What your boarder wishes you'd bring (and what to skip)

Quick answer: Bring the records and supplies the facility requests, current prescribed medicines in labeled packaging, feeding instructions, reachable contacts, and relevant health and behavior information. A short summary helps, but do not omit important history just to fit one page.

Ask how the facility wants to receive records and which services it can safely provide. Agree on medication administration, emergency decisions, and how staff will contact you.

What actually helps

• Rabies documentation in the form required by the facility and applicable local rules; retain or bring originals when needed.
• Other required vaccines — bordetella, DHPP/FVRCP, possibly canine influenza. Check the facility’s requirements before drop-off.
• Daily-portioned food in labeled bags or one labeled container with feeding instructions. Bring 1-2 extra days of food.
• Current medication in its labeled packaging, with adequate supply and the exact prescribed instructions. Confirm the facility can administer and store it correctly.
• Familiar bedding or a toy only if the facility permits it and it is safe for this pet.
• A reachable phone number — the one you will actually answer during the trip.
• An emergency contact who agrees to help. Complete any separate authorization the facility or vet requires; naming a contact alone does not grant medical decision authority.
• Your vet’s phone — saved on the file.
• A one-page summary — routine, feeding schedule, walks, key behavioral notes.
• Any quirks — resource guarding, separation anxiety patterns, fear of thunder, escape risk.

Keep the handoff focused

• Provide the relevant medical history and documents the facility requests; do not omit conditions or prior reactions that affect care.
• Use concise instructions rather than a long personality essay.
• Twenty photos — one current photo is enough.
• Use the facility’s requested food packaging while preserving brand, lot, expiry, and feeding details.
• A pile of toys — one or two max.
• Provide insurance details only when relevant, without assuming the facility can file claims or that a policy authorizes treatment.
• Your microchip registry login credentials.

The one-page summary template

A boarder-friendly summary looks like this:

• Pet name, breed, age, weight.
• Owner name and reachable phone.
• Emergency contact name and phone.
• Vet name and phone.
• Food brand, amount per meal, meals per day.
• Medications: drug, dose, time, route.
• Behavior notes (3-5 sentences max).
• Quirks (resource guarding, escape risk, etc.).
• Any allergies.

For anxious or first-time boarding pets

• Ask whether a brief introductory visit or trial stay is appropriate for your pet; do not force it through severe distress.
• Talk to your vet about anti-anxiety medication if appropriate.
• Bring only approved familiar items that do not create chewing or swallowing hazards.
• Confirm the facility handles the anxiety level you describe.
• Some boarders allow drop-off visits to acclimate the pet to the space before the actual stay.

The thing most owners forget

Updating their own contact info in the boarder’s system between visits. New phone number, new emergency contact, address change — if the facility’s record is six months stale, the boarder is calling a number that does not ring you. Update at check-in every visit.

How Driyu can help

Driyu can organize identification and private care information in separate areas. Medical Records and Cloud Vault have limited Free capacity; Pro expands it; Nutrition availability depends on the account. The checklist here is a suggested handoff, not an automatically generated Driyu one-page packet or a link into the facility’s system. See records professionals use and preparing facility-care information.