14 Weird Things Dog Pawrents Brought to Boarding That Actually Worked

One of the hardest parts of being a pawrent is figuring out what to do with your dogs when you go on vacation. If you're anything like us, it's always a struggle. Our doggos are big boys and girls, each weighing around 60 pounds, so we can't take them with us on flights, meaning that we have to leave them behind with either a friend, family, or check them into a boarding facility. If you're lucky, you can use one of the first two options. But, one of our dogs is fear-reactive, so she needs a professional to look after her, meaning that we take her to a professional boarding company every time we leave. But this way, we know there are professional dog trainers around to make sure she can enjoy herself safely while we're not around.

We are her safety net, and without us, she gets even more anxious. Thankfully, over the years, we've learned some tips and tricks on how to make her stay there more enjoyable, and much less stressful for us, because we know she's having fun. The first thing that helped was to put an old tshirt in her bed before we dropped her off, so she has our smell with us even when we're not there. It's simple and effective! Just don't bring a shirt you can't handle being destroyed. That's tip #2!

There are lots more tips from other doggo dads and moms below, so don't be shy and learn how to make your pup's vacation just as enjoyable as yours!

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We also paid a bit extra for them to spend extra time with her. It's 100% worth the money. They take her out on private walks through nature, and put in the extra effort to find dogs that she is compatible with so she gets a good amount of playtime during her stay there. When they send us the videos of her all happy and playing with a doggo, it sets our hearts at ease knowing she's having a great time.
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We learned this lesson the hard way. The first shirt we sent with her was one our favorite shirts - we bought it probably eight years ago. Surely the older it was, the better the effect would be, right? Well, the answer was yes, but she also got bored and tore it to pieces.
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