December 17, 2024 • 18 mins
Robb Lust, The Dog Professor from the Edgefield Animal Care Center, talks in this episode about what to expect when you board your dog.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's The Dog Professor Podcast with the Dog Professor Rob
Lust from the Edgefield Animal Care Center. How you doing,
my friend? Good good. We are talking about boarding. We're
here as we're recording this today, in the holiday season,
and boarding and all of that is extremely important now.
People are going on vacation, they're taking trips, they're going
to see their families. In one of our last episodes,
(00:23):
we talked about traveling with your pet. In this episode,
we're going to talk about boarding your pet and what
to expect because I imagine a lot of people come
into that boarding situation and have no idea what's going
to happen. Oh for sure, for sure, unless you've boarded
your pet before, you know, it's always a stressful situation
in an owner's mind, Like what do I got to
go to Grandma's house. We can't take the dog with us.
(00:44):
What are we going to do with the dog? The
dog's never boarded before. I've never boarded my dog before.
How am I going to respond? So forth and so on.
So I'm going to talk a.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Little bit about the normal things that occur in a
boarding situation. So that you know, we've boarded dogs, we've
ran a boarding kennel for thirty five forty years, so
we've seen just about knock on wood everything in a
boarding situation. And the first thing you need to understand
(01:16):
is that when you board your dog, your dog's not
going to nine times out of ten behave the same
way that they do at home. As good as a
boarding facility can be, it's still not your dog's normal
routine at home, and dogs, just like people, are very
routine oriented. Okay, So when you take your dog to boarding,
(01:38):
the first thing to understand and realize is that most
boarding facilities to keep viruses and different things from occurring.
A boarding facility is a big, enclosed facility, right, Okay,
It's like a school or a hospital, all right, And
everybody knows in the human world the two biggest places
(02:00):
where sickness gets passed around is schools and hospitals, So
a boarding facility in the dog world is very much
that same way. So you'll most likely if you're going
to board in a boarding facility, you'll be required to
have your pets have certain vaccines, sometimes outside of the
normal vaccine regiment. So the normal vaccine regimen for most
(02:21):
dogs that don't board is you know, distemper, parvo, rabis,
and actually bordotello, which is an airborne virus. That's that's
pretty much normal in the routine. In our boarding facility,
we would definitely require those vaccines. But we also require
canine influenza, which is the dog flu, another big airborne
(02:43):
virus that spreads pretty quickly, So we require that for
protection of your pet and the other pets in the
boarding facility. So vaccines some you might not have already had.
It's always important to check with the facility as to
what they require. And on the same note, if they
don't require a bunch of vaccines, then you should have
(03:05):
a small question mark in your brain about that facility
or most most places will require proof that you've had
those vaccines, and usually that's the easiest way to do
that is to tell your veterinarian to send the records
over or whatever whatever the protocol is in cases like that.
So we got the vaccines out of the way, we've
(03:27):
got our reservation for boarding. Now we're wondering what should
we bring. Okay, well, on our most boarding facilities will
offer a certain diet that they feed the animals while
they're there. Usually a general kennel diet. Our general kennel
food is a very mild, easily digestible food, not super
(03:52):
flavored or colored or anything, so very very middle of
the road type of food for most dogs. We we
are happy and we recommend that if you're going to
bring your dog for boarding that you bring some of
their own food from home. If your dog's eating the
same food from home, they're less likely to have gi
to stress from changing from one food to the other.
(04:15):
But it's speaking on that it's important to understand it's
not out of the ordinary for dogs that come for
boarding to not eat for a day or two. Right, Okay,
everything is new to them, so normal instinct for most
dogs when they're in an environment where they feel a
little bit of anxiety or stress or it's just different.
(04:36):
Is the eating slows down. Okay, When if you bring
food for your dog and you come to get your
dog and there's not a lot of food gone from
the bag, don't necessarily jump to the conclusion that the
people didn't feed your food. Your dog might not have
(04:57):
ate as much food as you think they normally they
should from home, like they might eat two cups a
day at home. In a boarding situation, they might eat
a cup. Some dogs go the other way when they
deal with kind of like with me with stress and anxiety, I.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Eat more more.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So it's important if your dog is sensitive to changing
foods or different things like that in the GI system.
One way to help with that is to stick with
the diet that they're on and bring bring enough of
that for your dog's boarding state, but understand that it
might not be the same amount they do at home. Okay, Medication,
(05:34):
most boarding facilities, if your dog's on daily medication, they
will give the medication to your dog. Now, understand that
the only way in a boarding situation that we know
ninety nine point nine percent sure that your dog takes
that medication is if we open those jaws up, stick
(05:56):
the old stick it in the old throat, and put
the finger in and make them swallow it. Okay. Now,
a lot of dogs don't like that, a lot of
boarding facilities don't like that. So majority of the time,
most boarding facilities US included will try to get your
dog to take their medication with some substance like peanut,
butter cheese, you know, something like that. In fact, most
(06:18):
owners do that at home with their dogs. So whatever
the process is that you've usually used at home to
help your dog take their medication, bring those supplies with you. Also.
Most good boarding facilities probably have the same thing and
they're doing the same technique as you, but it's important
to think about bringing those things also when you take
(06:40):
your dog boarding. The next thing, once we get all
the food and supplies, everybody's like, well, should I bring
their bed or should I bring a towel or something
like that. If it's your first time having your dog bored,
it is usually good to bring something simple with the
scent from home. Okay, maybe a towel from home or
(07:02):
something like that. Do not bring the huge, gigantic mattress
couch size beds, okay. Ninety eight percent of the time
when those come in, especially if the dog is a
first time border, they basically become the dog world's biggest
chew toy. And it looks like it snows in there, okay,
(07:22):
because dogs with anxiety tend to direct it towards chewing,
and that bed if they get a small hole in
it and they start pulling out the stuffing just like
they would on a stuffed toy or anything like that,
then that's what you have that bed usually in some
or if you bring blankets or towels and they are chewers,
we don't want them to chew the towel and the
(07:43):
blanket and end up swallowing it, and then we have
a foreign body issue. So a simple bath towel from
home with a little bit of scent on it. Most
boarding kennels, if it's their first time and the dog
is known to chew things at home, they may say
we might have to go a different way. Where most
boarding facilities are doing the best they can to keep
(08:04):
your dog in the safest environment possible. And if they
say something about taking something out or not giving something
because it seems and it seems weird to you, it's
probably because they've had an experience with it before. So
trust them when they say that. Same way with treats
and toys and bones and different things. Normally, our protocol
(08:27):
is we don't mind if you bring some stuffy toys
or whatever your dog likes, balls, whatever, make sure they're
durable and not swallowable. Okay, most stuffed toys with squeakers, shakers,
anything that's making noise inside the toy. The last thing
we want to do is have your dog tear that
open while we're closed at night and then come back
(08:50):
in the next morning and we can't find where that is.
So something like that. The great new toys they're making now.
They're basically a stuffed toy with no uughing in it,
but the skeleton of the stuffed toy is a rope toy. Okay,
So those are pretty nice because there's nothing really swallowable
and it gives your dog some time to work on
(09:11):
something like that. Bones are another one, Okay. A lot
of people like to bring raw hides and just for
heads up, and in most boarding facilities, raw hides are
a no go. Usually because we've talked about raw hides
before and the industry has really kind of changed over
the years. You have better options now besides the old
(09:32):
raw hide bone with the two knots on the end,
for the simple fact that raw hide softens up when
the dog choose it easy to swallow those type of things.
We've had people bring in the hard nyla bones from
home and they've the dogs chewed them and they look
like a prison shank. So we're not going to put
something like that in your boarding physic in your dog's
(09:52):
boarding kennel, so something big, something not easy to swallow.
Those are all good choices when it comes to toys
that you want to bring along with your dog. But
on the same note as anything else with the feeding,
they may not get played with. Okay, for the first
two to three days. Your dog has to get adjusted
to the new routine of whatever the boarding facility is doing,
(10:14):
whether they take them outside three times a day, four
times a day, two times a day, whatever the routine is,
it will take a couple days for your dog to
have that routine. Accidents house training accidents are not uncommon.
Even if the dog is perfect at home. There's a
lot of.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Scent in kennels.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Okay, the dog four doors down may appede on his bed,
and now that your dog smells that, and that triggers
a housebreaking issue with your dog. So just because it
occurs in a kennel doesn't mean that it's something that
the kennel's not doing, and it doesn't mean that it's
not going to go back to normal when you get home,
back into a normal routine, so be aware of that
(10:56):
as you go. Things may have to be laundered or
three times that you bring in, so understand that. So
the idea is, now we're talked about what you bring toys, food,
and now we talk about behavior. Okay. The new trend
in a lot of boarding facilities is cameras. And I
(11:17):
say this because I saw a person do this when
I was on my vacation. We were sitting in a
restaurant and this woman took out her camera and she
went to this site and there was the video of
her dog in the kennel, you know. And I'm interested
now because I hear dogs barking in my ear and
I look over and I see this camera and she
can sit and watch her dog at the kennel. Sounds
(11:40):
like a great deal, right, And I'm not saying it's not,
but I, of course, me being nosy, I have to
look over to the screen and see what this kennel's
all about, because as a kennel owner, I want to see.
And I look and there's the dog just standing staring
at the door, just standing there, staring at the door.
(12:00):
And I look at that, and she looks at that,
and I'm wondering how her feelings are as she sees
that dog. Majority of people are like, look at that
poor dog is so depressed. Yeah, you know. And that's
what you need to understand about dog behavior is that
when your dog is home and you're at work, if
they're sitting in the house, you know, they're probably doing
(12:22):
much the same behavior that they do in a kennel situation.
They're looking at the door, looking at the window, laying
on the bed, so forth, and so on. Okay, But
when it's a kennel situation, human nature pet owner nature
is oh my god, they're dying from loneliness, you know.
And it might be your dog just saying, wonder what
(12:45):
Bob two doors down.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Is doing today.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I wonder if they're going to come by, or if
Mike's going to bring my food bowl here in a
little bit or whatever. You know, So understand certain dog
behavior is not always what the message is in your brain.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
In o case, so.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
You might look in there, your dog may look very depressed. Okay.
On those cameras, you might see an accident, you might
see whatever. Okay, I'm not saying anything about the cameras.
I think they're a great idea, but do understand how
your dog's behavior is different when you get there, when
they get there, and eventually they'll get comfortable, get in
(13:24):
the routine, but it does take two to three days.
You might leave the place. Look twenty minutes later on
your camera and your dog looks or is barking or
pacing or doing something that looks very high anxiety. That's
probably because it is. It will be for a couple
of days, okay. But a lot of times dogs are
much more adaptable than people, and they adapt to the
(13:46):
program as they go, understanding your dog's behavior when they
come home from boarding, all right. A lot of people
they come pick up their dog from boarding, take the
dog home. Dog sleeps for two day straight or goes home,
and the first thing it does when it gets home
is it runs over to its waterbed waterbed water bowl
(14:07):
and drinks down the whole water bowl.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Now, most owners observation in cases like that as well.
They must not have gave him any water while he
was there, right, okay, or any food. He must not
have got any sleep while he was there or anything.
Stress A reaction for most dogs is to drink water, okay,
So regardless of where they are, that tends to be
a stress reaction or reaction to a new environment as
(14:33):
they go. So that water drinking when they go home
is not a sign that they didn't have water. It's
just a sign that, Okay, I'm back home. I got
a lot of stress to redirect, so forth and so on.
On the sleeping thing for two days or whatever. It's
very much the same as if you go on vacation, okay,
and you sleep in a hotel bed for four days
(14:56):
or five days, and maybe it's not vacation, maybe it's
worth right, okay, And you don't sleep well, all right.
You don't sleep the same as you do in your house.
At home. You hear different noises, you hear the neighbors
next door, so forth, and so on. So when you
finally do get home, your sleep at home is much
more comfortable and much better than it is in that environment.
(15:16):
That's what that's all about, right, Okay. There's a lot
of action your dog's not used to that occurs in
a boarding kennel on a daily situation, so they're responding
a lot more so they do get more tired, So
that's not an uncommon thing when they go home. A
little bit of loose stool when a dog goes home
is not so uncommon either, okay, because that's a stress reaction.
(15:42):
A lot of time, a little bit of loose stool.
When a dog comes in for boarding the first couple
of days is not necessarily a big red flag on
our part either, because that's a typical stress reaction to
a lot of dogs, and usually it works itself out
after a day or so. Be at home. If you're
worried about it, as with all things, you contact your
(16:03):
veterinarian and ask them a question about it. But these
are the norms of worrisome moments that people and owners
have when it comes to boarding. And again, because we
are people and they are children. Okay, it is a
stressful situation, but I can guarantee it's probably ninety ten
(16:27):
on the stress level human to dog. Yeah, okay, because
dogs are super adaptable to things and we do nothing
but worry all the time. Anyways, But if you are
looking to do a have your pet boarded, it's good
to take a visit to the boarding facility without your
dog first and see what their program is. If you've
got time before the trip and you're worried about you know,
(16:51):
it's a month or two away and the place has daycare.
We do this a lot because we have daycare. Dog
comes in days the day, goes home, gets used to
the environment, other dogs, barking people, so forth, and so on,
so that when the big trip comes where you're gone
for two weeks, it's not such a big stress anymore.
(17:11):
So that's a that's an option too if you're looking
to board. But those are all things to pay attention
to and ninety nine point nine percent out of the
time your situation will be good.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And you guys have done boarding for decades. If folks
are interested in boarding with Edgefield, not only can they board,
they can also do training and programs like that as well.
Talk a little bit about how you guys do that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, we're a full service pet care facility, our boarding facility.
If you're going on vacation, you can board with us.
We also have residence program training programs where the dog
comes and stays with us for a period of time.
You might be on vacation and while they're there, they're
getting trained. So then when you come back from your vacation,
you pick up your dog, you start your follow up
(17:55):
lessons to where you learn what you need to do,
and you have a trained dog within a couple weeks
after you come back from vacation. So that's a good
program to do if you're interested in any of that,
but if you're interested in any pet care stuff. Edgefield
Animal Care Center is a full service veterinary hospital, boarding,
groomy training in the central Ohio area. Easiest way to
(18:17):
find out all about us is you get on our
website at edgefieldanimalcare dot com.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
There you go and check out all the episodes of
the Dog Professor podcast. Wherever you find your podcast, you're
going to love it. Just About every question you can
even think of has already been addressed, so check that
It's The Dog Professor Podcast with the Dog Professor Rob
Lust from the Edgefield Animal Care Center. How you doing,
my friend? Good good. We are talking about boarding. We're
here as we're recording this today, in the holiday season,
and boarding and all of that is extremely important now.
People are going on vacation, they're taking trips, they're going
to see their families. In one of our last episodes,
(00:23):
we talked about traveling with your pet. In this episode,
we're going to talk about boarding your pet and what
to expect because I imagine a lot of people come
into that boarding situation and have no idea what's going
to happen. Oh for sure, for sure, unless you've boarded
your pet before, you know, it's always a stressful situation
in an owner's mind, Like what do I got to
go to Grandma's house. We can't take the dog with us.
(00:44):
What are we going to do with the dog? The
dog's never boarded before. I've never boarded my dog before.
How am I going to respond? So forth and so on.
So I'm going to talk a.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Little bit about the normal things that occur in a
boarding situation. So that you know, we've boarded dogs, we've
ran a boarding kennel for thirty five forty years, so
we've seen just about knock on wood everything in a
boarding situation. And the first thing you need to understand
(01:16):
is that when you board your dog, your dog's not
going to nine times out of ten behave the same
way that they do at home. As good as a
boarding facility can be, it's still not your dog's normal
routine at home, and dogs, just like people, are very
routine oriented. Okay, So when you take your dog to boarding,
(01:38):
the first thing to understand and realize is that most
boarding facilities to keep viruses and different things from occurring.
A boarding facility is a big, enclosed facility, right, Okay,
It's like a school or a hospital, all right, And
everybody knows in the human world the two biggest places
(02:00):
where sickness gets passed around is schools and hospitals, So
a boarding facility in the dog world is very much
that same way. So you'll most likely if you're going
to board in a boarding facility, you'll be required to
have your pets have certain vaccines, sometimes outside of the
normal vaccine regiment. So the normal vaccine regimen for most
(02:21):
dogs that don't board is you know, distemper, parvo, rabis,
and actually bordotello, which is an airborne virus. That's that's
pretty much normal in the routine. In our boarding facility,
we would definitely require those vaccines. But we also require
canine influenza, which is the dog flu, another big airborne
(02:43):
virus that spreads pretty quickly, So we require that for
protection of your pet and the other pets in the
boarding facility. So vaccines some you might not have already had.
It's always important to check with the facility as to
what they require. And on the same note, if they
don't require a bunch of vaccines, then you should have
(03:05):
a small question mark in your brain about that facility
or most most places will require proof that you've had
those vaccines, and usually that's the easiest way to do
that is to tell your veterinarian to send the records
over or whatever whatever the protocol is in cases like that.
So we got the vaccines out of the way, we've
(03:27):
got our reservation for boarding. Now we're wondering what should
we bring. Okay, well, on our most boarding facilities will
offer a certain diet that they feed the animals while
they're there. Usually a general kennel diet. Our general kennel
food is a very mild, easily digestible food, not super
(03:52):
flavored or colored or anything, so very very middle of
the road type of food for most dogs. We we
are happy and we recommend that if you're going to
bring your dog for boarding that you bring some of
their own food from home. If your dog's eating the
same food from home, they're less likely to have gi
to stress from changing from one food to the other.
(04:15):
But it's speaking on that it's important to understand it's
not out of the ordinary for dogs that come for
boarding to not eat for a day or two. Right, Okay,
everything is new to them, so normal instinct for most
dogs when they're in an environment where they feel a
little bit of anxiety or stress or it's just different.
(04:36):
Is the eating slows down. Okay, When if you bring
food for your dog and you come to get your
dog and there's not a lot of food gone from
the bag, don't necessarily jump to the conclusion that the
people didn't feed your food. Your dog might not have
(04:57):
ate as much food as you think they normally they
should from home, like they might eat two cups a
day at home. In a boarding situation, they might eat
a cup. Some dogs go the other way when they
deal with kind of like with me with stress and anxiety, I.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Eat more more.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So it's important if your dog is sensitive to changing
foods or different things like that in the GI system.
One way to help with that is to stick with
the diet that they're on and bring bring enough of
that for your dog's boarding state, but understand that it
might not be the same amount they do at home. Okay, Medication,
(05:34):
most boarding facilities, if your dog's on daily medication, they
will give the medication to your dog. Now, understand that
the only way in a boarding situation that we know
ninety nine point nine percent sure that your dog takes
that medication is if we open those jaws up, stick
(05:56):
the old stick it in the old throat, and put
the finger in and make them swallow it. Okay. Now,
a lot of dogs don't like that, a lot of
boarding facilities don't like that. So majority of the time,
most boarding facilities US included will try to get your
dog to take their medication with some substance like peanut,
butter cheese, you know, something like that. In fact, most
(06:18):
owners do that at home with their dogs. So whatever
the process is that you've usually used at home to
help your dog take their medication, bring those supplies with you. Also.
Most good boarding facilities probably have the same thing and
they're doing the same technique as you, but it's important
to think about bringing those things also when you take
(06:40):
your dog boarding. The next thing, once we get all
the food and supplies, everybody's like, well, should I bring
their bed or should I bring a towel or something
like that. If it's your first time having your dog bored,
it is usually good to bring something simple with the
scent from home. Okay, maybe a towel from home or
(07:02):
something like that. Do not bring the huge, gigantic mattress
couch size beds, okay. Ninety eight percent of the time
when those come in, especially if the dog is a
first time border, they basically become the dog world's biggest
chew toy. And it looks like it snows in there, okay,
(07:22):
because dogs with anxiety tend to direct it towards chewing,
and that bed if they get a small hole in
it and they start pulling out the stuffing just like
they would on a stuffed toy or anything like that,
then that's what you have that bed usually in some
or if you bring blankets or towels and they are chewers,
we don't want them to chew the towel and the
(07:43):
blanket and end up swallowing it, and then we have
a foreign body issue. So a simple bath towel from
home with a little bit of scent on it. Most
boarding kennels, if it's their first time and the dog
is known to chew things at home, they may say
we might have to go a different way. Where most
boarding facilities are doing the best they can to keep
(08:04):
your dog in the safest environment possible. And if they
say something about taking something out or not giving something
because it seems and it seems weird to you, it's
probably because they've had an experience with it before. So
trust them when they say that. Same way with treats
and toys and bones and different things. Normally, our protocol
(08:27):
is we don't mind if you bring some stuffy toys
or whatever your dog likes, balls, whatever, make sure they're
durable and not swallowable. Okay, most stuffed toys with squeakers, shakers,
anything that's making noise inside the toy. The last thing
we want to do is have your dog tear that
open while we're closed at night and then come back
(08:50):
in the next morning and we can't find where that is.
So something like that. The great new toys they're making now.
They're basically a stuffed toy with no uughing in it,
but the skeleton of the stuffed toy is a rope toy. Okay,
So those are pretty nice because there's nothing really swallowable
and it gives your dog some time to work on
(09:11):
something like that. Bones are another one, Okay. A lot
of people like to bring raw hides and just for
heads up, and in most boarding facilities, raw hides are
a no go. Usually because we've talked about raw hides
before and the industry has really kind of changed over
the years. You have better options now besides the old
(09:32):
raw hide bone with the two knots on the end,
for the simple fact that raw hide softens up when
the dog choose it easy to swallow those type of things.
We've had people bring in the hard nyla bones from
home and they've the dogs chewed them and they look
like a prison shank. So we're not going to put
something like that in your boarding physic in your dog's
(09:52):
boarding kennel, so something big, something not easy to swallow.
Those are all good choices when it comes to toys
that you want to bring along with your dog. But
on the same note as anything else with the feeding,
they may not get played with. Okay, for the first
two to three days. Your dog has to get adjusted
to the new routine of whatever the boarding facility is doing,
(10:14):
whether they take them outside three times a day, four
times a day, two times a day, whatever the routine is,
it will take a couple days for your dog to
have that routine. Accidents house training accidents are not uncommon.
Even if the dog is perfect at home. There's a
lot of.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Scent in kennels.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Okay, the dog four doors down may appede on his bed,
and now that your dog smells that, and that triggers
a housebreaking issue with your dog. So just because it
occurs in a kennel doesn't mean that it's something that
the kennel's not doing, and it doesn't mean that it's
not going to go back to normal when you get home,
back into a normal routine, so be aware of that
(10:56):
as you go. Things may have to be laundered or
three times that you bring in, so understand that. So
the idea is, now we're talked about what you bring toys, food,
and now we talk about behavior. Okay. The new trend
in a lot of boarding facilities is cameras. And I
(11:17):
say this because I saw a person do this when
I was on my vacation. We were sitting in a
restaurant and this woman took out her camera and she
went to this site and there was the video of
her dog in the kennel, you know. And I'm interested
now because I hear dogs barking in my ear and
I look over and I see this camera and she
can sit and watch her dog at the kennel. Sounds
(11:40):
like a great deal, right, And I'm not saying it's not,
but I, of course, me being nosy, I have to
look over to the screen and see what this kennel's
all about, because as a kennel owner, I want to see.
And I look and there's the dog just standing staring
at the door, just standing there, staring at the door.
(12:00):
And I look at that, and she looks at that,
and I'm wondering how her feelings are as she sees
that dog. Majority of people are like, look at that
poor dog is so depressed. Yeah, you know. And that's
what you need to understand about dog behavior is that
when your dog is home and you're at work, if
they're sitting in the house, you know, they're probably doing
(12:22):
much the same behavior that they do in a kennel situation.
They're looking at the door, looking at the window, laying
on the bed, so forth, and so on. Okay, But
when it's a kennel situation, human nature pet owner nature
is oh my god, they're dying from loneliness, you know.
And it might be your dog just saying, wonder what
(12:45):
Bob two doors down.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Is doing today.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I wonder if they're going to come by, or if
Mike's going to bring my food bowl here in a
little bit or whatever. You know, So understand certain dog
behavior is not always what the message is in your brain.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
In o case, so.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
You might look in there, your dog may look very depressed. Okay.
On those cameras, you might see an accident, you might
see whatever. Okay, I'm not saying anything about the cameras.
I think they're a great idea, but do understand how
your dog's behavior is different when you get there, when
they get there, and eventually they'll get comfortable, get in
(13:24):
the routine, but it does take two to three days.
You might leave the place. Look twenty minutes later on
your camera and your dog looks or is barking or
pacing or doing something that looks very high anxiety. That's
probably because it is. It will be for a couple
of days, okay. But a lot of times dogs are
much more adaptable than people, and they adapt to the
(13:46):
program as they go, understanding your dog's behavior when they
come home from boarding, all right. A lot of people
they come pick up their dog from boarding, take the
dog home. Dog sleeps for two day straight or goes home,
and the first thing it does when it gets home
is it runs over to its waterbed waterbed water bowl
(14:07):
and drinks down the whole water bowl.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Now, most owners observation in cases like that as well.
They must not have gave him any water while he
was there, right, okay, or any food. He must not
have got any sleep while he was there or anything.
Stress A reaction for most dogs is to drink water, okay,
So regardless of where they are, that tends to be
a stress reaction or reaction to a new environment as
(14:33):
they go. So that water drinking when they go home
is not a sign that they didn't have water. It's
just a sign that, Okay, I'm back home. I got
a lot of stress to redirect, so forth and so on.
On the sleeping thing for two days or whatever. It's
very much the same as if you go on vacation, okay,
and you sleep in a hotel bed for four days
(14:56):
or five days, and maybe it's not vacation, maybe it's
worth right, okay, And you don't sleep well, all right.
You don't sleep the same as you do in your house.
At home. You hear different noises, you hear the neighbors
next door, so forth, and so on. So when you
finally do get home, your sleep at home is much
more comfortable and much better than it is in that environment.
(15:16):
That's what that's all about, right, Okay. There's a lot
of action your dog's not used to that occurs in
a boarding kennel on a daily situation, so they're responding
a lot more so they do get more tired, So
that's not an uncommon thing when they go home. A
little bit of loose stool when a dog goes home
is not so uncommon either, okay, because that's a stress reaction.
(15:42):
A lot of time, a little bit of loose stool.
When a dog comes in for boarding the first couple
of days is not necessarily a big red flag on
our part either, because that's a typical stress reaction to
a lot of dogs, and usually it works itself out
after a day or so. Be at home. If you're
worried about it, as with all things, you contact your
(16:03):
veterinarian and ask them a question about it. But these
are the norms of worrisome moments that people and owners
have when it comes to boarding. And again, because we
are people and they are children. Okay, it is a
stressful situation, but I can guarantee it's probably ninety ten
(16:27):
on the stress level human to dog. Yeah, okay, because
dogs are super adaptable to things and we do nothing
but worry all the time. Anyways, But if you are
looking to do a have your pet boarded, it's good
to take a visit to the boarding facility without your
dog first and see what their program is. If you've
got time before the trip and you're worried about you know,
(16:51):
it's a month or two away and the place has daycare.
We do this a lot because we have daycare. Dog
comes in days the day, goes home, gets used to
the environment, other dogs, barking people, so forth, and so on,
so that when the big trip comes where you're gone
for two weeks, it's not such a big stress anymore.
(17:11):
So that's a that's an option too if you're looking
to board. But those are all things to pay attention
to and ninety nine point nine percent out of the
time your situation will be good.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And you guys have done boarding for decades. If folks
are interested in boarding with Edgefield, not only can they board,
they can also do training and programs like that as well.
Talk a little bit about how you guys do that.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, we're a full service pet care facility, our boarding facility.
If you're going on vacation, you can board with us.
We also have residence program training programs where the dog
comes and stays with us for a period of time.
You might be on vacation and while they're there, they're
getting trained. So then when you come back from your vacation,
you pick up your dog, you start your follow up
(17:55):
lessons to where you learn what you need to do,
and you have a trained dog within a couple weeks
after you come back from vacation. So that's a good
program to do if you're interested in any of that,
but if you're interested in any pet care stuff. Edgefield
Animal Care Center is a full service veterinary hospital, boarding,
groomy training in the central Ohio area. Easiest way to
(18:17):
find out all about us is you get on our
website at edgefieldanimalcare dot com.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
There you go and check out all the episodes of
the Dog Professor podcast. Wherever you find your podcast, you're
going to love it. Just About every question you can
even think of has already been addressed, so check that
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