Do we have experience caring for doggos similar to yours?

Looking for an experienced dog care service to look after your doggo? Perhaps your doggo has certain conditions or exhibit certain behaviour that you feel may be difficult for others to take care of?  We can totally understand that! 

Let us share some of the doggo experiences we have had so far.  Hope you find examples of doggo types that you can associate with. Feel free to ask us if you don't find any examples similar to your doggo's condition or behaviours.  

Dogs with medical conditions. 

For dogs with medical conditions, it is important that you inform us, and provide us with sufficient medication and clear instructions on how we need to administer care and medication.  Here's some of the medical conditions we have experienced with the doggos that board with us before..

- heart issue with medication,
- reverse sneeze condition,
- recovering from fractured leg surgery,
- recovering from sprained toe,
- immobile with wheelchair, 
- Addison's disorder,
- blindness in one or both eyes,
- cataract
- glaucoma
- history of spinal surgery
- sensitive skin
- hip dislocation
- enlarged testicles
- yeast infection
- luxating patella grade 3
- groin strain
- farsightedness

 

Visually Impaired

Depending on the extent of your doggo's blindness, we will limit its roaming space to a room or a playpen area; separate it from other doggos or group it with doggos that are calm and easy-going (lest they get reactive when your doggo bumps into them).  Our American Cocker Spaniel is blind in one eye and we have hosted a Shih Tzu, a Shiba Inu, and a Pomeranian with visual disability. 

 

Senior Dogs 

We have boarded a few senior doggos, with the oldest being a 17 year old Golden Retriever and a 17 year old Shih Tzu.  We have also hosted a 14 year old Shh Tzu and 12 year old Pomeranian, Toy Poodle and Silky Terrier Mix.  Typically we will keep the senior dog in a playpen or room with other dogs that are calm in nature so they don't get annoyed or get into physical accidents with younger, more active pups 

 

Young Puppy

We have hosted a number of young pups from as young as 4 months old; just after they have completed their full vaccination.  They are typically not fully potty or grass trained, eat 3 meals a day, and need to learn to socialise and walk. 

 

 

High Energy Dogs

Some dogs require a tonne of activities to keep them occupied and exercised.  If your doggo is very active, we have a big outdoor patio and a few pawfriends to help run down your doggo's energy.  Many of the doggos that need long walks are knocked out by the end of the day when they board with us.  They tire out from the day time zoomies, constant play and three walks.

 

Chewers

We are not talking about doggos chewing their toys. We are talking about doggos that like to chew on furniture, pillows, cables and anything they get their paws on.  If you doggo is a habitual chewer, we will separate your doggo in a playpen when not supervised or during sleep.  We will also provide your doggo with a chew toy to keep it occupied!

 

Resource guarders

Some doggos may exhibit aggression and have a tendency to bite humans or other doggos if they think that their possessions are being taken away.   If your doggo display such behavior, we may have to isolate your doggo during meal times and not let your doggo play with toys when other doggos are around.

 

Great escapists

If you have watched Disney's Movie Togo, you would know some doggos just have the ability to escape from their containment or harness! 

When a Singapore Special tore down our plastic mesh reinforcement of our patio rail, we changed to using iron wire mesh fence to prevent such occurrence from happening again.  P/S: Lucky for us, the Singapore Special is a regular and immediately came back to us when we called out to her. 

We frequently encounter flight risks with doggos who have learned to slip out of their harness by backing away.  Other than being careful with these doggos during walks, we have also introduced their pawrents to change to the PetSafe Deluxe Easy Walk Harness which is designed with a front attachment martingale loop that not only safeguards against doggo trying to back out fo their harness, but more importantly is the best no-pull leash we have used in controlling and giving clear feedback to your doggo during walks.

 

The Anxious

With work from home being the norm during the Covid pandemic, doggos have been conditioned to always have the company of their hoomans at home.  Left untrained, doggos can get very anxious and stressed when their pawrents are out of sight.   We have cared for many doggos with anxiety issues; who thankfully, are distracted by the company of other doggos and hooman around!

 

Barkies and Whinees

As we provide a home boarding service, we need to keep our noise level down.  Occasional barking (and whining) for attention, or during play or at strangers at the door, is manageable as doggos will typically stop when we distract them or attend to their needs. 

If your doggo barks or whines excessively, it is best that you train your doggo first  or seek commercial options where they are not likely to disturb the neighbours.  

 

Marksmen

If your doggo has a tendency to urinate at its own free will or has a tendency to mark his territory with urine, you should be prepared to let us diaper your doggo. Please bring along your own disposable diapers or we can also provide at additional cost.   

 

In Heat

When we have intact male and female doggos boarding with us, we will diaper both of them to double protect the female doggo and prevent any accidental offsprings.  If a female doggo is in heat, we will separate her from the male doggos.

 

Mousy 

We have boarded doggos who are ultra timid; choosing to stay within their self-imposed 6 tile restricted zone and who would jump and scurry off at the slightest sudden sound or movement.  We are glad that during their stay with us, they eventually ventured out of their comfort zone and socialised with other doggos. 

Depending on the extent of your doggo's timidness, we may advise you to do more trial and short preparatory care with us prior to an intended long term dog care program.  Not only would this help us to access your doggo's suitability, it would also help your doggo to know and trust us when you are away for a long period of time. 

Reactive Pullers

We have walked many doggos who pull haphazardly, surge forward at the sight of other doggos or birds, or simply refuse to walk in the direction you are taking them.  Whilst we try to correct their behaviour, we would not have enough time to change them as it requires regular daily training to achieve the desired effect. 

In addition, we have helped many pawrents by recommending them the PetSafe Deluxe Easy Walk Harness and Truelove Multi-Loop Firm Grip Leash for better control of their doggos during walks.   Ask us to show you when you next come for a meet and greet!

 

Water Guzzlers

Some doggos simply love drinking water. As we walk them thrice a day and have a big patio and pee pads in the toilets for the occasions they need to relieve themselves, this is generally not a problem. 

As for doggos who not only love drinking but also drink in fast gulps, we serve them water with  slow drinking anti splash anti spill water bowls. 

 

Fussy Eaters

Poodles and Poodle mix breeds tend to be fussy eaters and we have cared for more than a fair share of them.  Having said so, there are also fussy eaters amongst other dog breeds. We do get a variety of "remedies" from pawrents, like coax their doggos to eat, add treats to the food, hand feed or spoon feed their doggos, change to our cooked meal etc. Many of these were not effective and work towards conditioning their doggos to be even more fussy to get the special treatment.

What we have found to be effective are

1. Remove distraction by isolating the fussy eater in an area, away from other doggos and hoomans.

2. Timeboxing by leaving food with doggo for 20 mins and then taking the food away till the next meal time. Survival instinct will kick in and your doggo will soon learn to eat or be left hungry.

3. Serve food your doggo like by avoiding kibble and offering a balanced nutritious human grade diet (cooked or raw).  Typically, fussy eaters do not like kibble and would eat food they like as they are not born to starve themselves.  We have seen many of them spitting out kibble mixed with other food.

 

Gobblers

There are fussy eaters and there are also starving devourers who would gobble up their food in no time.  The risk of that is them choking on their food and that can be life threatening.  We would calm such dogs down and get them to sit and wait for their food.  We would also serve them with a slow feeder so it restricts them from eating too fast and prevents them for choking on the food.

 

Diarrhea !!!

If your doggo is down with diarrhea and you cannot postpone your dog care plan, please let us know so we can make arrangement to avoid the potential mess of loose stool being spread around our premise.  Your doggo will have to be separated and confined to an area with pee pad so it is convenient for your doggo to relieve itself.  We will monitor your doggo's state and bring your doggo to a vet if necessary. 

 

Therapy Dog

Certified therapy dogs are great with people and dogs! We can't think of any issues you would have boarding your doggo if it is a certified therapy dog! And yes we have the pleasure of caring for one!

  

ADHD

Dogs diagnosed with ADHD exhibit hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention.  We experienced one who boarded with us regularly.  After we knew about its needs, we let it have more play, activity and attention during its stay with us.

 

Aggressors

We do not take aggressive dogs as we provide a home based dog care experience. An aggressive dog can pose risks to other doggos boarding at the same time as well as family members.  We have, however, encountered dogs who showed aggression during their stay with us.  This could happen because their pawrents did not inform us of their doggos aggression triggers, and the doggos did not exhibit such behaviour during our meet and greet session, or the doggos simply turn aggressive for the first time (unusual but possible) as being in an environment with other doggos and another family is a big change and can be stressful for some doggos. 

If doggos are found to be aggressive during our care, especially in a way that can risk injury to other doggos or hooman, we will have to separate them. We will take other measures to maintain their activity levels; e.g. playtime alone as well as longer walks. 

P/S: If your doggo exhibit aggression to other doggos or hooman, and you want to make sure it is suitable for home based dog care, please start training your doggo immediately and religiously to correct its behaviour. Please be very sure its behaviour is corrected and it is going to be obedient before sending it for dog care. 

 

Rough Manners

We regularly care for an English Bulldog who is not aggressive but likes to grab and hump other doggos that he meets.  As he is a very strong lad, we have to separate him from other doggos and give him individual play time alone at our outdoor patio and take him for more walks.  We do let him play and walk with other doggos, if they are suitable, and under supervision. For example, a very energetic and strong Frenchie played and walked with him under supervision.  

 

That's all for now folks!  We will continue to update this page with more examples.  In the meantime, please feel free to ask us anything about our experience!