A first stay at a Fareham or Gosport boarder or day care
Booking a first stay with a new boarder, day care or kennels across Fareham, Gosport, Wickham & Southwick or Bishop's Waltham is different from a routine rebooking: there is no track record yet on either side, so it is worth treating the first visit as a trial rather than a full commitment.
Ask about a trial or assessment first
4 Muddy Paws, in Fareham, publishes a £10 trial stay before a first full booking, the only business on this page to state a trial price. Fareham's Dog Day Care Ltd offers a free two-hour trial session, and Just Like Home carries out a social-skills assessment before boarding rather than a paid trial. None of the other eighteen businesses listed here states online whether it offers a trial or assessment visit, so ask directly — a shorter visit first is common practice across this niche even where it isn't advertised.
What to pack
Whichever type of boarding or day care you choose, take enough of your dog's usual food for the length of the stay, since a sudden change of diet can upset its stomach, plus any regular medication in its original packaging, a lead and collar with an up-to-date ID tag, and something that smells of home. Ask the business in advance what it provides and what it expects you to bring, since this varies between operators.
Drop-off and collection
Ask what the arrangement is for dropping off and collecting your dog. 4 Muddy Paws runs day care 7:30am to 5:30pm; Just Like Home's day care runs Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 7pm; and Lone Valley Kennels Ltd opens seven days a week, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm, with a holiday surcharge on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. RSPCA Solent Branch (The Stubbington Ark) keeps reception hours of 11am to 4pm daily, closed Tuesdays, and is closed to casual visitors outside a prior arrangement. None of the fourteen Winchester-licensed home boarders and kennels in Wickham & Southwick or Bishop's Waltham publish set visiting windows on the council register or elsewhere, so ask directly what their arrangement is before you set off.
A good handover
Whichever business you choose, a good handover covers your dog's feeding times and amounts, any medication and when it is due, its normal toileting routine, anything it is anxious about, and an emergency contact number for you. Write it down as well as saying it, so it is there if you are unreachable during the stay. Ask, too, how the business will update you during the stay, and how it would contact you if there were a problem, before you leave your dog with any of the twenty-one businesses listed on this page. See our vaccinations and licences guide for what else is worth asking before you book.