🏡 Have You Got an Emergency Care Plan for Your Dog?

Most of us have thought about what we’ll do with our dog when we go on holiday.

But what if something happened tomorrow? An unexpected hospital stay, an injury, or a family emergency meant you suddenly couldn’t care for your dog.

Who would look after them?

More importantly… would your dog know and feel comfortable with the person or place they were going?

It’s something most of us hope we’ll never need to think about, but life doesn’t always go to plan. Having an emergency care plan in place can make an incredibly difficult situation just a little bit easier—for both you and your dog.

Every dog owner should have a plan

I'm not saying that every dog needs to stay in a boarding kennel.

For some dogs, the best option will be staying with a trusted friend, family member or pet sitter that they already know and feel comfortable with.

What I do believe is that every dog owner should have a plan.

If you were suddenly unable to care for your dog, who would step in? Would they know your dog’s routine? Would your dog be comfortable with them?

The goal isn’t to have the perfect backup plan. It’s to have one before you need it.

My own experience

Before opening Shine Canine, I only boarded my own dogs once.

It was for a holiday, and I remember how worried I was leaving them somewhere they had never been before. They had no idea where they were, who these people were or when I was coming back.

Looking back, I wish someone had suggested introducing them to the facility beforehand.

A few daycare visits. An overnight trial. The chance to build positive experiences before I packed my bags and left on holiday.

It would have given me so much more confidence, and I’m sure it would have made the experience easier for my dogs too.

Why we recommend daycare before boarding

At Shine Canine, we always recommend dogs complete daycare visits if possible before an overnight trial, and an overnight trial before any longer boarding stay.

People sometimes think this is just for our benefit, but it’s actually for the dog’s too.

Daycare gives them the opportunity to become familiar with the people, the environment, the sights, the smells and the daily routine, and get picked up at the end of the day. Instead of arriving for boarding somewhere completely unfamiliar, they’re returning to a place they already know.

The overnight trial then allows us to see how they cope once everyone has gone home and it’s time to settle for the night.

Do they relax?
Do they sleep?
Do they eat their dinner?
Or are they showing us that they’re not quite ready yet?

If a dog appears particularly stressed, we don’t simply push through because there’s a booking in the diary. We contact their family, ask them to collect their dog, continue building positive experiences through daycare, and try another overnight when the dog is ready.

Every dog learns at their own pace, and our goal is always to set them up for success.

When preparation makes all the difference

One experience has always stayed with me.

We had a regular daycare dog whose owner was unexpectedly admitted to hospital.

While in hospital, the owner called and asked if I could meet a friend halfway so they could hand the dog over to me.

When I arrived, the dog was genuinely excited to see me. He happily jumped straight into my vehicle, and when we arrived back at Shine Canine, he knew exactly where he was and confidently walked through the gates as if it were any other daycare day.

He wasn’t frightened.
He wasn’t confused.
He wasn’t wondering who we were.
He was simply back somewhere that felt familiar.

Just as importantly, his owner could focus on recovering, knowing his dog was safe, happy and well cared for.

We’ve seen the other side too

Unfortunately, we’ve also seen the opposite.

Sometimes a dog arrives because life has suddenly taken an unexpected turn. Their owner has been taken to hospital or a family emergency has happened, and through no fault of anyone involved, it’s the dog’s very first experience away from home.

They’re suddenly separated from the people they love, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, unfamiliar smells and unfamiliar routines.

Some dogs cope surprisingly well.

Others become incredibly overwhelmed.

We’ve seen dogs cry for their owners, refuse to eat, pace, try to escape, or chew at anything they can reach. They’re not being naughty. They’re simply frightened and unsure of what’s happening.

Our team spends a lot of time helping these dogs feel safe and settled, but it always reminds me how much easier it could have been if they had already built positive experiences before the emergency happened.

Preparing for the unexpected

I hope you never need to put your emergency care plan into action.

But if the unexpected does happen, you’ll be incredibly grateful that your dog already has someone, or somewhere, they know and trust.

Whether that’s a family member, a friend, a pet sitter or a boarding kennel, taking the time to prepare now can make one of life’s most stressful moments much less overwhelming for both you and your dog.

We insure our homes, our cars and our health because we hope we’ll never need them.

Having an emergency care plan for your dog is much the same.

You hope you’ll only ever need it for holidays.

But if life throws you the unexpected, your dog will already know exactly where they belong.