Refused food during a first boarding stay sits in an awkward space between homesickness and illness, which is exactly why the reporting arrangement matters as much as the food itself. You cannot judge her appetite from a distance unless the kennel tells you, promptly and in detail, what each meal actually looked like.
What the kennel should tell you, meal by meal
Ask for a daily update that separates the meals rather than rolling the day into a reassurance. Useful detail sounds like this: breakfast untouched, half of dinner eaten after a walk, water drinking normally, treats accepted from staff. That level of reporting lets you and, if needed, a vet distinguish a dog who is eating nothing at all from a nervous dog whose appetite is returning in stages. Agree the format before the stay, including who contacts whom, and by what time of day.
The threshold you agree before drop-off
Set the escalation point while everyone is calm. A common arrangement is to involve you, and then the vet, after more than a day or so of real refusal, moving sooner for a puppy, an older dog, or a dog whose medicine is hidden in food. Define real refusal together as well: sniffing and walking away from every meal is different from eating slowly, eating only in the evening, or eating when a member of staff stays nearby. Write the threshold into the booking paperwork rather than leaving it to whoever is on shift.
Help the kennel help her eat
Send the food she eats at home, portioned, and say what staff may add to encourage her and what is off limits. Tell them her normal pattern in advance: the dog who always skips breakfast at home will frighten nobody if that habit is written down, while a dog who has never missed a meal deserves faster escalation when she refuses. A familiar item from home in the kennel, a walk before dinner, and feeding away from a noisy corridor are small levers staff can only use if you have discussed them.
Questions to settle at booking
- Will you report each meal separately, every day, without waiting for me to ask?
- At what point do you phone me, and at what point do you involve a vet?
- Can she be offered a missed meal again later, and will that attempt be recorded?
- If she needs the vet, who transports her and how is treatment authorised?
- Will you weigh her, or note body condition, on a longer stay if refusal continues?
At drop-off, leave the same appetite notes by Care Pass in KinsLe, set to cover only her boarding dates, so the person feeding her can read them on shift.