10 Tips On Picking A Dog Boarding Facility

Dog Boarding & Training Made Simple in Phoenix

Finding A Great Option For Your Dog While You Are Away

Have you been meaning to find a boarding facility or pet sitter that you can trust? Many people dread finding a new pet sitter or boarding facility for their pets while they are traveling or away.

Some locations also offer to board AND train your dog as an added option while you are enjoying vacation. Make sure to ask if it is available for your pet.

10 handy tips that will make the search for a dog boarding facility easier

(It is important that you are comfortable with all of these topics, before committing.)

Always ask to tour the facility kennels when you visit the dog hotel. Adversely, if you are interviewing a private pet-sitter, make sure you tour the pet sitter’s home and check for these items:

Cleanliness and safety

Amount of space your dog will be housed

The appropriate potty area or run for the dog to use

Are bedding, water, and food bowls that are appropriate provided? Or do you need to provide your own?

Areas where your dog can play or socialize with staff or other dogs

Ask how often your dog will be exercised or let out of the kennel or room.

Are they walked by a staff member in an area alone or with other dogs? Will they be allowed play time or social activity with staff or other dogs while they are staying?

Inquiries about staffing and feeding times are also something you will want to discuss.

You should bring your dog’s regular food and supplements and any medications they will need while being boarded.

Board & Train

One great option many people are not aware of, is the added service of pet training for your puppy or dog, while you are away. Some boarding establishments (like us!) will train your dog while they are being boarded! This can be basic obedience training, Canine Good Citizen reinforcement, puppy training, or practical training while dog walking. Activity and tricks are also offered for dogs that already have a higher level of obedience.

If you are short on time, but like a well-trained pet, Board & Train can be the option that allows you to do something positive for your pet to keep them happy, engaged, and learning obedience skills while you are away from them. An active dog is always a happier dog. We do recommend that the trainer is certified as a positive trainer and is accredited to do basic obedience through an APDT affiliated training service.

Try this the next time you go out of town and come home to a happier, healthy dog that has had an enriching experience while you were away .

Welsh Corgi!

The Welsh Corgi

This lovable, compact, resilient, and energetic little pooch has hazy ancestry, but is thought to have arrived in England in the 11th century in the company of Flemish traders.

The Pembroke Welsh Corgi

This breed has evolved into a popular cattle-herding dog. She has the perfect size and temperament to herd large animals with her gentle but insistent heel nipping. Famous for being Queen Elizabeth II of England’s favorite breed. The Corgi is a frequent star of agility trials, canine freestyle dancing, fly-ball, tracking, and herding events. With patient training and exercise, she excels at anything that requires boldness, playfulness, and stamina.

The Corgi Voice

A most vocal companion, the Corgi not only barks but also communicates with a range of other hilarious sounds. All that personality has earned the Corgi a place in fantasy and folklore. She has been part of old Welsh fairy legends to modern storybooks like Tasha Tudor’s Corgiville Fair and Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop.

To give a Corgi a home, search online for nearby rescue organizations.

Go To Your Place

Go To Your Place – An Invaluable Command

Teaching your dog to go lie down on his mat or bed on cue gives you a wonderfully versatile tool in your doggie management box. Say you want to work at your desk and not have him underfoot. Or you are cooking and would prefer not to trip over a hopeful canine tracking your every move around the kitchen. Maybe guests are visiting for dinner and they aren’t the belly-scratching kind. There’s no shortage of scenarios where it might be handy to have your dog politely lying on his mat, out of the way of the two-leggeds.

Here’s how to train your dog to “go to your place”:

Step 1. With a treat in your hand, tell your dog, “Go to your place” in a cheerful tone of voice and point to his mat.

Step 2. Pause a second or two (one-one thousand, two-one thousand), giving him the opportunity to go where you are pointing. If he doesn’t move towards the mat, then lure your dog onto the mat by putting the treat up to his nose and slowly moving it over the mat. If you move your hand too quickly or too far away from his mouth he may give up and lose interest.

Step 3. As soon as your dog has four paws on the mat, treat.

Step 4. Tell your dog, “Down.” Give the hand signal or lure it if your dog needs help. When he lies down, treat him. Continue to treat to keep your dog on the mat. After a few seconds, tell your dog, “Okay,” and allow him to get up.

With Dog Training – Repetition Is Key

Repeat steps 1-4, gradually increasing the amount of time you ask him to stay on the mat. As your dog gets better and better, space out the treats he gets for staying on his mat. Eventually he will stay for no treats at all, but to keep the behavior strong, thank him occasionally for a job well done.

Practice when you can pay attention. For example when you are answering easy emails, not when concentrating on a report due tomorrow. Or when preparing a sandwich, not trying a gourmet recipe for the first time. And TV commercials are a better practice time than engrossing movies.

Canine Health Stats

Things to know about your dog:

A dog’s heart rate is around 180 beats per minute for puppies and toy breeds; 60–160 beats per minute for most adult dogs (larger dogs: slower heart rate).

A dog’s pulse rate at rest is 60–120 beats per minute for most dogs. By comparison, most humans have pulse rates around 65–80 beats per minute.

A dog’s normal body temperature ranges from 100.5–102.5°F. Normal range for humans is 97.5–99.5°F.

A dog’s respiration rate is 16–30 breaths (in and out) per minute during rest or relaxed activity. People breathe in and out 15–20 times per minute under the same conditions.

A dogs’ only sweat glands are between their paw pads.

A dog’s mouth exerts 150–200 pounds of pressure per square inch…with some dogs exerting up to 450 pounds per square inch.

A dog can be trained to detect epileptic seizures in humans.

Obesity is the #1 health problem among dogs.

A dogs’ nose prints are as unique as a human’s finger prints, and can be used to accurately identify them.

Dogs do not have an appendix.

A dog’s sense of smell is more than 100,000 times stronger than that of a human.

Dogs have twice as many muscles to move their ears as people.

The longer a dog’s nose, the more effective it’s internal cooling system.

Levels Training Explained

AZ Dog Sports Levels Training

~ Darcy Rohats, CPDT-KA

Here at AZ Dog Sports, our classes are set up to be taken consecutively, once a week. We offer three types of monthly memberships; Gold, Silver & Bronze. You choose depending on how many classes you want to take each month.

If you need to train your dog at your own pace, and would like to move through our classes on your time…you can participate in our Levels Training Progression within your membership.

In the Levels Training Progression, you advance through our classes by mastering certain graduation requirements at each level.

Here is how we classify graduation from each Level at AZ Dog Sports:

Puppy Class – (when applicable) Puppy and Handler must be able to:

Allow petting by a person other than the owner
Allow owner handling and brief exam/grooming of ears and feet
Walk on a leash – follows owner on lead in a straight line (15 steps)
Walk by other people – Walks on a leash past other people 5 feet away
Sit on command – Owner may use food as a lure
Down on command – Owner may use food as a lure
Come to owner from 5 feet when name is called
Reaction to distractions from 15 feet
Stay on leash with another person – owner walks 10 steps then returns

Level 1 – Dog and Handler must be able to successfully:

Walk on a loose leash
Walk on a loose leash past another dog 10 feet with no lunging or barking
Sit and down on side of hander in heel position
Work in a controlled manner around other dogs
Come Reliably including collar grab when owner calls by name
Social with people
Allows another person to pet him/her
Allows another person to handle ears and toes of front feet
Stay as owner walks to end of leash and returns – sit and down
Allows person other than owner to take leash as owner walks out of sight then returns

Level 2 – Dog and Handler must be able to successfully:

Leave it
Accomplish the Canine Good Citizen 10 steps

Level 3 – Dog and Handler must be able to:

Heel off leash
Recall with Distractions
Games with Distractions
Sit stay at a distance with distractions

PLEASE GIVE US A CALL IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS! 602-237-6775

AZ Dog Sports • Dog Training Gym

602-237-6775

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AZ Dog Smart Academy • School For Dog Trainers