I can speak for the Animal Hospital of Statesville. Because the veterinary clinic is attached to the boarding facility, our kennel staff can contact us if there's an emergency. We can contact you and authorize what medical treatment might be needed. We, of course, ask on the front end, are there any medical concerns that you have for your pet, and in the case of an emergency, what are your wishes? You may think, well, of course, I would treat them, but there might be situations where your pet is older or sick or something where you would want them to be comfortable. We will contact you and let you know about that. And we all always ask for an alternative contact or someone that we can actually get hold of if you're out on a Caribbean cruise and can't be contacted. We'll contact someone who can make that decision for you that you trust to make that decision. It's always good to have that second contact to authorize treatment. Make sure they know that you're putting them down. Hey, you know, I'm going out of town, and you're my backup for my boarding pet.

We encourage you to do different things, like maybe going forward with some training and seeking some training to try to overcome anxiety. Just like Kyle mentioned, it's not only about leaving them for boarding, but maybe it's day-to-day separation anxiety, like if you go to work. Many people now work from home, and the pets are used to them being at home. So when you're not with them as much or could be certain things that we could talk about one-on-one that could be done. We also offer some natural calming recommendations, pheromone therapy, and things that can help when separation occurs. And then, of course, as a veterinarian, we can prescribe medication if needed during certain situations when their anxiety might be higher.

Sometimes they can be sad. Doing things ahead of time to kind of prep them for the boarding helps, whether that is getting their favorite toy or treat or something that you can bring with them that they enjoy that could also be offered here like that it is at home. I think you can judge by observing their anxiety level when you leave them at home. If they're anxious when you leave them at home, you might want to rethink how you plan to have someone keep them when you're gone.

Our boarding facility requires a certain set of vaccines, and the whole purpose behind that is to best protect your pet that is going to come and be around other animals. So if your pet didn't have the required vaccinations, they might not be able to board at a facility or our facility. The reason you may choose not to board at a facility depends on your pet's stress level. Maybe you felt that your pet was better at home, and you could get a pet sitter to come into the home. Maybe it would eat better, and there could be other health reasons that make you want to do that. But that can be facilitated well at a boarding facility like ours, where we can offer special care for those patients or boarders with special needs.

I think word of mouth is great. So if you have a friend referral or recommendation, that's what we love. We love it when clients recommend our clinic and refer us to their friends because word of mouth is the best. You can also look online. We're in an online world. So you can go on and look on the Google reviews, or any reviews or ratings that tell you what the clinic is like, or what the boarding facilities are like, and then even stop by and do a pre-interview before. I don't know that you would just go drop your children off somewhere with people you've never met or a facility you've never walked through. We offer you to come and walk through and look at our facility at a scheduled time. I think that would be great so that you get a feel for how things are set up and what's offered. I think the tour is a great idea. You get to meet the staff, see who's taking care of your pets, see where they're going to live, and maybe choose the right suite for them.

It is lots of fun. They have a blast, and sometimes they don't even want to go back home with you. No, they're always happy to see. They're always excited to see you. But at our daycare facility, they can be fed depending on if you fed them before they come. We have playtimes. We have an enclosed play yard where we have toys. Depending on the weather, we may have access to a little baby pool, puppy pool, and interaction with the staff so they can play with them as well. And they can be leashed, or they can be off-leash to get additional exercise.

They could be one and the same and just offer two different options. But of course, the daycare would be like if you have children and you drop them off in the morning, go to work, and then pick them up. The same thing is offered for daycare for pets when you're not able to be with them. So they stay during the day. Boarding would be overnight. We do offer both. We have boarding and doggy daycare, and we have little packages for the doggy daycare of, I think, five and ten days or something like that. So if you're going to be a frequent flyer here, you can get those packages and save a little bit.