How To Pack For Your Dog's First Boarding Stay
Almost every first-time owner packs too much of the wrong thing and none of the right thing. After fifteen years of unpacking bags on the reception floor, here is what actually makes a difference to the first night.
Bring Their Food, Measured
Not a new bag of something similar. The exact food they eat at home, in the amount they eat, ideally split into daily portions with the quantity written on each one. A sudden diet change on top of a new building is the most common reason a dog has a bad first forty-eight hours.
If they are on anything unusual, tell us at booking rather than at the door. We keep a fridge and a freezer, so fresh and raw diets are not a problem, but they need a shelf allocated before you arrive.
One Thing That Smells Of Home
An unwashed t-shirt beats an expensive bed every time. Beds get washed between guests, which removes the smell that made them comforting. A worn piece of your clothing keeps working for the whole stay.
The item that settles a nervous dog fastest is almost never the one the owner spent money on. It is usually the thing they nearly left at home. Helena Voss, Founder
Medication In Its Original Packaging
Loose tablets in a sandwich bag cannot be verified, so we cannot give them. Original boxes, with the pharmacy label and the dosage, mean two carers can check and counter-sign every dose. It takes an extra minute at handover and removes an entire category of mistake.
What To Leave At Home
Rawhide, anything they can destroy unsupervised, and their favourite toy. The first two are a choking risk in an unsupervised suite overnight. The third is simply the item most likely to be lost, and losing it is a worse afternoon for everyone than not having brought it.
Say Goodbye Quickly
The longest goodbyes make the hardest first hours. Hand over the lead, tell us anything we do not already know, and go. Every carer here will tell you the same thing: the dogs whose owners leave briskly are settled before the car is out of the drive.
Helena Voss
Started Pawtel with four kennels in 2009 and still walks the night round twice a week. Writes here about the parts of boarding nobody advertises.
Three Comments
Helena Voss
13 September 2026It catches almost everyone out. We now say it on the phone at booking rather than waiting for the handover.
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Imogen Clarke
14 September 2026Would you take a dog who has never been away overnight at all? Ours is eight and has only ever stayed with family.
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Tom Beckley
13 September 2026The t-shirt thing is real. We brought a bed the first time and it did nothing. Second stay we sent an old jumper and he was fine by lunchtime.
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