Write the routine the way it happens in your kitchen
Kennel staff can only follow the routine they are actually given, so describe yours as a sequence, not a summary. State what is given in the morning and what in the evening, whether each item goes with food, after food, or on an empty stomach, and the small tricks that make it work for your dog — hidden in a spoonful of wet food, offered by hand first, or followed immediately by a walk so she forgets the fuss. If one item must never be crushed or split, say so plainly.
Include what a missed or spat-out attempt looks like in your house and what you do next. That single detail prevents the two commonest kennel errors: giving twice because nobody recorded the first try, and quietly skipping a difficult dog.
Keep everything in its original packaging
Never decant tablets into an unlabelled weekly box for a kennel stay. Original packaging carries the name, strength, and dispensing label that let staff — and an emergency vet, if one is needed — check what your dog is receiving. Pack more than the stay needs. Tablets get dropped in bedding, refused on a stressed first evening, or vomited back, and a kennel cannot replace a prescription item locally at short notice.
Add a simple tick sheet with days and times for the whole stay. Ask staff to initial each giving as it happens, not from memory at the end of the day. That sheet is your evidence on collection that the routine held, and it is the first thing to check if your dog seems off colour at home.
Hand over to a person, not to a reception desk
Book five unhurried minutes at drop-off with someone who will genuinely be on shift during the stay, and walk through the sheet and packaging together. Point out which dog is yours if several boarders share a surname or a similar look, confirm feeding times line up with giving times, and agree the failure plan: who is phoned, at what point, if a giving is refused twice, vomited repeatedly, or if your dog stops eating altogether.
Leave your mobile number, your vet's number, and permission for the kennel to seek veterinary help if you cannot be reached. A handover that ends with unanswered questions becomes guesswork by day three.
Account for the stressed first day honestly
Many dogs eat poorly and resist handling on their first night in kennels, even dogs who board happily once settled. Tell staff what your dog is like when unsettled — whether she hides food, guards her bed, or takes things more readily from one calm person than from a busy team. Ask that the same staff member handle her routine where possible; familiarity is often the difference between a swallowed tablet and a found one in the bedding later.
If your dog's routine includes something time-sensitive, such as treatment tied to meals or to seizure control, say explicitly that timing matters more than convenience, and ask how the kennel's feeding rounds will accommodate it before you book, not after you arrive.
Check the sheet before you check the dog
On collection, read the tick sheet before the excited reunion takes over. Gaps, crossings-out, or a run of initials in identical pen can all be innocent, but they are worth a calm question while staff who were there can still answer. Bring any remaining supply home, note anything that ran short, and tell your vet if givings were missed, especially after a longer stay. A handover recorded through KinsLe's Care Pass means that same routine, timing notes, and vet contact travel with your dog as one clear, temporary handover instead of a paper note that can be lost between shifts.