At the time of the meet and greet, I typically ask about your dog’s meal times and amounts, sleeping arrangements, reliable commands, any notable allergies, as well as any triggers or noise sensitivities (example: the vacuum). Also we can discuss if your dog prefers to be kept separate from other dogs or children. I can separate my dog and child from your fur baby’s space and maintain their boundaries. My child is 4.5 years old and she is used to being surrounded by dogs. We regularly practice methods for her to handle energetic or nippy dogs, this includes the “tree” method where she stands still with her hands flat by her side until the dog loses interest. We also reinforce the rule of no touching the dogs or reaching over their heads to pet them, we hold our hands down by our sides for the dogs to sniff and lick, if the dog indicates they want a pet or back scratch then we can touch the dog. Since Luna has been raised alongside her, she knows to not handle faces, ears, or tails in any way. If your dog is comfortable with children then just know that they will be ridiculously loved while at our home.

Since I have a lab/GSP mix, I always have mental and physical games lined up for each day. These include fetch and exploring the neighborhood. I also use regular meal times to exercise a dog’s greatest tool, their nose. This entails using either interactive food bowls, snuffle balls, or hiding portions of food around the yard for the pup to find (which might look a little silly but it keeps my working line lab happy 😊)