Boarding in a single dog environment vs. Boarding in a multi-dog environment

Recently one of our new clients interviewed with several other companies before becoming our client.  He was concerned because he was told by someone at one of the other companies that leaving your dog in a multi-dog home environment can be very stressful for your dog and he was very concerned about his dog staying with several other dogs.  We respectfully disagree and believe this is not actually true for most dogs, unless the boarding home is overcrowded and is boarding so many dogs, 15, 20, 25 dogs at a time that they are too close for comfort. We have heard of this happening and would never overload any of our homes this way.  We limit our home to 4 to 6 dogs, depending on the dogs, and our Guest Boarding Homes are limited to 3 to 4 dogs for your dogs safety all dogs are placed by weight.  You wouldn't want to leave your 4 Lb Maltese with a 120Lb Italian Mastiff and neither would we.  

Dogs are pack animals and most prefer to be with other dogs when the dogs are social and non-aggressive.  All of our guests are screened for aggression and behavioral issues prior to booking.  An un-socialized dog is usually nervous, timid, or aggressive and not a happy dog.  We have had dogs stay with us that were shaking, and scared when they arrived, only to make an amazing transformation.  Sometimes it can happen in an hour, sometimes in a couple of days, sometimes on their third visit, and sometimes not at all.  But more often than not they do transform into happier more well adjusted dogs sooner or later when exposed to other dogs.  This is one of the most satisfying parts of the job.  Anytime a pets life is made better by something we do, we're happy! 

Our clients often comment that their dogs can tell when they are coming to Aunt Darlene's and become very excited in the car.  Some owners pull up and open the car door, they let the leash go and their dogs run to our back yard to see who their friends are going to be during this stay.  A stressed dog would run away from the thing causing the stress, not toward it.  Not only do we provide all the love and affection that you would yourself, we also help to socialize and even work on basic training using a the positive reinforcement reward method.  Numerous dogs have learned; Down, Sit, Stay, and have even become housebroken because we take them out approximately every 2 to 3 hours as we teach them how to ask to go out. 

Single dog environments are okay for very old, or sickly dogs since they usually just want to sleep, eat and go out for potty breaks, but for happy, healthy, playful dogs, having doggie friends is a very healthy, and necessary part of their lives.  Ask any trainer worth their salt and they will agree dogs are very social and affectionate, always live in packs in the wild and are better off, and usually better behaved when they live in, or get to experience being part of a pack. 

When Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer) has a client who's dog has severe behavioral issues he often brings the dog home to his pack of dogs for a few weeks, and without fail the most difficult issues are resolved because the dog becomes what he was born to be, A PACK ANIMAL.  As a matter of fact most of the best, most famous dog trainers have multiple dogs of their own living in a pack environment because they know the truth is "Dogs Need And Want The Friendship Of Other Dogs".  Once your dogs have stayed with us, we are sure you will agree, there is no better place to leave your beloved best friends than Aunt Darlene's Bed & BarkFest In-Home, Cage-Free Dog Boarding.  We are Central Jersey's Original In Home Dog Boarding Service since 2007.  Nobody cares for your pets better than Aunt Darlene's.  Just read our testimonials and you're sure to agree.

Who We Hire

At Aunt Darlene's we believe in hiring people who are passionate, caring, dog lovers that want to make working with dogs their career, not a hobby.  Our guest home owners are home all day with your dogs because that's their job.  They board dogs because they love dogs and because they want a career working with dogs.  We are definitely not the biggest dog boarding network in New Jersey with only 3 homes at the time of writing this, but we pride ourselves in hiring only a hand selected few that we personally spend months training.  Our Guest Home Owners feed their families and pay their mortgages with the income they make working for us.  This is how they make their living which means they are committed to providing the best service possible because that's what it takes to be an Aunt Darlene's Bed & BarkFest Guest Home Owner.  Your dog will stay with the same Guest Home Owner every time, and will develop a relationship with the same owner for years to come. 

We don't hire people who want to make a few extra dollars, need a hobby, or feel like they may like to give it a try.  We recently had an interview with a man who met all of our preliminary criteria.  His home was perfect, he worked from home and almost never went out, and said he was a pet lover, but when we asked him if he was interested in joining our team, his reply was "I'd like to give it a try". 

WRONG ANSWER!   Anything less than "YES!!! I can't wait to get started", is the wrong answer.  We passed on that one! 

We feel that people who board dogs in their home as a hobby, or for just a few extra spending dollars have no real commitment to their work and can decide at any time it's not for them.  This could possibly leave your boarding company scrambling to find another home to place your dog in at the last minute.  This means you're starting from scratch.  You have to go to another consultation to meet the new boarding home owners, your dog has to become familiar with those new people and what happens if the new people decide a few months later that this is not really for them?  It happens all over again.  This is time consuming and can get old very quickly.

Single dog networks are necessary.  Single dog environments are great for very old, or sickly dogs since they usually just want to sleep, eat and go out for potty breaks.  Single homes are also good for puppies up to about 5 or 6 months old since they need constant one-on-one care.  But for happy, healthy, playful adult dogs 6 mos. and older, having doggie friends is a very healthy, and necessary part of their lives and will just make them a much better dog in the long run.

Running this business is a lot of work and takes a lot of knowledge about dog behavior, canine body language and psychology, etc.  We worked with dogs ourselves for over four years as pet sitters/dog walkers before establishing in-home boarding in our own home in 2007.  During those first 4 years we read, studied, researched and watched every dog show and online video we could find.  Training ourselves was necessary to do our job properly and was extremely helpful when we began boarding dogs.

We knew we couldn't train others to do what we didn't know how to do so we boarded dogs in our own home for 4 years before we felt confident that we could successfully established and train others to do what we do.  That's 8 total years of training.  We don't know of any other company that can make this claim.  Placing your dog with poorly trained, or untrained people is not something we would ever do, or recommend. 

The bottom line is that not every setting is right for every dog.  You may be happy with your current company and that's great, but if that was true you probably wouldn't be reading this right now.  As a dog owner you owe it to your dog to make sure he, or she is happy, comfortable, loved and properly cared for by whoever you're most comfortable with when you're away.  We hope that you choose Aunt Darlene's Bed & BarkFest Cage-Free, In-Home Dog Boarding, but either way we hope each and every dog has a happy, healthy, long, life filled with love and affection.  There is no better Friend than a Dog!

Please read our testimonials.  We're sure once you read what our clients have to say about us that you'll agree, Aunt Darlene's Pet Service Is The Best In New Jersey 

To ensure vacancy please book as early as possible.
Click Here to inquire via email about our boarding service or call Darlene at 732-254-1980.