I would not recommend boarding for fearful, flight-risk, or skittish dogs. We agreed it was best to cut the stay short and pick up our dogs the next morning after we learned that our two fearful, flight-risk rescues were left outside overnight, even though we shared that they should never be outside unsupervised. One came home injured (bloody paw from a thorn we had to remove, and limping), and both were covered in foxtails, which we emphasized we wanted checked at the end of the day to make sure they didn't dig into their skin. We got zero photos and almost no unprompted communication once the stay started. I'd mentioned several times that we weren't traveling and were home and available if any issues came up. We could have easily driven up to help get their leads back on and checked them for foxtails and thorns ourselves. Instead, the dogs were left outside all night, they didn't sleep, they came back shaken up, and I didn't sleep either due to worry. I'd recommend Alexis for dogs that are easygoing, confident, & have great recall with people they just met. Set expectations and come to an agreement in writing on how often you'd like an update. Alexis & her family were very kind, and it is undeniable that they love dogs. There was another dog that was boarded during the same time. I got to interact with him briefly, and he looked extremely happy/well-taken care of and very energetic. If you are booking for a longer trip, I would book a trial stay ahead of time to make sure you are a good fit for one another. This was a trial two-night boarding to vet for a longer trip. Since it was our dogs' first boarding experience ever & they are very fearful, I shared that I'd like to know how they settled at the end of the day for peace of mind and that we love photos. I also shared that we'd cancelled our trip and would be home, so if any issues came up with the dogs, to let us know that we can drive up and help. We were clear that the dogs should not be outside unsupervised and emphasized this multiple times: screener message, meet-and-greet, care document, drop-off, and both ended up outside overnight. Our dogs are bolters and hard to leash outdoors, even for us. My partner caught them and put drag lines on during drop-off, but Alexis said those weren't necessary since she would not be opening the main gate much. I wanted to respect her opinion, so I took them off. For one of our dogs specifically, we recommended maybe keeping his drag line on at all times and only taking him outside leashed since he is a tough one. Alexis was unable to catch them to bring them inside, so she gave up and left the door open for them. At drop-off, I asked for an end-of-day update and photos. I got one reply to a message I shared within minutes of drop-off, then nothing all day and night. No photos, no updates since dropping them off at 11 am. Before bed, I was getting worried, so I checked the dogs' tracker, which showed them outside at almost 10 pm. I messaged twice on Rover, an hour and a half apart, to make sure they were settled inside and to say she should let us know if she was having trouble getting them in. No response. By midnight, I still hadn't heard back all day, so I sent a single text to her personal phone number: "Hi! Texting cause not sure if Rover is going through. I just woke up, and we are getting very worried because both trackers are showing the dogs are still outside. Can you please let me know if you are not able to get them in? I am having a hard time going back to sleep without knowing they are inside and safe. Thanks!" I got zero sleep that night and had to fight the urge to call since I refreshed their trackers all night and they were usually outside by the fenceline, and one of my dogs is a digger. The following morning, Alexis sent a short message saying she'd call me at 8 a.m.m and that the dogs were fine, with zero details. On the call, she said my text to her phone had crossed a boundary and made her uncomfortable. I said I understood, but that I'd never heard back or gotten an update the entire day, and I'd seen my dogs were out all night, which we'd made clear was a huge no. I learned she'd tried to get them in but gave up because their leads were off and the dogs were running away from her in her very large lot. I don't blame her for not being able to leash two fearful, bolting dogs, that's hard even for us, and she witnessed that twice during our meet-and-greet and drop-off. The main issue is that she didn't let us know she was having trouble, and that she overrode one of our biggest asks, to never leave the dogs outside unsupervised. I would have happily driven to her and helped get them inside or take them home. She shared that my checking my dogs' location on their tracker was intrusive. We use Tractive, which only shows location, activity, and sleep metrics...there is no camera or voice recorder at all. She emphasized her yard is safe, so she didn't see an issue with leaving her door open overnight, and that if they did manage to escape, they each have not one but two trackers (Tractive & AirTag) for a reason. Relying on a tracker to find escaped dogs is a worst-case scenario, not a plan we'd ever feel comfortable agreeing to. I was thinking of ways to make this work, so I asked if we could set a cadence going forward because, in my mind, simple communication could have prevented all of this. I believe my use of "cadence" felt too regimented because she replied she isn't "a dog concierge," and that she provides a large safe yard. I apologized and said two updates with photos a day didn't feel like a lot to ask, and she agreed. Ultimately, after the call, my partner and I decided we didn't feel comfortable, and I felt like I was tiptoeing, so we all agreed to cut the stay short. Both dogs looked rough. One had a large splinter in his bloody paw and was limping for days. Both were covered in foxtails and spiral weeds. Their sleep trackers dropped far below their usual 85%+ (one at 0%, one at 20%), indicating they also did not sleep all night. We're sad because we absolutely loved the yard so much. But for anxious or skittish flight-risk dogs, or a first-time stay where end-of-day communication matters for peace of mind, this wasn't the right fit for us.

We are so happy to have found Alexis for taking our dog into her home and property for a 9 day stay. It was really our first time to leave him and she treated him like her own. We loved that she sent updates and photos about how well he was settling in. What peace of mind to know he was getting attention and care in a family environment and not at a commercial boarding facility. He had plenty of room to roam around her yard and even a couch he was allowed to sleep on. Jaxson will be happy to return to Alexis’s care in the future and so will we!