Kennel staff feed many dogs on a schedule, and a sensitive stomach is managed well only when the instructions are written down precisely enough that a staff member who has never met her can feed her correctly at six in the morning. A conversation at drop-off competes with barking, paperwork, and three other arrivals. One clear page, handed over and kept with her food, is what protects her digestion for the whole stay.
Her Home Diet, Exactly as She Eats It
Name her usual food exactly, including the variety, and give the amount at each meal in the measure staff will actually use, such as grams, a named scoop, or a tin fraction, along with her normal feeding times and the total she eats in a day. Record how it is served: dry, soaked, warmed, or mixed with a specific wet food in a stated proportion. Note the treats she can have, the treats she cannot, and anything she must never be given, and say plainly that nothing should be substituted for her stated food without phoning you first. Foods that look similar on a shelf are not similar to a stomach that reacts to change, and well-meant swaps are the usual cause of a miserable stay.
Portion her home food before you go: labelled bags or tubs, one per meal or one per day, so the correct amount is the easy amount. Send enough for the whole stay plus an extra day, in case your return is delayed.
The Transition Mix, Written as a Sequence
If the kennel's plan is to feed their food and she accepts it, a sensitive stomach still needs a gradual change rather than a straight swap. Write the sequence down as proportions across several days: mostly her home food with a small part kennel food at first, then equal parts, then mostly kennel food, then theirs alone if she is settled at each stage. Tell staff to hold at the current stage, or step back to the previous one, if her stools loosen or she goes off her food, and to return fully to her home food if the change clearly disagrees with her. Her droppings are the feedback mechanism: describe what is normal for her and what a bad reaction looks like, from loose stools and wind to skipped meals or grass eating.
Some owners of genuinely delicate dogs ask the kennel to skip the transition entirely and feed home food throughout. That is a reasonable request to raise when booking, and supplying the food portioned makes it easy for the kennel to agree.
The Refusal Plan
Write the refusal plan as direct instructions, not background information. If she turns away from their food, the instruction is to serve the home food you supplied rather than leaving her hungry or improvising an alternative from the kennel shelves. If she refuses food altogether for a period you specify, or shows the upset signs you described, staff should phone you, and you will say what happens next. Include your number, a second contact, and her vet's number on the same page, so the person holding the page holds everything needed to act. Refusal in a strange place can be nerves rather than stomach, and the plan should distinguish patience, offering her own food calmly at the next mealtime, from concern, which is when the phone call happens.
One Page, Kept With Her Food
Keep the page to a single side if you can: exact food and amounts, the transition sequence, the never-substitute list, the refusal plan, and the phone numbers. Walk a staff member through it at drop-off, then let the page do the work for the rest of the stay. Ask the kennel to note anything they changed or observed, so you know how she ate when she comes home. Pet Passport in KinsLe stores the diet page with her other stay paperwork, ready to print for the next kennel visit without rewriting it.