Ask whether acceptance is policy or a favour
Some kennels accept unneutered dogs as a matter of routine, some accept them only in certain blocks or outside busy periods, and some decline them entirely. Ask which applies to your dog and get it in the booking confirmation, because an arrangement agreed casually by phone can unravel when different staff are on duty. Ask whether an entire male is housed away from other intact males and from females, whether he is exercised separately, and whether there is any age or behaviour condition — for example, a young entire male who marks constantly or fixates on other dogs may be moved to solo care at extra cost. A clear policy protects your dog as much as the kennel's other guests.
For a female in season, ask about physical separation
The key question is not whether staff will be careful but whether the building allows real separation. Ask where a female in season would sleep, whether she has a separate outdoor area, and in what order dogs are moved through shared corridors and yards so scent and contact are controlled. Ask whether any intact males are in residence during your dates and how the kennel guarantees no mixing at gates, in reception, or during cleaning moves. Ask how staff recognise the stages of her season and what they do at the peak, when she is most attractive to males and most unsettled herself. If the answers rely on everyone remembering, rather than on separate spaces and a written routine, choose a different stay for this cycle.
Ask about behaviour, stress, and extra charges
Boarding during a season or as an entire male can be a harder stay. Entire males may pace, vocalise, and eat less when they can smell females; females in season can be clingy, restless, or unusually irritable with other dogs. Ask how staff manage that — extra solo exercise, quieter housing, more frequent checks — and whether those extras are charged. Ask honestly about your own dog's history too: if your male lunges at other intact males or your female snaps at dogs when in season, the kennel needs that information to house her safely, and withholding it risks injury and a terminated stay.
Time the booking around her cycle if you can
If your trip is movable by a few weeks, ask the kennel whether boarding just before or after a season is easier and what dates they would advise you to avoid. If the trip is fixed and she may come into season during the stay, agree the plan in advance: who supplies bedding and cleaning materials for spotting, how often she is checked, and at what point the kennel would ask your emergency contact to collect her if she becomes distressed or the household cannot keep her safely apart. Also tell the kennel the date of her last season, because experienced staff plan housing around that information.
Confirm status, paperwork, and the collection conversation
Before the stay, confirm in writing that the kennel knows your dog is unneutered or potentially in season, the housing agreed, and any extra charges, so there is no renegotiation at the door when you have a flight to catch. Ask what they will report at collection — appetite, behaviour around other dogs, any mounting, escaping, or fence-testing — because that report shapes whether you board the same way next time. Keeping your dog's neutering status, season dates, and vaccination history recorded in a KinsLe Pet Passport gives the kennel one clear record to work from when they apply their policy to your dog.