BOARDING GUIDELINES

For those times when you have to travel out of town for quite some time, you may have trouble finding someone to take care of your pet. When this happened, you need to find a good boarding place where your pets can be boarded safely especially if veterinary attention continuously provided.

Choosing a right boarding place
Choosing a boarding place is actually not as easy as what some people think. Make sure you do some studies on the place itself whether you can depend on it or not. In order to find the best boarding place, you need to ask a lot of question and seek for recommendation from others. Normally, your friends, veterinarian, animal shelter or dog trainer can be the best and useful sources to find the best boarding place.

For other alternative, you can also look into the local directory like Yellow Pages for Kennel & Pet Boarding. Once you have names, start a background check on the place such as their previous records, license and confirm whether they can accommodate your pet for the specific dates and can address your pet's special needs.

Once you agreed and satisfied, schedule a visit to check on the place conditions. There are few guidelines you need to take into consideration during the first visit.

• Cleanliness should always be the first assessment and very much important. Make sure the place and its facility look and smell clean.
• The condition of the place should also be perfect with enough ventilation and light, and maintained temperature to make sure the pets are really comfortable.
• Identify who will take care and handle your pet during boarding. Does the staffs seem knowledgeable and caring?
• Is the place spacious enough (indoor and outdoor) for pets to have a run or exercise. You do not want your pet to be sick. So make sure the exercise place is protected from the wind, rain and heat.
• Make sure there are separated room for cat and dog to avoid any quarrel or fighting. - Find out how often they fed the pets. Can you bring any special food for your pet?
• Clarify the rates. Is it affordable and what are the services provided?

Preparing your pet for boarding
Before sending your pet to the boarding place, you had to make sure that your pet should be well socialized around other people and pets. This is to avoid any tense and aggressive situation during the boarding. To ensure safety and happiness of your pets during the period, you should also:

• Make sure your pets are vaccinated before sending them to boarding place.
• Double check that you've prepared every necessary thing like pet's medications and any special food, your vets and your contact number.
• Don't forget to remind the staff at the boarding facility about any of your pet's medical or behavior problem.
• Lastly, make sure to give your pet a warm farewell and little goodbye hug during the handout period to reduce the sadness they might feel.

Enjoy your trip.

Prepared by: Adha Ghazali