beautiful and spacious Training and Wellness Center. After cooling off, we let the dogs out for potty breaks and shorter, supervised hikes.  While on hikes, we turn on the sprinklers and hose dogs down to help cool them off.  When boarding numbers are high, we limit day care, so everyone has dedicated space to cool down.

Our hard-working kennel staff makes sure that there is fresh, cool water in the buckets and kiddie pools, placed in the shade so your dogs can have a refreshing drink and cool themselves off with a splash if they want to. Our team refreshes these water sources again mid-day so that when the dogs come out after their rest break to play, they have plenty of clean cool water.

Thanks again for your questions, and keep 'em coming.  We want you to travel worry-free, and enjoy your time away from your dog, while at work or on the road, with confidence that we're taking care of all the details.  Enjoy these last few weeks of summer and we'll see you again soon!

Stay cool,

DogGirl

 

P.S.  For those of you who want to know more about our old friend Mr. Blue, the pawthor of True Blue Leadership, who will be visiting DogBoy's for an official Book Signing and Pawtography Event Tuesday, September 27th, check out his video:

 

Hello Dog Lovers,

Each year, DogBoy & I go on a long vacation. We live on the property with DogBoy's boarding kennel on one side, and the Training & Wellness center on the other, a view of the agility field out our kitchen window, and a view of one of the playgroups our our bathroom window. Employees are all around walking back and forth, and customers are (thankfully) coming in and out daily. Sometimes, being in the middle of it all leaves us feeling a little like we're living in a bubble. Because we live, eat, work and raise our family all in the same place, when we need a vacation we have to really get away (far away or for a long time, or both) to accomplish that.

So far, we have not yet taken our dogs along for the ride. There is no room in the car for the big dogs (sorry guys), and taking little Noodle would make eating out difficult. Some of the national parks we went to this trip weren't very dog friendly either. Not to mention our dogs get excellent care at DogBoy's while we're gone!

I'm sure Noodle, Rebel and Tessa are getting lots of exercise, belly rubs, and plenty of opportunities for playtime with other dogs. Getting to romp around on 15 acres is like dog heaven. Anytime they're out of the house, their tails are wagging, and their tongues are hanging out from sheer bliss. They want all the other dogs to know the truth: they run this place. But at night, when they're sleeping soundly in their air-conditioned runs, I think about them and wish they were curled up in my lap or at my feet.

I think next year, I might see if I can talk DogBoy into letting me bring Noodle along. After 15 years in the pet care industry, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I've never taken my pups on vacation with me. I'm curious to know if you've traveled with your dog, and what your experiences have been?

Happy Tails!
DogGirl


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Thanks to businessbroad.com for the image.

Recently, I got my first opportunity to fly First Class on an airline (my first time ever!). The seats were bigger and more comfortable, the drinks wee free, the meal was healthy, high quality food, and the staff was friendly and oh-so helpful. The best thing was, because of the circumstances, we didn't have to pay extra for it. We didn't even have to pay extra for our luggage. What a treat!

All this extra special treatment reminded me of the excellent care and special treatment we provide for each and every dog who comes to DogBoy's Dog Ranch. Yes, we provide a warm, safe bed for every visitor. Yes, we provide healthy meals, accommodate special diets, and give medications free of charge. And yes, we provide hours and hours of exercise and playtime daily (again, free of charge). But you already know all these things!

Here are some things you may not know:

Training clients often get fresh baked goods after their first class.  Mmm-mmm.

Expectant parents can plan a tentative boarding stay for their pets - and we're happy to take those pups last minute if the new baby doesn't come exactly when expected.

New parents who board during the birth of their child get a free bath and nail trim for each pup who stays.

Clients who lose a loved one get a discount off their boarding stay when they travel to the funeral.

On the 4th of July and New Year's Eve,our Kennel Manager stays late and hosts a dog party to distract those pups who are sound sensitive.  (FYI: Many dogs do NOT like fireworks!)

On Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, when DogBoy &  family are in town, we take in a handful of extra dogs and bring the senior dogs to their home for some extra special TLC (air matresses and football, yeehaw!).

Our long term boarders sometimes get a little stir crazy.  With their owners permission, staff members will occasionally take the pups home for a little hang time.  Hello couches and ceiling fans!  What?  Is that a home cooked meal?

[caption id="attachment_55" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Maisy is thankful too!"][/caption]

This Thanksgiving, we had so much to be grateful for - a caring and oh-so-hard working staff, a new building that's almost completed, and a kennel FULL of dogs ready to play and enjoy the weekend.  We celebrated the holiday this year by offering a home-cooked thanksgiving dinner and I can't wait to tell you about it.

As this was our first year to do this, we offered it as an option to Thanksgiving boarders.  DogBoy's boards a lot of dogs on special diets, so we didn't want to assume that everyone would want to participate.  Out of the almost 100 boarding dogs, we served 44 a Thanksgiving meal of roast turkey, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots, and a pumpkin cookie with yogurt frosting for dessert!   Dinner was served on festive glass dishware, with a beautiful fall placemat.  Sweet.

After all was said and done, we cooked 60 lbs of turkey, 30 lbs of potatoes, 18 cups of peas & carrots, and 44 Pumpkin Cookies with Yogurt Frosting (easy on the tummy!). 

The pups were so eager to eat their special meal!  Here are some fun stats from the dinner: