What Boarding Facilities Ask For

Boarding check-in becomes much easier when you treat the facility’s requirements as a current document—not something you remember from the last reservation. Policies vary by facility, location, services, and the individual dog, and they can change between stays.

The right preparation is simple: request the facility’s written list, compare it with your records, ask what is unclear, and bring only what the facility has approved.

Ask for the Current Requirements Before You Book

Request the facility’s current information about:

• Eligibility and age policies
• Vaccination or veterinary-document requirements
• Parasite-prevention or screening policies
• Required forms, agreements, deposits, and cancellation terms
• Medication, food, bedding, toy, and container rules
• Behavioral intake or trial-day process
• Drop-off and pickup windows
• Emergency-contact and veterinary-authorization process
• Communication, photographs, and update practices

Do not assume every facility requests the same vaccines, timing, forms, or belongings. AAHA notes that many boarding facilities require proof of vaccination and recommends discussing diet, medication, and behavioral instructions before a stay.^[1] The facility and your veterinary team should answer what applies to your dog.

The facility’s current checklist is the authority for check-in. Your job is to gather, verify, and clarify.

Identity and Owner Information

A facility may ask for:

• Dog’s full name, age or date of birth, breed or mix, color, sex, and identifying features
• Current photograph
• Microchip number and registry
• Owner name, address, mobile number, and travel contact method
• Local emergency contact who has agreed to act
• Authorized pickup people

Use the same identifying information across the reservation, veterinary record, collar tag, and emergency sheet. Ask how the facility protects personal information and which details should not be placed on bags or public-facing labels.

Veterinary and Health Documents

Facilities commonly request veterinary contact information and documentation that their health policies require. The exact documents and validity windows vary. Ask:

• Which records are required?
• Does the facility need a clinic-issued copy?
• How recent must each document be?
• Can the clinic send records directly?
• When is the submission deadline?
• How will approval or missing information be confirmed?

Do not interpret a veterinary record yourself or promise that a document meets the policy. Send it through the requested channel and obtain confirmation.

Medication and Supplement Information

Ask the facility how it accepts and administers owner-provided medications and supplements. Clarify:

• Whether products must remain in original labeled containers
• Which written veterinary instructions are required
• Whether the facility accepts the product and schedule
• How doses are documented
• Who answers medication questions during the stay
• What happens if a dog refuses, spits out, or cannot receive a scheduled product
• How unused products are returned

Never transfer medication into an unlabeled organizer unless the facility and veterinary team specifically instruct you to do so. Never invent a missed-dose plan.

Food and Feeding Instructions

Confirm the facility’s packaging rules before portioning food. Ask whether it wants original packaging, individual meal bags, sealed containers, a measuring scoop, or another format.

Provide the owner’s current routine without asking staff to estimate:

• Food name and form
• Amount using the requested measurement
• Meal schedule
• Approved treats and chews
• Foods or items the dog should not receive
• Written veterinary diet instructions, when applicable

Ask how the facility records appetite and whom it contacts about a change. Do not give the facility permission to improvise substitutions unless you have agreed on a specific process.

Behavior, Handling, and Daily-Life Information

Describe behavior in observable terms and answer the facility’s questions honestly. Relevant information may include:

• Experience with unfamiliar dogs, people, handling, crates, and group settings
• Known escape patterns, door rushing, climbing, digging, or chewing
• Resource guarding or sensitivity around food, toys, spaces, or touch
• Responses to storms, alarms, construction noise, grooming, or separation
• Words, cues, equipment, and routines the dog already knows
• What helps the dog settle

Avoid labels such as “perfect,” “dominant,” or “fine with everything.” A recent example gives staff more usable information: “At the last group walk, he moved behind me when two dogs approached quickly.”

Belongings and Packing Rules

Facilities differ on beds, blankets, bowls, toys, chews, crates, and collars. Some limit belongings for sanitation, storage, or safety. Ask what is permitted and how every item should be labeled.

Pack only approved items and create a simple inventory. Photographing the packed items can help both sides confirm what arrived and what should return, but never photograph confidential forms or account information unnecessarily.

Emergency Contact and Authorization

Ask the facility to explain its process:

• Whom does it call first?
• What happens if the owner cannot be reached?
• Which veterinary service does it use?
• What authorization form is required?
• How are transportation and costs handled?
• Which decisions require the owner or backup contact?

Pet Sitters International notes that veterinary release forms are commonly used because an owner or emergency contact may not be immediately reachable.^[2] A boarding facility may use a different form or process. Review it before check-in and ask questions rather than signing an unclear document at the counter.

Build a Check-In Folder

Keep the current facility checklist, reservation confirmation, approved veterinary documents, owner contact sheet, medication instructions, feeding instructions, belongings inventory, and signed forms together. Store a secure digital backup without placing passwords or unrestricted financial information in the folder.

For the broader handoff, use What to Tell Your Dog Sitter Before You Leave. For a short trip timeline, continue with A Weekend-Trip Checklist for Dog Owners.