KENNEL USE IN A "KENNEL-FREE" BOARDING SETTING

We boast that Good Dog is a “kennel-free” facility because overall, keeping dogs in a kennel is not the norm here. We get occasional questions about kennel use and it’s quite simple: some dogs need kennel time. The needed kennel time could be for a myriad of reasons such as a time-out for an over-stimulated dog, a protective measure for an aggressive dog or a dog that was subject to aggression, or even a cozy spot to snooze.

Thomas, Hazel, & Olive spotted an open kennel and decided to put themselves in it!

Time Out

Sometimes when your good dog comes to Good Dog to spend the day or for boarding, they can become over-stimulated in a room full of dogs. This isn’t bad, it just means they’re having a lot of fun playing with the other dogs and don’t have self-regulation tools needed to know that they need to take a break. When that happens, we’ll take them out of play for a while, put them in a kennel or other isolated area, and give them a break. This break allows them to catch their breath, calm down, and prepare to be reintroduced to group play.

Safety

While your dogs are safe in our care, the reality is that conflicts occasionally arise - just as they do on the playground at a school. When that happens, we have to act quickly and handle the situation immediately. Sometimes that calls for separating the dogs involved and putting them in kennels for a rest period. If the scuffle is serious, we won’t introduce them back into the same playgroup at the same time so we can avoid future conflict.

Naptime

When a dog is clearly tired and needs some downtime, we’ve found kennels to be useful in that they can get some rest as they desire - keep in mind, sometimes it’s hard to take a snooze in an active playroom. In addition to naptime, some dogs are used to sleeping in a kennel at home and when that’s the case, they’re able to do that at Good Dog, too.

In addition to the use of kennels, we frequently use our Boarding Room as an additional space for dogs that need to be out of the regular groups for awhile. It’s a common occurrence for some dogs at Good Dog to be moved around a bit during the day so we can ensure they have a pleasant experience with us and enjoy coming back.