All dogs who visit us must be in great current health as defined by the following criteria:
- Up-to-date on the following four vaccinations: Rabies, Distemper/Parvo, Bordetella, and Canine Flu (bivalent HN38/HN32).
- No active or unresolved GI issues. This includes chronically loose stool, even if that condition is your dog's "norm" and not an indicator of illness. Chronically loose stool is not sustainable in a pack setting. If your dog has chronically loose stool, please ask your vet how changes in diet, dietary supplements (e.g. VisBiome Vet probiotic), and possibly medication can restore your dog's digestive system.
- No significant mobility issues. Must be independently mobile.
- No continence issues.
- Must be groomed appropriately (coat clean, unmatted and cut to an appropriate length for the season, vision unobscured, sanitary areas not overgrown and soiled, shedding coats brushed). We do not mean your dog must be professionally groomed *right* before their visit. But if your dog has not been professionally groomed recently, we do mean that you should ensure the above areas are maintained appropriately in between grooms.
- Spayed/neutered.
- Not recovering from surgery and not in advanced stages of terminal illness. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide rehab, assisted living, or hospice level care for dogs who are experiencing the after-effects of a surgical procedure or ongoing effects of a terminal illness. If you need rehab, assisted living, or hospice level care for your dog, we recommend you arrange for a caregiver who can stay with your dog in your home.
At the beginning of your travel, your dog should be transferred directly from your care to our care (you should be the last person to care for your dog before we do). At the end of your travel, your dog should be transferred directly from our care to your care (you should be the first person to care for your dog after we do). We will not receive a dog from or deliver a dog to extended family members, friends, neighbors, or commercial caregivers. This policy ensures reliable logistics and transparent responsibilities. Of course, an emergency at our home creates an exception to this policy. In the event of an emergency at our home, we will deliver your dog to your designated emergency contact. If you cannot be home for your dog's pick up or drop off, you will need to provide us key/code access.
All dogs who stay at our home must have a designated emergency contact in the DC metro area. Friends or family outside of the DC metro area will not be able to help you, us, or your dog in the event of an emergency at our home. Your emergency contact should be someone who could guarantee receipt of your dog in the event of an emergency at our home. If you do not have someone in the DC metro area who could serve as an emergency contact, a commercial boarding facility in the DC metro area may be used (but only if your dog has been pre-socialized at that boarding facility). While we never expect a compromise in our capacity to care for your dog, we do acknowledge there are forces beyond our control (a death in our family that calls us away from town, etc.).
KIBBLE/FREEZE-DRIED: We require that you pack your dog's dry food in no larger than a gallon-sized bag/container. This bag/container must be airtight. The length of your dog's stay may require multiple bags/containers, but no single bag/container may be larger than a gallon. You may either 1) pack pre-measured meals into individual sandwich bags or 2) use gallon-sized bags to create a “bulk” supply from which we measure individual meals here. If packing pre-measured meals, an eco-friendly option is Lunchskins bags. If sending a bulk supply, an eco-friendly option is reusable silicone bags (the SPLF brand has a great gallon-sized option). The above are excellent alternatives to Ziplocs (though we accept Ziplocs). We cannot accept a bag of dry dog food straight from the store shelf regardless of the length of your dog’s stay. And we cannot accept any container larger than a gallon.
COOKED/RAW (Farmer's Dog, Ollie, Nom Nom, Home-cooked, etc.): If you feed commercial cooked or raw food, please pack this food along with a dishwasher-safe storage container for us to store thawed portions. If you home-cook food, home-cooked food should arrive prepared and in dishwasher-safe storage containers. Depending on the length of your dog’s stay, we may need to freeze a portion of your dog’s home-cooked food. This portion should arrive already cooked and in a separate dishwasher-safe container. If you feed raw, we require that you use glass storage containers.
CANNED: We ask that you pack an airtight lid with your dog’s cans.
Please note: we surcharge $25 if food is not packed according to the above specifications.
By boarding your dog with us, you authorize us to seek medical attention for your dog if we deem such attention necessary. You authorize us to do so at our vet, an emergency vet, or your vet. You also assume responsibility for all costs associated with your dog's medical care.
Trips to the vet are rare. Taking a pack member to the vet is something we have had to do almost exclusively as a result of a dog's pre-existing conditions or circumstances preceding a dog's arrival at our home (e.g. a dietary indiscretion at the dog's home prior to its arrival at ours). In the days and weeks leading up to a boarding visit, we ask you to set your dog up for success by managing (and communicating with us candidly about) these pre-existing conditions or circumstances.
Given our small model of care, a $75/hr service charge will apply for time spent obtaining veterinary care for pre-existing conditions and/or issues arising from circumstances preceding a dog's arrival at our home.
Existing clients who refer a new dog to us receive $100 toward future boarding. Existing clients receive this credit after
- The new dog successfully passes a socialization AND
- The new dog stays with us for regular boarding within 4 months of its successful socialization.
We will notify existing clients whenever a referral credit has been earned according to the above criteria. There is no limit to the number of referral credits an existing client may receive.
1) For dogs who have passed a socialization but have **NOT** yet stayed with us for regular boarding
Your dog's first regular boarding visit should occur no more than 4 months after your dog's socialization. This policy preserves the relevance and reinforces the success of that socialization. This first boarding visit must be at least two nights.
Dogs who do not board at least two nights within 4 months of a successful socialization will need to pass another socialization. Please re-complete the steps on our JOIN page (review prerequisites, complete client info form, schedule socialization).
2) For dogs who have passed a socialization **AND** stayed with us for regular boarding
During any 12-month stretch your dog should stay with us for at least 4 nights (either in a single visit or spread across visits). We regard this as the minimum threshold for preserving your dog's comfort with our pack (and, in turn, our pack's comfort with your dog).
If your dog does not stay with us for at least 4 nights during a 12-month stretch, you may renew your membership by re-completing the steps on our JOIN page (review prerequisites, complete client info form, schedule socialization).
Inclement weather (particularly snow/ice) may delay or cancel our ability to provide transport. Road conditions are one factor. Our driveway hill is another. Those of you who have visited our home know our driveway is long and hilly. Even cleared and salted, our driveway is long and steep enough to make it impassable if ice remains.
As a general rule, if Montgomery County Public Schools are closed due to weather, then it is highly likely we will not be able to handle transport. On weekends and other non-school days, we will exercise common sense and appropriate caution. We will not take unnecessary risk.
If we cannot handle transport due to weather, options are as follows:
- Tony can attempt transport on the next available day that is not impacted by weather OR
- Parents can attempt pickup or drop-off at our home. If our driveway hill is impassable, we can meet you at the bottom of our driveway to receive or return your dog.
If a storm is imminent and has the potential to impact your dog's planned arrival date, we recommend your dog arrive a day early using one of the options in our standard arrival/departure model.
During winter months, please pack additional food for your dog in the event your dog's stay is extended due to inclement weather.
Prior to each visit, we ask you to complete our boarding check-in form. To ensure currency, please complete this form only if your dog's boarding visit is less than a week away.
This form is only for confirming a pre-existing reservation. This form is not for requesting a new reservation. To request a new reservation, please contact Tony directly by email, text, or phone.