Food and medication during board and train

Dogtown's packing advice for any overnight stay is food, pre-portioned if possible, any medications and a small comfort item, and board and train is no different. Whole Dog Journal's veterinary guidance on changing foods recommends a transition over seven to ten days and warns that a sudden switch can upset digestion, with a richer food particularly likely to cause diarrhea. A new building, new people and daily training are change enough, so the bowl should be the one thing that stays the same.

Pre-portioning means one labeled bag or container per meal, marked with your dog's name and the meal, plus a few spares in case pick-up moves. If your dog eats wet, fresh-cooked, raw or prescription food, tell us at the consult so storage can be planned, and we will confirm whether that diet can be fed during the stay. If you were about to change foods, finish the transition at home well before drop-off, or wait until after the go-home lesson.

We do not publish a medication policy for board and train, so this page will not tell you what we can or cannot give. Here is how the decision is normally made. Gabby and the front desk need to know every medication, its dose and timing, whether it goes with or without food, how it is stored and how it is given: a pill, a liquid, drops or an injection. Some routines fit a training day easily; others need a conversation, and a few may point to a different program.

The FDA's guidance for pet owners explains why the detail matters. Some oral medicines work better with food and others on an empty stomach; skipping doses or stopping antibiotics early can cause problems later; and if a dose is missed, your vet is the one to say when to give the next. Behavior medications deserve a particular mention: if your dog takes one, tell us, and talk to your vet before changing anything in the run-up to a stay.

Some dogs live on schedules that a training stay makes harder: several medications at fixed hours, a diet that cannot vary, or a condition your vet wants watched closely. For them, the honest answer may be a program without nights away. Private sessions with Gabby start from $94, Canine Campus runs 2, 4 or 6 weeks of day training with your dog home every night, and Dogtown Academy days, $89 full or $69 half, include a training session.

Talk to your vet before booking any stay if your dog's health has changed recently, and bring the vet's notes to the assessment. Gabby would rather plan around a medical routine than find out about it on the first morning. The free evaluation, on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM, is another good moment to raise a diet or medication question, because the people who will feed your dog are there.