It can be incredibly intimidating to leave a member of your family with a stranger. We absolutely get it. That’s why you should know that in our home each and every pet is welcomed as an extension of our own family. The great news is that there are also a tonne of benefits to choosing a one-on-one boarding experience to a commercial one. In a one-on-one boarding environment your pet receives personalized care that caters to your dog’s specific needs. There’s no juggling of allergies and diets, or multiple care requirements that need to be considered. Your dog is the top priority during his or her stay. Alongside reliable updates, photos, and videos as well as the constant interaction and knowledge of a tailored, less stressful environment, it’s our strongest hope that a one-on-one boarding experience can be less worrisome for you, the owner, too. Read on to find details about us, our home, and our guest interactions. We hope that by the end of the read we won’t feel like strangers anymore. About My Experience: Animals have always been a huge priority and passion in my life, and as such, I’ve plenty of experience working with them. Personally, I have always cared for animals. I have been lucky enough to have all shapes, types, and sizes of them. Professionally, in the past I have worked for a variety of pet stores (receiving countless training courses regarding proper care, training methods, dietary needs etc), and for three years as the sole Veterinary Assistant in a busy Vancouver animal hospital (where I underwent additional training on proper care, dietary needs, medication administration, wound and infection management, as well as assisted in surgery). Because of my history working with animals of all types and sizes I am confident when it comes to special needs pets and pets recovering from surgical procedures. I am adept at being able to detect signs of stress, anxiety, pain, and nausea and react accordingly. I am familiar with glucose monitoring and insulin injections, and I am also able to administer medications for your pet without much difficulty whether they are liquids, pills, transdermals, or injectables. About our family: We’re a busy household, but relatively laid-back if you can believe it. My partner and I have been together for over 10 years now, and we have an extremely easy going 14 month old son, Easton. We are also home to two wonderful, albeit lazy, cats (Paul and Thomas), and of course, our fun-loving rascal of a dog, Archer (who is a Bernese and Mastiff mix). Thanks to pets always having been a constant in our household, everyone is extremely well-adjusted and respectful of the guests we have come and stay with us. Here are a few helpful-to-know facts about our pets and son: Our cats are dog savvy. They don’t run around the dogs which means chase is never inspired, and for the most part they just keep out of the way and pose little interaction. Archer, our Bernese/Mastiff mix, absolutely adores other animals and it’s not uncommon for him and other guest dogs to spend the entire visit wrestling and playing. Easton, our bright little one, is already an animal lover. We encourage gentle interactions if our guests feel up to it, but don’t pressure them if they’re nervous. We understand that kids can make pets nervous, so each interaction (if allowed) is monitored closely so that it can be a positive experience for everyone. Easton is asleep by 6pm in the evenings which means there is plenty of quiet time to enjoy in the evenings. Since this is a family home it is crucial to us that any pet staying with us be as respectful to our family members as we promise to be to them. While the animals (your pet included) will all have separate spaces to retreat to and careful monitoring throughout interactions and meetings, no one should feel put out by the stay. In return, any pet guest will get a unique socializing experience with a guaranteed abundance of mental stimulation. About Our Home: We can offer a beautiful home with a large, grass yard that is close to hiking and walking trails, beaches, and an expansive off-leash dog park nestled in close along the lake. Our home is a lovely, circa 1900s victorian home which means that the home is divided into many different sections versus open-concept style. This works out well as it allows us to section off various parts of the home depending on your dogs needs and requirements so we can pretty reliably enforce the same set of boundaries that are expected of them at home in order to keep bad habits from forming. Is your counter-surfing pup not allowed in the kitchen? No problem. Do you not allow your dog on the couch, or bed? Also no problem. While we’re comfortable with pets in every area of our home (furniture included!) we recognize that other homes operate differently and it works out best for each guest pet if the boarding environment is most similar to their home environment. While it’s worth noting that we’ve never had a dog stay with us that didn’t acclimate with our own family members given proper introductions and supervised interactions, it’s also worth mentioning that in a worse case scenario our home is equipped to handle animals separately and in their own spaces if it becomes necessary. While we ourselves are advocates of positive reinforcement training methods, we are also respectful of different opinions and welcome a list of instructions about what is allowed and appropriate for your pet. We actively practice crate training with our own dog and find that it works well to ensure no accidents happen when pets are left briefly unattended or overnight. Crate training helps to prevent potty training setbacks, destruction, and danger (such as foreign body ingestion). It can also provide your pet a safe place that is just their own that they can retreat to if they feel the need. We are happy to partake in crate training games if you would like, and visitors are encouraged to bring a crate for their pet’s stay. About Drop-Offs and Introductions: We know that a good first meeting is critical to a good experience, so over the years we’ve crafted a system that seems to work extremely well for introducing guest pets to the family. Often when dogs first arrive at our home they’re stressed from travel, and even with their family next to them they can tell that something’s shifted and new. Generally, we’ve found this is not the best time to introduce additional stressors. As such, we prefer our dog-to-dog introductions to happen after your pet is acclimated and feeling more comfortable. This tends to be beneficial to both parties so that we humans can get to know each other and talk about your dogs needs specifically without interruption or distraction. So what happens after you say goodbye? The dogs are kept separate until the new guest has had a chance to take a breath, relax, and get comfortable. Afterwards, my partner and I will leash the dogs separately and meet up together mid-walk in a neutral setting. We continue the walk home together to ensure there are no hiccups or territorial issues. Once back home the general result has always been lots of tail-wagging and fun! Please feel free to send me a message with any additional questions or concerns you have. I’m always happy to help. Cheers, Jaryn