Options for your dog while you’re away for the holidays

The holiday season is often a busy time thanks to family gatherings, work parties and other festive activities. If you plan on driving or flying elsewhere to see your family for the holidays or if you have a packed social schedule during this season, you’ll have to figure out how to make sure that your dog is cared for and has some company. These are just a few different options that are available for pet owners during the holidays.


Consider a Dog Walker
If you’re not going out of town, but you have several holiday festivities going on, look into hiring a dog walker. Professional dog walkers can stop by your home as often as needed to take your dog for walks. This allows your dog to eliminate regularly, get some physical activity and have plenty of attention when you’re not home. This can provide you with peace of mind as you go about your holiday activities.


Hire a Pet Sitter
Hiring a pet sitter to come to your home and care for your dog is another option to consider. Pet sitters can take dogs for walks, play with them, feed them, give them medicine if needed, and perform other tasks. However, keep in mind that some pet sitters only stop by a few times a day or less, which means your dog won’t have as much company overall. If you hire an in-home sitter, you would have to be comfortable letting someone you don’t know stay in your home while you’re away.


Find a Pet Boarding Facility
Boarding your dog is a better option if you’ll be away for the holidays and want to make sure that he has a lot of attention. Find a pet boarding facility that provides a clean and safe place for dogs and has friendly and experienced staff available to supervise them. You can also find pet boarding places that offer other services such as spa services, gourmet treats, and training sessions. If you choose this option for your dog, check the facility’s requirements for boarding, which usually include certain vaccinations and a temperament assessment.

Manage that dog hair with a Grooming Service designed for unruly shedding

During spring and fall, your clothes and furniture can easily end up covered in a coat of dog hair. It’s not just dogs with long, thick coats that shed. You also have to deal with dog hair everywhere when you have a dog with a shorter coat. While you can’t do anything to stop shedding from happening, you can do something about minimizing the amount of hair that gets all over.


Shed Management Program
At DoGone Fun, we offer a special grooming program that’s designed to address shedding and eliminate it as much as possible. In fact, this 8 to 10 step program can reduce shedding by 60 to 80 percent. This means you’ll have a lot less dog hair to deal with on your clothes and in your home. Since this program also reduces the amount of pet dander overall, friends or family with allergies might be able to visit you without sneezing and sniffling.


Keep in mind that this program works best when you have grooming done about every 4 to 6 weeks while your dog is shedding. How often your dog will need to be groomed depends on the type of coat and its length. Dogs with heavier coats or ones that shed more will need to come in more often. The grooming techniques we use for this Shed Management Program can effectively reduce shedding without damaging your dog’s skin or living hair. Your dog will still shed naturally, which is crucial for maintaining a healthy coat, but the amount of hair and dander in your home will be less.


If your dog isn’t used to being groomed, we recommend starting as early as possible. This can help ease any anxiety your dog might have about being handled. Getting your dog used to grooming at an early age makes it easier to stick to a regular grooming schedule, especially during shedding season. At DogGone Fun, we understand how nervous some dogs can be, and we take steps to make them feel as calm as possible. Our trained staff know how to provide grooming services while also keeping dogs comfortable.

Keeping your dog calm during the holidays

The holiday season is hectic enough for humans. Imagine what it’s like for dogs who don’t really understand what all the commotion is about. When you have a busy schedule during the holidays and gatherings to attend, your dog could act up out of anxiety or boredom. You can help your dog remain happy and calm throughout the holidays with these simple tips.


Go Through Training
Even if your dog already knows basic obedience commands, it doesn’t hurt to go over them again and make sure that she knows what to do. If your dog hasn't had any obedience training so far, it’s important to teach her a few basic commands, such as “down” or “stay.” This can help you have more control over your dog’s behavior when you have holiday guests over, especially if she’s the type that tends to get excited and jump on people. Remember that you should never reward jumping or other unacceptable behavior with attention.


Keep Pet Toys Handy
If your dog will be spending a lot of time without you, make sure that you have plenty of toys available to keep her occupied. Give her safe chew toys, so she can gnaw away her frustration. You can also give her puzzle toys to figure out, since these challenging toys are ideal for preventing boredom. Keep in mind that dogs who are bored, anxious or frustrated can end up having behavioral issues, such as eliminating in the house or barking too much.


Look Into Doggy Daycare
Putting your dog in a daycare setting is a great idea when you’ll be busier than usual with holiday preparations or other activities. Doggie daycare provides opportunities for your dog to stay active and have fun playing with other dogs. This helps keep her brain and body busy, which lowers the risk of behavioral problems. If you’ll be traveling for the holidays, consider boarding your dog at a facility where she can spend time with other dogs. Instead of being cooped up and bored at home, she’ll have plenty of company and many chances to be physically active.

Grooming Through The Winter Months

Dogs usually don’t spend as much time outside running around in winter as they do in summer, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need grooming. Your dog won't end up covered in dirt or mud when it’s snowy out, but regular grooming is still essential. Find out more about how you should groom your dog during winter.


Brush Your Dog’s Coat Regularly
Dogs can get matted or tangled coats in winter. When you don’t remove mats, your dog might need to get a haircut. With a shorter coat, your dog will have a more difficult time keeping warm outdoors in winter. You should brush your dog’s coat on a regular basis throughout winter. Keep in mind that the brush you’ll need and how often you should brush depend on the type of coat your dog has. Dogs with longer coats are more prone to getting mats and tangles than dogs with shorter coats.


Use a Moisturizing Shampoo
Some dogs develop dryness or skin irritation when it’s cold out. Regular dog shampoos can be too harsh on their skin during this time. If you have a dog who gets skin problems in winter, switch to a dog shampoo that has moisturizing or soothing ingredients, such as oatmeal. This can help your dog’s skin stay in good condition all season long. Make sure that you don’t bathe your dog too often in winter, since this can increase the risk of dry and irritated skin. Most dogs will only need a bath every few weeks or even every other month in winter.


Trim Your Dog’s Nails
Many dogs go on shorter walks during winter due to the cold and snow, which means they’re not spending as much time walking on concrete. When dogs walk around on sidewalks, this helps keep their nails from getting too long. With shorter walks, your dog could end up with longer nails that can be uncomfortable to walk on. Longer nails can also get snagged on rugs or furniture and tear off. Check your dog’s nails frequently in winter, and keep them trimmed to prevent this from happening.

How Can I Keep My Dog Sociable In The Winter

Dogs need regular social interaction in order to prevent boredom and keep them feeling happy. When it’s cold outside, making sure that your dog stays social can be difficult. If you would rather avoid local dog parks when it’s freezing out, there are other ways for your dog to socialize with other dogs.


Importance of Socialization for Dogs
Dogs are social animals who thrive on being around others. Without regular social interaction, dogs might have trouble interacting with other dogs in a healthy manner. They might be scared or even become aggressive if they haven’t learned how to act properly with other dogs. Socialization allows them to learn the right ways to behave when they are around others.


Social interaction on a regular basis also provides dogs with another important benefit. Spending time with other dogs gives them a chance to keep their brain and body busy, which helps lower the risk of behavioral issues that stem from boredom. With regular socialization, you’ll have a happy and well-behaved dog.


Ideas for Socialization When It’s Cold Out
Freezing weather, snowstorms and other winter woes can make it challenging to make sure that your dog has time to be with other dogs. When you can’t meet up with other dog owners outside for some playtime, there are other options available, such as doggy daycare.


At DoGone Fun, we provide a warm, safe and stimulating environment where your dog can interact with other dogs all winter long. You can drop your dog off in the morning before work and come back in the evening, or choose a shorter doggy daycare schedule if that works better for you. Either way, your dog will have plenty of time for playing and socializing with other dogs while staying warm and comfortable.


Keep in mind that there are options available if you want to arrange any playtime with fellow dog owners during the winter. DoGone Fun has a spacious indoor playroom for you pooch available to rent on Sunday afternoons from 12:30 to 2:30 pm. This is a great way for your dog to see their usual friends this winter.

What happens when you drop your dogs off at daycare?

What happens when you drop your dogs off at daycare? While your dogs get to run around and play with other dogs, they do have some structure to their day. Find out more about what daycare for dogs is like at DoGone Fun.

After Arriving

When you bring your dogs to daycare in the morning, you’ll have a warm greeting from a play lot attendant. You can say goodbye to your dogs for the day, then leave them in the care of the attendant. Our attendant will ensure that they’re kept safe until it’s time to play.

Breakfast and Morning Playtime

If you requested breakfast, this takes place around 8 am. The boarding dogs at our facility also eat their breakfast during this time. When all of the dogs are finished eating, they’re ready to go outside to our play area, where they can spend a few hours playing together. Keep in mind that if you’ve signed up for training, your dogs will have short training sessions a number of times during the day.

Lunch and Afternoon Break

Daycare and boarding dogs have lunch, if requested, at noon each day. When lunch is over with, all of the dogs can spend some time relaxing and taking a break until afternoon playtime starts. This break gives your dogs an opportunity to unwind, which helps prevent them from becoming too stimulated or tired out.

Afternoon Playtime

After taking a break, your dogs will head back out to the play area for afternoon playtime. This gives them more time to play with other dogs and burn off more energy for the day.

Afternoon Baths

If you requested baths, which are available as part of our daycare for dogs services, this happens in the afternoon. After having a bath and any other grooming services you have requested, your dogs will be nice and clean for pickup time.

Dinnertime

If your dogs are staying late and you’ve requested dinner, they’ll eat between 5 and 6 pm. When they’re done eating, they’ll be able to rest until you come by to get them at the end of the day.

Regular Pet Grooming

Regular grooming is an essential part of caring for pets, but not all of these tasks are easy to do on your own. Bringing pets to a pet grooming place means that you can have professional groomers handle bathing, brushing, nail clipping and other tasks that you don’t have time to do or have trouble doing at home. When you look around for a pet grooming place to take your pets to, it’s important to find a reputable one. Take the following factors into consideration when making your decision.

Ask for a Tour

You can tell a lot about grooming facilities by the condition they’re kept in. Ask if you can take a look around in the areas where pets are groomed. These areas should have good lighting and the proper supplies for pet grooming. They should also be as clean as possible, which helps lower the risk of illnesses, infections and injuries.

Bring Up Questions and Concerns

Doing this helps you determine if the staff at the grooming facility have plenty of experience. Staff members should be able to answer your questions about the grooming process and address any concerns you have. For example, if you have timid pets, how would the groomers make sure they’re comfortable while being handled? Staff should also closely supervise pets if they use blow-drying units, since too much time in these can be life-threatening.

Look Over the List of Services

You can depend on pet grooming facilities for basic services, such as bathing, haircuts, nail trims, ear cleaning and brushing. If you need additional services or more specialized ones, make sure that the place offers them. Whether you’re interested in dental care services, breed-specific haircuts or medicated shampoos for health issues, check with the facility to see if these are offered. Keep in mind that some places also provide services that will pamper your pet, such as aromatherapy, paw massages and nail coloring.

Finding the right pet grooming place provides you with peace of mind that your pets will receive quality care while also being kept safe.