19/01/2026
How to best prepare your dog (and yourself) for boarding & daycare? 🐕
Crate training and teaching your dog to settle: I know it doesn’t feel like it initially but separation is a good thing for both of you! It builds your dog’s confidence and ability to relax away from you, which is essential if you want to go on holiday or to non dog-friendly events ever again 😅
Have some sort of feeding schedule: Having set meal times for your dog instead of all-day access helps regulate their appetite and build their food drive (which helps with training too!) if it’s already part of their home routine they are less likely to go on hunger strike in a new environment! 😂
Pack the essentials: For longer holiday boarding make sure you bring your dogs daily food, bedding/blanket/crate mat, a fitted collar and any special toys or treats they like! Of course I have spare everything here but having a few things from home can help your dog settle in easier, for daycare all that’s needed is your pup and maybe a few treats! 🥰
Complete the paperwork: Any professional boarder/petsitter should provide some sort of contract for you to complete, as lovely as this job is, accidents can happen so it’s important to have an emergency plan in place and have all your dogs details/behaviour requirements/medical info to hand!
Do a meet & greet and then a trial/settling day: This is really important once you’ve done your research and decided on a person/business. A trial day allows me to assess and bond with the new dog while they get used to my house and other dogs, and it also gives owners the opportunity to trust someone else with your dog, believe me I understand the anxiety there’s like 2 people in the whole world I trust Apollo with 😭🤣
Finally, ask questions! Ask how it works, how are the dogs walked, where they’ll be sleeping and so on for your peace of mind! I’m always happy to answer questions about how I run things and I’ll always be honest if I think a dog would benefit from a different care option 🤍
If this sounds like a good set up for you and your dog, message the page for more info! 📲