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Special Care

This year end wasn't the luckiest, with 4 first time guests, 3 had anxiety issues and kept us up for 4 consecutive nights. We were so worried that they might hurt themselves or create trouble for the neighbors and had to check on them almost every hour, as well as making sure the ones that were not involved can rest better.

Because of this, I'll like to officially announce that we now have a separate category for dogs that requires special attention due to behavioral issues, this category is called "Special Care".


How does it work
When a dog is being labeled under special care, it means that in future we can only accept this guest only if it's off peak, and also if no one else in same category had reserved for that particular date. So if today we have 2 guests and one of them requires special care due to extreme behavioral issue, we will not be able to take in another dog that falls in the same category.

Dogs with behavioral issue like anxiety(extreme cases) needs a lot of attention, time and correction, if there are more than 1 staying together in the same date then a lot of possible screw ups can happen, for example both dogs with extreme anxiety could make each other even more agitated by whining and howling together. For first time guests, owners will have to fill in an application form, which gives them the option to state if their furkid has behavioral issues, thing is not all owners are certain of their dog's behavior and may not have it noted down, in this case we will let them know after their first staycation if their dogs belong in this category.

I very much understand that no business of the right mind will do such things to reduce their income, but to me this is becoming very crucial especially in the future if we were to expand, I want to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and can live in harmony.

All hope is not lost though, if your dog had been labeled under Special Care and had shown improvements during the recent stay, we'd gladly open up all slots for you in the future!


Why it is neccesary
When I explain to owners (those with dog that has serious anxiety) that we have to put their dogs under Special Care category, I sometimes get unexpected remarks, as if I'm looking down on their dogs. Well if one wishes to think this way then there's nothing we can do, but here I'm going to share the reasons for doing so, hope everyone can understand that this was not an easy decision for us, we thought for a long time before deciding to implement it permanently.

1. Affects other guests
Barking, whining, howling, aggression etc. all these behaviors will have impact on other guests and may cause them to panic and disrupt their rest as well as daily activities.

Imagine if you have a well behaved dog and has to sleep beside 3 anxious neighbors that bark, scratch and destroy things all night long? I don't think this is fair to the well behaved dog as well as it's owner. Even though we only accept 4-5 guests at each time, it still affects everyone around them.

2. Not enough manpower
With just both of us, it is impossible to focus on more than 2 panicking dog at each time, let alone still having to take care and make sure the rest enjoy and still have fun during their stay. If both of us is stopping 2 dogs each from barking or getting aggressive, who will take care of the rest of the well behaved dogs, walk, play and interact with them?

I just don't understand why some business can have 1 staff tendering the counter and 10 other dogs roaming freely, honestly I've visited those highly raved hotels and trust me, I saw a lot of ugly things happening among the dogs - big dogs bullying small ones, snapping at each other, legs limping temporarily, females getting humped without anyone interfering, the list goes on. Yes money is important, else how the business survive right, but if it's at the expense of a dog's health and wellbeing, i'd rather not do it at all.

3. Lack of sleep
Without sleep how can one have enough energy to take care of the dogs on the next day, and we don't get to rest on peak, guests check in and out all the time. Lack of sleep is not due to entertainment like drinking, playing games and watching movies, lack of sleep due to work is extremely stressful on the body and mind. We try to practice good sleeping habit for both humans and dogs everyday, 9 - 9:30pm lights off, 10pm rest for the dogs, both of us sleeps at about 11pm latest almost on a daily basis.

Waking up every hour, getting back to bed with barking sound still ringing in your head is not a joke, sometimes I just find myself shutting my eye for 5 minutes and then suddenly becoming wide awake and check on them for nothing, I do over-worry about them and give myself more stress but this is me, dogs are my life.

4. Disturbs other people
We've received complains a number of times and hope the amount of noise can be toned down, before we have no choice but to stop all services. Our previous place was reported and we had move to a new area, so we are trying our best not to cause any trouble for others.

5. Endangers themselves
Dogs with anxiety are known to whine, bark & howl, but do you know that chances of self inflicted injuries increases when they are anxious? It's not just a paranoid behavior when I go in to shock mode and wake up every couple of minutes to check, some dogs destroys stuff, some scratches, and in extreme cases there are dogs that attempt to hurt themselves. Well even just basic chewing and scratching can already hurt their mouth and paws. Though through the terms we are not responsible for self inflicted injuries, we still want to prevent that as much as possible.


Does it mean that my dog will be under this category for just any behavioral issues?
No, only applicable to serious behavioral problems. Minor anxiety and aggression issues are definitely acceptable, we will advice accordingly so no worries. Also feel free to ask if you are unsure and need clarification.


I hope this clears up any misunderstandings, if you are sincere in working on your dog's anxiety condition, I'll gladly set aside a better time to help you and your dog get over the problem through Obedience classes or Board + Train program, definitely not during peak period where slots are always filled up. However if you think that you are okay with the anxiety, then that is fine too, we will gladly refer you to boarders that are willing to let your dog roam around freely at all times. We've always maintained neutral position and advice accordingly, if owners do not agree we will not look down on them, at times we'd even help them find a better alternative for their needs!

In the near future, we will be creating a reward system, where well trained dogs will get better benefits and offers with us, we hope that this can encourage more owners to see the importance of proper upbringing.

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