A Little Piece Of You For Creature Comfort
At Harmony Farm Kennel And Lamb, near Kamloops, BC we love boarding and caring for all dogs! Having decades of experience with dogs, we understand what makes a kennel stay a 'custom care' positive dog experience and always suggest to folks kenneling their dogs with us to bring along something that smells like them (the owners that is, not the dog!)...
We know it helps dogs cope so much better if they can covet a fresh scent of their owners. Understanding that a dog's senses, smell in particular, is what like 100x stronger than ours, anything that can accompany them for their kennel stay, supports and strengthens their connection to home, while apart. One time we had the pleasure of caring for an older beauty named Katie while her family got moved and settled abroad. Katie had many hoops to jump vet wise before 'immigrating' for approval, meantime her family went ahead to get settled and prepared for her to join them.
When her Mom dropped her off, she had totally forgotten the momentos of her scent to leave with the dog and all she had was her suitcase, destined for the airport straight from here. I strongly suggested she find something, anything to leave for dear Katie. She proceeded to dig through her jam packed suitcase to find a shirt. She asked for a pair of scissors and off she went to cut it all up into about 20 pieces. Even the smallest piece we put into a plastic sealed freezer bag for future destribution to Katie.
Well, Katie did great during her long time stay with us. We loved every minute we could care for her and spend quality time together. Every week or so I'd give Katie another 'piece' of her family. She was a very tidy dog but every now and then I'd move her to another kennel for variety and to keep her from getting too protective over her space. Each time I moved her bed, there it was, a pile of her covetted family treasures, neatly piled underneathe her bed. By the time Katie joined her family, there was quite a little mountainous lump there under her bed, that she happily slept on!
Today a couple of dogs went home after just a 2 week vacation with us. Rambunctious and active they were always busy whether on their hikes or playing in their yard... busy busy, happy, happy was their joy in life! As I picked up ther beds to take out to their family's car, there they were...2 T shirts, a slipper, a tug, a bone, a baby's sleeper suit and the 'cherish for later' dog treat. So fun, I chuckled, “dogs are soooo cool!”