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NEW CLIENTS: A Meet & Greet is required before confirming boarding or daycare. We recommend reaching out at least two weeks before your requested booking whenever possible. Meet & Greet availability can be limited, especially around holidays and busy travel periods. ☀️ A Quick Note About First-Time Boarding Arrivals For new boarding clients, we do not offer late-afternoon or evening drop-offs. We want your dog’s first few hours with us to feel calm—not rushed. An earlier arrival gives your pup time to explore, decompress, learn the environment, meet any appropriate furry roommates, spend time with us, and settle into the rhythm of the house before we’re asking them to sleep somewhere new. Returning guests may have additional drop-off flexibility depending on our schedule and availability. We’ll coordinate available arrival windows with you before confirming your stay. Most importantly: We work with the dog in front of us. Some dogs arrive ready to make friends. Some prefer one or two carefully chosen buddies. Some would rather coexist peacefully, sniff around the yard, sunbathe, follow us through the house, or take a really good nap. All of those dogs are welcome here. Our goal isn’t to make every dog play or fit into the same routine. It’s to learn what helps your dog feel safe, comfortable and successful—and build their stay around that. ⸻ 🏡 ABOUT US & OUR APPROACH We get it—dogs are family. Handing your furry family member over to someone new can feel a little… ruff. 🐶 My husband Izzy and I are dog parents ourselves, and the standard we use is pretty simple: Would we feel comfortable leaving our own dogs in this environment? Our approach to care has continued to evolve through years of hands-on experience, continuing education and working with dogs with very different personalities, histories and needs. One of the biggest things we’ve learned? There is no single formula for every dog. We believe in a balanced, thoughtful approach built around structure, communication, enrichment, appropriate boundaries, play AND rest. We don’t believe a dog needs to spend the entire day playing to have a great day. In fact, learning to settle can be just as valuable as learning to socialize. You’ll often find dogs here playing together for a while, then taking a nap. Someone else may be working on a puzzle or enjoying some one-on-one attention. Another pup may be perfectly content hanging out nearby without participating at all. And that’s okay. 🐕 Intentional Social Groups We don’t operate as one giant free-for-all group. Dog interactions are supervised and thoughtfully matched based on personality, play style, energy level, size when appropriate, comfort, and the dogs staying with us at that particular time. That means your dog may: • Have several compatible playmates • Have one favorite buddy • Spend time with our resident dogs • Enjoy parallel/coexisting time without much play • Have individual time with us • Rotate between social time and quiet time We never force dogs to interact simply because they’re staying under the same roof. Socialization doesn’t have to mean playing with every dog. Calmly existing around another dog can be a win too. 💤 Rest Is Part of the Day Overtired dogs can make questionable life choices. 😂 That’s why we intentionally build downtime into boarding and daycare. Depending on the individual dog, that may mean relaxing on a dog bed, hanging out in a separate area, settling in a crate if they’re crate-trained, or simply taking a break from the excitement. Play. Potty. Sniff. Explore. Rest. Repeat. 🚪 Crated AND Non-Crated Dogs We welcome both crate-trained and appropriately non-crated dogs. During your Meet & Greet, we’ll talk about what your dog is accustomed to at home and what setup is safest and most comfortable for them here. If your pup is happily crate-trained, we encourage maintaining that familiar routine and may ask you to bring their crate. If your dog is not crate-trained, tell us! We can discuss their normal sleeping and alone-time setup and whether we’re able to accommodate it safely. Whenever we leave the home, guest dogs are safely separated from one another. How that separation looks can vary depending on the individual dog’s needs and established routine. Safety comes before convenience—always. ⸻ 🩺 HEALTH & SAFETY REQUIREMENTS For the health of our own dogs and every furry guest staying with us, boarding and daycare dogs must be current on: • DPP with Adenovirus (Distemper, Parvovirus & Parainfluenza) • Bordetella • Rabies • Canine Influenza (H3N8/H3N2) • Leptospirosis If your veterinarian recommends against a particular vaccine because of your dog’s age or medical condition, please provide written documentation from your veterinarian. We recommend completing vaccinations 10–14 days before a stay whenever possible. Please avoid waiting until immediately before check-in. All guests should also be current on flea/tick prevention and arrive wearing identification. 🤧 Not Feeling 100%? Please let us know before arrival if your dog develops coughing, sneezing, unusual nasal or eye discharge, vomiting, diarrhea, unusual lethargy or other signs of illness. We also appreciate families minimizing exposure to high-volume dog environments such as dog parks, dog beaches or large boarding/daycare facilities immediately before a stay whenever possible. If something seems off, we’d much rather have the conversation ahead of time than risk exposing other dogs. ⸻ 🐶 WHAT TO EXPECT DURING MEET & GREETS Meet & Greets aren’t an audition where your dog has to behave perfectly. They’re information gathering. We want to see your dog, meet you, answer your questions and learn what makes your pup tick. For boarding and daycare, Meet & Greets take place in our secure outdoor yard. We do not currently offer tours inside our home. And yes… McGinnis, our resident Doggie Interviewer, may make an appearance. 🐶📝 We’ve spent years working with and socializing McGinnis, and he can be a helpful neutral dog when we’re evaluating a new guest. We’re not looking to see whether your dog immediately plays with him. We’re watching communication. Can your dog disengage? Are they nervous? Pushy? Curious? Neutral? Overexcited? Do they need more space? Can they settle after the initial excitement? Those little details tell us much more than whether two dogs immediately become BFFs. For walks and drop-ins, an optional paid walk or visit together can also be a great way for you to see how I interact with your pup before you’re away. ⸻ 📝 THINGS WE’D LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR DOG Don’t worry—you don’t need to write us a novel. 😂 But the more honest information we have, the better we can care for your dog. A few things that are especially helpful: • Is your dog crate-trained? If yes, when do they normally use their crate? • If they’re not crate-trained, how are they safely left home alone? • Where does your dog normally sleep? • How long are they comfortably left alone? • Has your dog stayed overnight somewhere without you before? How did they do? • Does your dog attend daycare, dog parks or regularly interact with other dogs? • How would you describe their play style: gentle, chase, wrestling, vocal, rough-and-tumble, selective, or “I’d rather hang with the humans”? • Does your dog know how to take breaks from play and settle? • Has your dog ever shown discomfort around another dog, snapped, growled, guarded something or been involved in a dog altercation? Please tell us—even if you think it was minor. • Does your dog guard food, toys, beds, people, spaces or other valued items? • How do they feel about sharing space with other dogs without necessarily interacting? • Are there certain types of dogs they tend to love—or dislike? • How do they respond to boundaries or being redirected? • Do they have any fears or sensitivities? Thunder, fireworks, strangers, handling, household noises, etc.? • Are there behaviors you’re currently working on at home? • Do they experience separation anxiety, FOMO/demand barking, destructive behavior or difficulty settling when separated from people or dogs? • What cues or equipment do you currently use at home and on walks? Are they reactive on leash? Do they pull while walking? • What does a normal day look like for your dog? • And finally: What would make you consider your dog’s stay with us a successful one? There are no bonus points for giving us the “perfect” answers. We’d rather know the real dog. ❤️ ⸻ 🏠 WHAT TO EXPECT DURING BOARDING Your pup stays right here in our home with us. Our days aren’t built around nonstop play. Instead, we balance supervised social time, enrichment, outdoor time, individual attention, boundaries and plenty of opportunities to rest. What to bring: Please bring your dog’s regular food, medication, leash/walking equipment, identification and any necessary care instructions. If your pup uses a crate at home, please let us know and plan to bring it unless we’ve discussed otherwise. Comfort items and favorite training treats are welcome too! During their stay: • Social interactions are supervised and intentionally matched. • Dogs receive regular opportunities to decompress and rest. • Feeding is done separately. • Food items, chews and other high-value resources are managed carefully. • We may incorporate enrichment such as sniffing activities, food puzzles, lick mats or simple training games depending on the dog. • Dogs are safely separated whenever we leave the home. • We maintain boundaries and routines rather than allowing dogs unlimited access to one another 24/7. • You’ll receive regular photo/text updates because we know how much we want those updates when our dogs are away. 📸 We do occasionally leave for errands, appointments or normal life, so your dog must be able to tolerate some time safely separated without human supervision. If your dog cannot be left alone at all, please tell us before requesting a booking so we can determine whether we’re the appropriate fit. ☀️ First Stay = Earlier Arrival First-time boarding guests must arrive during one of our available earlier daytime drop-off windows. We don’t schedule first-time arrivals for late afternoon or evening because we want enough time to properly introduce your dog to the environment and give them an opportunity to decompress before their first night. Once your pup is an established guest and we know them well, additional arrival times may be available depending on our schedule. ⸻ ☀️ WHAT TO EXPECT DURING DAYCARE Daycare here isn’t an eight-hour furry mosh pit. 😂 Our goal is to give dogs an enjoyable day while also helping them practice something incredibly valuable: Doing things AND doing nothing. Depending on the day’s guests and your dog’s personality, their day may include supervised social time, yard time, enrichment, sniffing, individual attention, structured downtime and naps. Dogs are thoughtfully grouped rather than automatically placed together. If your dog wants to play—great. If your dog wants to sunbathe while everyone else makes questionable decisions in the yard—also great. 😂 Meals can be accommodated when needed and are always fed separately. If we need to leave the home, dogs are safely separated according to their individual setup. Flexible drop-off and pick-up windows are available by appointment and should be coordinated in advance. ⸻ 🏡 WHAT TO EXPECT DURING HOUSE SITTING Some dogs simply do best in their own kingdom. 👑 House sitting allows your pets to maintain more of their familiar home routine while receiving companionship and care from me. I work remotely, so reliable Wi-Fi is required. I may need to leave for up to approximately six hours at a time unless we’ve specifically arranged otherwise. If your pet cannot comfortably be alone for that amount of time, please let me know before booking. We’ll discuss: • Feeding routines • Walks and potty schedules • Medications • Sleeping arrangements • Alone-time expectations • Household routines • Time-sensitive care requirements • Any training cues or boundaries you’d like maintained You’ll receive regular photos and updates throughout the stay. Before leaving, I’ll also handle reasonable light housekeeping related to my stay—tidying up, dishes I’ve used, light vacuuming as needed, wiping counters and gathering used linens. Trash day? Bins need to come in? Add it to my mission. 🦸🏻‍♀️🐾 ⸻ 🦮 WHAT TO EXPECT DURING WALKS Every dog doesn’t need the exact same walk. Some need mileage. Some need sniffing. Some need a potty break. And some need to practice moving through the world without saying hello to every dog, squirrel and Amazon driver they encounter. 😂 Standard walks are 30 minutes, with longer options available through my profile. Depending on your dog’s needs and your goals, their time may include walking, sniffing, potty time, play or practicing calm leash habits. Upon request, I can also help with meals, fresh water or medication surrounding the visit. You’ll receive a Rover report and photo after the visit so you know exactly how your pup did. And yes—muddy paws and booties get wiped before your little explorer returns to the house. 🐾 ⸻ 🐱🐶 WHAT TO EXPECT DURING DROP-INS Drop-ins are tailored to your pet and household. Visits may include meals and fresh water, medication, potty breaks, short walks, play, enrichment, litter box care, snuggles—or simply companionship for pets who would rather hang out. Standard visits are 30 minutes, with longer options available when additional time or multiple pets require it. Afterward, you’ll receive a care summary and photo update. ⸻ 🚗 PICK-UP & DROP-OFF All boarding and daycare arrivals and departures are by appointment only. This isn’t just for scheduling convenience. Planned arrivals help us create calmer transitions for the dogs already in our care and allow us to give your dog our attention when they arrive. Please share your preferred times when requesting your booking and we’ll provide available windows. For first-time boarding guests: Late-afternoon and evening drop-offs are not available. Your pup’s first arrival is an important one, and we want enough daylight and time together for them to explore, decompress and begin settling before their first night. For returning guests: We may be able to offer additional drop-off flexibility depending on our schedule that day. ✈️ Travel delay? We understand! Just keep us updated as soon as possible. If a delay pushes pickup too late into the evening, we may need to arrange pickup the following morning and an additional overnight charge may apply. ⸻ ❤️ OUR BOTTOM LINE We aren’t trying to create the biggest dog party. We’re trying to create the right experience for each dog. Sometimes success looks like making a new best friend. Sometimes it’s confidently joining a group. Sometimes it’s learning to settle after play. Sometimes it’s choosing not to play at all. And sometimes the biggest win is simply seeing a dog who was nervous on Day One sprawled out asleep a few days later like they pay the mortgage. 😂 We believe dogs deserve affection AND boundaries, activity AND rest, social opportunities AND personal space. Most importantly, they deserve humans willing to pay attention to what they’re communicating and adjust accordingly. That’s what we mean when we say: We work with the dog in front of us. 🐾 With gratitude, Elaine, Izzy, McGinnis, Grayson & Nova 🐶 ⸻ ✨ Ready to schedule a Meet & Greet? Send us a little information about your pup, your requested dates and the service you’re interested in. We can’t wait to meet your furry family member! And don’t forget to check Additional Services & Rates on my Rover profile for current puppy, holiday and specialty rates. Rates shown on the profile are always the best place to reference current pricing.