The house food remains Eukanuba Adult Small Bites  We have used it for years as it works well with almost all dogs, the small bites makes it easier to swallow for gulp eaters and small dogs alike.

If you need to bring your own food, you are more than welcome.  Do make sure it is in a well labeled bag or container, with attached instructions.

Often we will have 10 to 15 bags of food - labelling is important to avoid confusion.

We will take a couple servings and put in our buckets, which we then attach to your dogs kennel which makes things go faster during feeding.

We do not feed then exercise the dogs, giving them a period of time to digest.

For longer stays, note that dogs in general burn substantially more calories in a kennel environment and we may adjust feeding as needed.

It is also not unusual for some dogs to take a day or two to eat, due to a change in scenery, etc.  Dogs will eat when hungry, we do not pickup their food, most will eat after a day or two.

We take quite a few photos.

No matter how many we take we never please everyone.  Not every dog gets photographed, sometimes it just doesn't work, or there is a dog pooping in the background, the shot was out of focus or any number of reasons.

It can depend on the groups, the weather and how busy we are.  The camera tends to travel with the main group; so the small dogs and dogs that go out alone have a lesser chance of getting photographed.

So if you don't see photos of your dog, don't panic.

Photos are uploaded to Facebook and are in albums named for the day the photographs were taken.

It can take a day or two to post them.  If I am away, they will get done' when I get back

We do deal with all dogs and take all dogs.

When it comes to antisocial dogs, we will only take so many at a time, usually a maximum of two.

We have four separate areas and the goal for us is to have every dog out at once.  Once we feel that our four fields are full we will typically not add a dog that would require a fifth field.

It should be noted that dogs do react differently without owners, without lines and some dogs may be outwardly aggressive while with their owners but are fine without their human to protect.

Some dogs will also start aggressive with us and or with others and after a couple of days, get into our routine and adjust to us.

Kennel cough is as common as your child getting a cold at school or daycare.

While there is a vaccine for Bordetella it can in general be ineffective.  Some dogs it works, some it doesn't.

Kennel cough is self limiting in that in almost all cases, your dog will cough for a few days (it's a terrible sound) and will resolve itself in a week or so.  The only risk is a secondary infection caused by coughing.  Rare but possible.

Kennel cough is insanely contagious.  The wind blowing the right way, your dog outside, can catch it.

With an incubation period of up to a week, dogs can arrive at the kennel and go home, infecting other dogs without us knowing it.

Typically Bordetella starts in the mid summer and disappears with the first cold snap of fall.

Most vets automatically include Bordetella.  If you are summer boarding make sure your vaccine is current.

We typically don't make it mandatory but will inform via Facebook and webpage updates if we have had a case in the kennel.  In that instance we encourage everyone to vaccinate their dog.

For practical reasons we will not accept a dog into the kennel that is currently infected/coughing.

There are several reasons why we have hours and why they may seem restrictive.

Primarily, when people are coming and going, the dogs are excitable.  They hear cars, the staff interacting with clients, dogs coming and and going out.  If we did this all day the dogs would be in a constant state of activation.

When it is just staff, the dogs quiet down in five minutes or less.  The dogs need downtime in between exercise and after feeding.

Dogs get cranky and need naps, kind of like humans!

We do the bulk of the exercising when we are closed to humans.  If we have groups of dogs out and cars are arriving, the dogs know it and it and that can cause issues.

There are other reasons but the above are the two primary reasons we have somewhat restrictive hours.

The hours have evolved over fifty years, from having zero hours to the current hours.  Four changes in 50 years, the last being roughly 3 years ago when we changed our Sunday hours from 7-8pm to 4pm to 6pm.

These shots should be current and up to date at least one week before boarding:  Distemper, Parvo and Parainfluenza, Hepatitis.  Often you will see DHPP, a single shot combining these four.  In addition, Rabies should also be current, typically a 3 year booster for adult dogs.

If you are coming from the US or your dog has visited the US recently, we do require Canine Influenza.  This should be done at least 10 days prior to boarding and is an annual shot.

Bordetella (Kennel Cough) is ubiquitous in the warmer months and we do recommend the shot.  Regardless, it remains a lottery as to whether your dog will contract this upper respiratory ailment.  We will not accept a coughing dog.

Many years ago Ticks were unheard of in the area.  No longer the case.

In general I feel our property does not have many ticks.  The grass has been kept short for the past 25 years and the fence has kept out external critters.

With all the grass cutting and yard work and walking of dogs we do, never have I myself had a tick attach itself to me.  I feel if there were a lot of them, I would have had one by now.