A pair who share a bed, a sofa and every walk at home may still need to eat apart at a kennel, and that separation is easiest to arrange before you book. Sleeping together and feeding together are different questions: a bowl is where appetite, medication and guarding all show up at once, so ask the facility to describe the mealtime setup for your two in detail.
What separate feeding should actually look like
Ask where each dog will be fed: in two kennels, either side of a divider, or in separate runs with a door closed between them. Ask who stays in the room until both bowls are lifted, because a dog left alone with a slower housemate's bowl will finish her own meal and then start on the other one. Find out whether bowls are labelled or colour-coded, how food you supply is stored, and whether staff feed bonded pairs first or last in the round, when the room is quieter.
What to tell them about each dog
Describe the pair as individuals rather than as a unit. Say which dog inhales a meal in seconds and which one grazes, which one guards a bowl if another dog drifts close, and which one has medicine hidden in food that must not be swapped. Note any dog who eats less when stressed, any allergy that makes a shared treat unsafe, and the exact amount each dog gets, measured the way you measure it at home. A facility can only follow a plan it has been given in those terms.
Questions worth asking before you pay
- Will my dogs be fed in separate spaces, and will someone watch until the bowls come up?
- How will you record what each dog ate, including partial meals and refusals?
- If one dog leaves food, will the other be kept away from that bowl?
- When will you tell me about a missed meal, and who decides whether to offer it again later?
- Can the pair still sleep and exercise together if their meals stay apart?
What good reporting sounds like
A useful update names the dog, the meal and the amount: one ate everything at breakfast, the other left half and finished it an hour later. Vague reassurance that both are eating well hides exactly the detail you asked them to protect, especially where one dog needs a full dose of medicine in food or is supposed to be losing weight. Agree at drop-off how often those updates come and what change, such as a full day of refusal from either dog, triggers a phone call or a vet visit.
Hand the kennel that written plan before drop-off, and in KinsLe a Care Pass link lets staff open the separate-feeding details for this booking without signing up.