Taking your pet to a boarding facility is the ideal solution for busy pet parents who hate leaving their furry friends’ home alone unattended. Some dogs, especially ones with separation anxiety, stress out over going to dog boarding facilities. Some pets are too attached to their pet parents and may struggle to adjust to a new environment.

Bridewell Hilltop Boarding Kennels and Cattery is the leading boarding center in the Novato area. If you are looking for exceptions for pet care while you are away, give Bridewell Hilltop Kennel a call. Our team of professionals understands that a pet can be nervous, especially on their first visits to a new care facility. That is why our team has compiled a few tips to help you prepare your pet for kennel boarding.

Crate Train at Home

If you have never left your furry friend in a crate before, now is a perfect time. The purpose of crate training is to make a dog understand that the crate is its friend, not its foe. For a nervous dog, crate training makes the boarding experience less stressful and scary. It may also help with obedience training.

When you create and train your pooch, you establish its crate as a place of safety and comfort. Follow these steps to crate train your pup:

• Introduce the crate. Put your pooch’s favorite toy or blanket inside it. Bring it over to the crate. Speak in a soft, reassuring tone. Drop your favorite treats near the crate and inside it. If they hesitate to go all the way in at first, don’t force it
• Feed your pooch inside the crate. If the canine readily enters the crate, leave food inside it. If they are still reluctant to enter the crate, add the food dish only as long as your pooch will readily go without getting anxious. Each time you feed them, put the dish a little further back. Once your furry friend gets used to the crate’s environment, start closing the door while they eat
• Gradually increase the length of crating periods. Sit quietly near the crate for 10 minutes and then go into another room. Once your dog gets familiar with the crate’s environment and will stay quiet for at least 30 minutes with you gone, start creating it for shorter periods
• Crate your dog when you leave home and for bed at night

Visit the Boarding You Are Considering with Your Pooch

Before boarding your four-legged friend, visit the dog boarding kennels near you that you are considering. A visit to the facility will get your dog acquainted with the new environment.

During the visit, watch how your pooch reacts to new sights, sounds, and smells. See if it readily approaches the staff. Watch how your pet reacts to the staff, and how the trained handlers adapt to your pet’s behavior. A sign of a trustworthy facility is the staff that interacts with new visitors carefully and patiently.

Do a Trial Run

Before boarding your pooch for an extended time, test the waters. Keep your pooch’s first few stays short, no more than a day or two. If everything goes well, start boarding it for two or three nights. Once you establish a routine and your dog knows that you will come back for it, the canine will get used to the kennel staff.

Bridewell Hilltop Boarding Kennels & Cattery is one of the most trusted dog boarding facilities in Novato. We go above and beyond to ensure our guests have the best boarding experience. To make an appointment, call (415) 897-5471.