Plan ahead to board your dog in Sonoma County. The wait-lists are long

Need to put Fido up for the day after cousin Matilda suddenly shows up and she’s allergic? Or, do you have a chance to go on a last-minute, two-day sailing trip and need to drop Ms. Funny Face off at a kennel?

Good luck — in most cases doggy day cares and kennels in Sonoma County and elsewhere, are all filled up during summer vacation time especially on weekends and holidays. That means there will likely be a waiting list.

“For us, right now is a very, very busy time,” said Julie Markham, director of client services at the K9 Activity Club in Santa Rosa. “We’ve had a wait list for most of the summer. We do get cancellations and we do have sporadic openings.”

“We have been sold out and I think others have been, too,” said Karen Doolittle, who owns It’s A Dog’s Life in Petaluma, at the start of the Fourth of July weekend. “We’ve had a wait list for the past four weekends.”

For holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, there’s a three-page waiting list a month in advance, she said.

There has been a major change in the availability of day care for canines since the pandemic struck in late 2019-20 when most people stopped traveling. During the worst of COVID-19, before vaccinations were available, hotels were empty except for business travelers, and without pleasure trips, there was no longer a need to board one’s pet.

The pandemic led to a rush at shelters on dog adoptions, as well as purchases at breeders.

But, once vaccinations were widely available and Sonoma County residents started returning to work, pet owners needed a place to board their pets during the week.

“In the last year we have seen a lot of new people,” Doolittle said. “We only allow one or two new dogs in per day. We don’t want (the other dogs) to be overwhelmed with the newness.”

She said in the past when clients called to apologize for their dog’s behavior it was because he or she had been a shelter dog. “Now they say, ‘It’s a COVID dog,’ ” she said. “That really did a number on them.”

Dogs isolated during the pandemic weren’t socialized to be with other dogs, Doolittle and others at pet boarding facilities pointed out. As a result some day cares now help Mutt and Sparky get along in a variety of ways.

It’s A Dog’s Life has a pack of “ambassador dogs’ — female Gordon setters with a “sweet and easy temperament” who help both shy and high-strung dogs mellow out and get used to being around other canines.

At K9 Activity Club, dogs are taken into the gym and introduced to different textures such as gravel because they were mostly kept inside. Dog owners can choose from a more private indoor-outdoor run with exposure to a small number of dogs or larger spaces with big yards, pools and misters to play in.

But getting your dog into these fun, engaged spaces can be tricky. During a holiday weekend, even longtime clients had to take their turn on waiting lists when there were sudden changes in plans.

Tiffany Myers of Windsor, who takes the family’s Labrador retriever, Penny, to K9 Activity Club on a regular basis, was placed on the list when she needed to get her dog in a couple of days earlier.

“We are going camping next week,” she said July 1. “I just kept trying and trying and decided to try one more time. Then they had a cancellation and I was able to bring my dog in on the 3rd (of July).”

Chris Mahurin and his partner, Ben Bruggy, of Santa Rosa also ended up on the waiting list for their dog after a change of travel plans. But they and their basenji, Harper Elizabeth, who have been clients at their doggy day care for nearly two years, eventually won a spot.

“They usually try to get you in when they can,” Mahurin said. “Summertime and holidays are definitely the trickiest. You just have to plan ahead.”

Not everyone is booked so tightly. Paradise Pet Resorts, with a smaller facility in Santa Rosa and a spacious one in Rohnert Park, was packed for the July Fourth holiday weekend in Santa Rosa. But they still had plenty of room in Rohnert Park.

Owner Mike Campbell recommended his larger Rohnert Park facility for larger dogs, especially for longer stays, because “they wear themselves out; there’s a lot more space to run around.”

What alternatives are there if you can’t find a spot to board Bingo when you’re going out of town? Family and friends, most agreed.

Myers said their nanny was their go-to person, while Mahurin said he and his partner have “two family friends and acquaintances as backup.”

There also are pet sitters who will come to your home to take care of your dog and other pets, often for less money.

Still, leaving any pet home alone is the worst alternative, at least for some dogs, Doolittle said.

“At a boarding kennel they are being observed during the day and night, because … things happen,” she said. “They dig to escape; but some dogs are fine just hanging out.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.