Standards slip at peak for an understandable reason: a kennel that runs beautifully with twelve dogs can run very differently with forty, and holiday weeks are when forty is normal. The staff are the same people, the day is the same length, and the work multiplies. Checking a kennel for a peak booking therefore means asking peak questions, about staffing at full numbers rather than quiet-week numbers, and visiting and trialling the place in conditions as close to the real stay as you can manage. A kennel that answers these questions openly is telling you something reassuring about how it runs its peak fortnight.
Staffing at Peak Numbers, Not Quiet-Week Numbers
Ask how many dogs the kennel takes at capacity, and how many staff are on duty at that capacity, on weekdays, at weekends and overnight. Compare the answer with what you saw on any visit: a calm tour on a quiet Tuesday shows you the building, but the staffing figure for a full house shows you the care your dog will actually receive. Ask whether exercise sessions, play and one-to-one time shrink when the kennel is full, and by how much, because a dog promised long individual attention in a quiet week may receive short group exercise in a peak week instead.
Ask how feeding, cleaning and health checks are organised when every run is occupied, who supervises group play at full strength, and whether experienced staff or seasonal help carry the extra load. Ask how long the kennel has run at that capacity and whether it caps bookings below its physical maximum to protect standards. A facility that deliberately leaves runs empty at peak is making exactly the trade you want made on your dog's behalf, and it will usually say so plainly.
Book Early, and Trial the Stay Before It Counts
Book early for peak weeks, earlier than feels necessary, because the kennels with strong reputations fill their holiday runs while other owners are still deciding dates. Early booking also buys you the second safeguard: a trial day before the peak stay. A single day visit, or one short overnight stay in a calmer week, lets her learn the sounds, smells, routine and staff of the place while the stakes are low, and lets the staff learn her feeding, her exercise needs and her temperament before she arrives for a long stay in their peak period.
Use the trial honestly. Ask how she ate, whether she settled, how she mixed, and whether staff had any concerns, and listen without defensiveness, because a kennel that raises a concern after a trial day is giving you the chance to fix it, extend the preparation, or choose differently. A dog who has already had one calm day in a kennel walks into her holiday stay as a returning guest; a dog whose first experience is ten peak days starts several lengths behind her.
Overbooking, and Everything in Writing
Ask directly what happens if they overbook, or if more dogs arrive than the runs comfortably hold. Does the kennel hold a waiting list and turn people away, use overflow space, increase group sizes, or call owners to discuss alternatives? There is no single correct answer, but there is a correct behaviour: a clear answer given before booking, rather than an improvisation discovered when you collect a dog who has clearly had a lesser stay. Ask, too, what happens at the edges of the booking: late collection, delayed flights, an extra night at short notice in the peak week of the year.
Get the provider's agreed terms confirmed in writing: dates, capacity commitments, exercise and feeding arrangements, the trial outcome, fees, and the overbooking position. Her routine reaches the staff member actually feeding her because a defined booking window in Care Pass shares scoped details with that particular carer, and KinsLe ends the sharing when you collect her.