Hi, Friends.
I’m in London with my family as we send off my niece to college in Belfast. My doggo is at Sky Blue Kennels, her usual boarding facility getting pup lattes (not just “pup cups”, but pumpkin spice “brew” topped with whipped cream).
We opted for this add-on partly to ease my guilt about leaving her behind and also because it helps her bond with her caretakers.
I mean, how cute is this?
🐾 Experiment of the Week
I signed up for Paw Champ dog training app, thanks to an Instagram ad and despite some skepticism on Reddit about the app. I figured for $20, I don’t have a lot to lose. I did the first exercise, which is just to sit and do nothing and take note of what your dog does. How do they like to seek attention from you? What do they do to make themselves comfortable? I observed that Dolly likes to sit next to me on the couch and look out the window with her head resting on the armrest. She doesn’t do that when I’m busy (she usually goes upstairs and sleeps on our bed or lies on the floor. I’ll try it for a month and report back.
🌟 Win of the Week
One of our community members here was finally able to take a vacation because her mom’s dog had a successful stay at boarding. The pup has severe separation anxiety so the only way her mother can leave her dog alone is by having her adult daughter cancel her plans and come over. It took six months of taking the dog to daycare once a week for two hours each time and many, many hours of Dog TV.
(Dog TV didn’t work for my own dog because she gets triggered by dogs on screen as well).
🎁 Resource for You
A good sitter will have an onboarding process where they can learn more about your dog and prepare for their stay. However, I put together a checklist to help me get organized and to share with people who are boarding their dog for the first time.
What’s September like for you? Reply to this email or send me a message and tell me about it: joni[at]fairydogmother[dot]com.
— Joni and Dolly 🐕