Boarding your dog for the first time: what to pack and what to expect
Most dogs who board with us have spent plenty of days here first, so their first night is in a room they know, with people and dogs they know. If this is your dog’s first stay, here’s what it will be like, from packing to pick-up.
Before the first night
Once your dog has had their free Day 1, book the dates on the member website. Before a first long stay, especially for a dog new to group play, two or three daycare visits help the room and the people feel familiar. Your dog can board the same night as their Day 1 too; a few days first is just easier on them.
Check in any time during store hours; the price is the same. Earlier in the day is better, though: it gives your dog time to settle in before the night.
Still weighing a sitter? See Pet sitter or dog boarding? 10 questions to help you decide. And for why parents who travel trust us with their dogs, see When you travel.
What to pack
Their food, a bag a meal, labelled with your dog’s name, and any medicine in the vet’s original package with instructions. If you’d like them to have treats, pack those individually too: we give them to your dog on their own, never in the group. Bedding and toys can stay home. We have cots and beds, and in a group, toys only become something to squabble over.
What a stay is like
Your dog’s days here look like their best daycare days. They play with the friends who suit them and rest whenever they’ve had enough, on a cot or a bed at the edge of the room. Our staff match the groups by energy and shift them through the day, so a dog who needs a quieter hour gets one.
At mealtimes, each dog eats on their own, away from the group, so they can eat in peace. Breakfast is between 7 and 8:30am, lunch between 11:30am and 1pm, and dinner between 5 and 6pm. If your dog isn’t hungry, we offer the meal again two hours later.
If your dog loves a stroll, or prefers to go to the bathroom outside, you can add a walk or two a day for a fee.
At night, they sleep in the room they played in, on a cot or curled up with friends, never in a crate, with 24/7 on-site supervision by trained staff.
At Waterfront, you drop off and pick up as usual. Boarders sleep at McCarren Park, our other Williamsburg location, and we walk them there and back.
What you’ll hear from us
From the day after check-in, a Pupdate lands in your inbox every day, with photos and how they ate. Text us any time at 917-512-2828 to ask how they’re doing, and look in on the live cams during store hours.
Coming home
Pick-up on the last day is by 10am. Later is fine: the rest of the day is daycare, at daycare rates, until 8pm on weekdays or 6pm at weekends. If you’d like them home fresh, book a bath for the last morning. We can also pick up and drop off at your door, in the same zones as daycare.
Questions parents ask
Is someone with the dogs at night?
Yes. There’s 24/7 on-site supervision by trained staff.
What vaccines do you need?
Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella, on file, as the New York City Health Code requires.
What does it cost?
From $88 a night Monday to Thursday and $98 Friday to Sunday, with the daytime included, and $8 more a night over major holidays. Punch cards and subscriptions take 10% to 33% off, so a night can be as low as $59. See prices.
