1. This is Julie and Ronn’s Home

Because ranch-owners Julie and Ronn are dog-lovers at heart — and dog-lovers with heart — and because K9 Ranch is their home, they treat the dogs staying here as welcome guests rather than merely boarders. In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that guests here are given the same personal, loving attention as Julie and Ronn’s own dogs, Bella and Izzy. Living on this tranquil, rural property affords Julie and Ronn the ability to monitor their guests’ care around the clock, as well as to provide the highest levels of supervision and nurturing.

2. Flat-Rate Pricing

No doubt, in researching dog-boarding kennels, you’ve come across those establishments that are priced significantly higher than K9 Ranch — and those that are priced lower. As far as the latter goes, there’s usually a reason they’re a cheaper alternative, actually one of two reasons: one, the accommodations and services they provide may be of poor quality (no matter what tale their website photos tell!); or two, their lower price is simply a bare-bones cost just waiting for the addition of extra charges, extra charges for such things as supervised playtime, walks, feeding, medication administering — even, in some cases, for cuddling time, affection, kind words, or pats on the head.

Ridiculous. At least, K9 Ranch owners and staff believe this sort of extra-charging is ridiculous. Sometimes a dog simply needs a cuddle or ten more minutes of playing fetch without an eagle-eyed accountant or bookkeeper hovering nearby, itemizing it all line-by-line on an invoice.

And that’s the reason K9 Ranch has flat-rate pricing. You pay one flat rate and all aspects of your dog’s care, all his or her requirements, are covered. Instead of wasting time answering to the bookkeeper, K9 Ranch staff are able to devote all their energy and loving attention on caring for your dog. It’s as simple as that.

3. Personalized Service

Have you ever wondered how dog-boarding facilities that house 40 to 120 dogs at a time can possibly give each dog the care and attention he or she requires and deserves, the type of care and attention that conveys the welcoming, comforting, reassuring message, this is your home away from home?

It’s a genuine puzzle, isn’t it?

K9 Ranch is not, by any means, one of these factory-sized establishments. The ranch has been intentionally kept on a smaller scale — there are only 20 guest rooms here — so that each dog can receive personalized service, personalized care, personalized attention. From real, genuine, dog-loving persons.

The aforementioned factory-sized facilities operate on the open concept system: where all boarded dogs are kept together for the majority of each day. In contrast, the focus at K9 Ranch is on private time, and individualized guest rooms, activities, care, service. Here, your dog is not “the Golden Retriever in Kennel Number 12” or “the Cocker Spaniel in 97.” Here, your dog is known by name, by personality, by individuality, by his or her unique physical and emotional traits.

And the care and service your dog receives are specifically tailored to suit this individuality. It’s the K9 Ranch way.

4. Clean Environment

There’s clean. And then there’s clean. And then there’s K9 Ranch CLEAN.

K9 Ranch has strict policies about cleanliness, policies that all staff members must abide by. The systems and procedures that have been established here exist for a simple reason: to safeguard the health and well-being of each and every dog who sets paw on the property. Guest rooms are cleaned out every day. It’s rare for “bathroom accidents” to happen indoors — given that, during their stay, all dogs have constant access to their individual outdoor runs and are taken on numerous daily walks — but, if they do, the liquid or solid waste (sorry) is cleaned up immediately (the same meticulousness, of course, also applies to outside defecation). Floors are antibacterial, non-absorbent and pet-friendly, ensuring that the clean-up procedure is thorough and complete. And, following the clean-up, there is a rigorous disinfecting process that takes place, employing the same disinfectant products used by veterinarians and hospitals to prevent the spread of a variety of contagious diseases.

Each guest room is private, not shared, so bedding cannot be marked or soiled by other dogs. Blankets are freshly laundered prior to the commencement of a boarding stay. And lastly, after a guest checks out, and before a new guest arrives, the room is carefully sanitized.


Under the Microscope

It should be clear by now that the word “clean” at the K9 Ranch boarding facility means more than merely “rendered spotless by application of a mop and bucket.” Here, it also means “as completely free from contagious canine diseases as humanly possible.” This is the reason that the ranch’s vaccination rules are so rigid and inflexible — see Boarding Vaccination Requirements: because everything possible is done here to keep canine diseases off the property.

Remember, K9 Ranch is also the home of ranch-owners Julie and Ronn. So, equal to their consideration for the well-being of their guests, they have a significant personal desire to maintain the highest sanitation standards in the industry at the ranch, to make sure that nothing contaminates their own dogs, their family, the place they live.

5. Organic Land

Fact: The seeping of pesticides into the foods we eat is not a good thing. In fact, it is a dangerous thing, dangerous to humans and dangerous to animals.

Fact: Pesticides can be harmful to living creatures not only through consumption but also through absorption (into the skin or eyes) and respiration (into the lungs).

Fact: Dogs do not wear clothing or shoes that protect their skin against pesticide absorption. They’re also closer to the ground where it’s easier to inhale residual fumes from previously deposited pesticide chemicals.

Fact: Unlike (most) humans, dogs are not averse to eating grass and wild plant-life that may have been sprayed with pesticides.

Fact: Pesticide on grass or soil can easily transfer to a dog’s fur or skin through the simple acts of walking, running, sniffing, licking, playing, tumbling or rolling.

Now That You’re Thoroughly Depressed — Something Positive and Uplifting

Fact: K9 Ranch owners and staff are extremely mindful of the grim realities about pesticides listed above.

Fact: The 26 idyllic acres of woods and fields and trails and ponds that make up the K9 Ranch property are maintained without the spraying of or treatment with any pesticides.

Fact: Before it was K9 Ranch, this property served the region for decades as an animal haven and sanctuary known as Haven of the Heart — a facility whose owner was devoted to the care and well-being of all animals and was, therefore, diligent about keeping all pesticides off the property. It is with great pride that K9 Ranch can claim (okay, boast) that for more than a QUARTER OF A CENTURY these 26 acres have not been sprayed or otherwise treated with pesticides.

So, To Conclude…

Fact: K9 Ranch is good for your dog’s health.

6. All Sizes and Temperaments

Every single policy, requirement and rule at K9 Ranch must — before anything else — satisfy one primary objective: to protect the health, safety and well-being of all canine guests in residence. It’s necessary, therefore, for new client-parents to complete a Pet Profile Form before their four-legged child comes to stay here for the first time. Your answers to these questions form the foundation on which ranch staff develop their understanding of your dog, of his or her temperament, personality, behaviours, habits and special needs. The permanent profile resulting from this form ensures that all stays at K9 Ranch will be as safe and comfortable as possible for your tail-wagging, tongue-lolling, totally trusting loved one.

For instance, is your dog a large dog who enjoys playing with other dogs but has a tendency to get a bit boisterous without a calming human influence nearby? Is your dog aggressive towards other dogs? Is your dog on the small side, jumpy and nervous around any other dog who happens to be bigger? Or is your dog simply antisocial in nature, much happier being left alone and as interested in making other canine friends as he or she is in learning how to solve algebraic equations?

Whatever the case, whatever makes your dog physically and emotionally unique, K9 Ranch is ideally suited to cater to him or her. Ranch staff understand how dogs tick; and they understand which dogs should be in the company of which other dogs, if any.

7. Playtime

One of the features about K9 Ranch that dogs who’ve stayed here get on the phone to rave about the minute they arrive home is the variety of exercise and play areas the property provides. For outdoor activities, there are the Corrals: three separate exercise areas — 2-acre, 4-acre and 6-acre — completely enclosed using more than 20,000 feet of 5-foot-high wildlife fencing. For indoor playtime, there’s the All-Weather Corral, 600 square feet of secure, roofed space.

Combining the details on the Pet Profile Forms with their own comprehensive understanding of and experience with dogs, K9 Ranch staff evaluate which dogs are compatible size-wise, temperament-wise and socialization-wise and can therefore play together in one of the aforementioned activity areas. For example, small dogs might mix and mingle in the 2-acre corral while bigger dogs have a good old romp in the 6-acre. Typically, each of these off-leash areas will not be used by more than 6 dogs at any given time — and, in most cases, the number will be fewer. And for dogs who won’t come when called or have health issues that make a leash necessary, ranch staff are always there for a companionable one-on-one walk along one of the property’s numerous trails.

A safe and enjoyable experience — whether alone or in a group or in the company of a loving human surrogate parent, that’s what your dog will have at K9 Ranch.

8. No Dog-Fights

You know that neighbour of yours who you can’t stand, although they’ve never said or done anything specific or overt to anger you? Or that relative who gets on your nerves at family gatherings — their annoying laugh, the whiny tone of their voice, the way they shovel food into their mouth — so much so that they’ve come this close on numerous occasions to wearing the Thanksgiving turkey courtesy of you? We all have people in our lives we dislike for any number of reasons — that’s human nature. Something dog-lovers understand is, it’s also canine nature. Certain dogs just cannot get along with certain other dogs.

At run-of-the-mill dog-boarding facilities, this fact may be understood but it isn’t acted upon. A dog might be simply thrown in (not literally, but you get the point) with forty other dogs and then the whole canine crowd is left to their own devices, either partially supervised, or not supervised at all.

It’s in situations like this that dog-fights often erupt.

Illogical and, Yes, Ignorant

K9 Ranch staff are convinced that situations like this display a lack of consideration on the part of these lesser “off-leash” establishments that is both illogical and, yes, ignorant. It doesn’t make sense to place two incompatible dogs in the same area! That’s like storing gunpowder in a cigarette-lighter factory: a recipe for disaster.

The K9 Ranch policy regarding dogs being placed with other dogs is based on the Pet Profile Forms that each guest must have filled out on their behalf — and on ranch staff members’ comprehensive understanding of and experience with all types of dogs. Dogs are only kept in the company of other dogs they’re evaluated to be compatible with. If two dogs don’t like each other, they are swiftly separated so that they can play in separate activity areas, or at different times. Or, they might even be the type of dog who gets the most satisfaction and physical benefits from taking part in an on-leash trail-hike with a caring human companion and no other dogs around at all.

It’s all about common sense and thoughtful judgment, as far as K9 Ranch is concerned. Which is the reason that, here at the ranch, dog-fights are not allowed.

9. Plant-a-Tree Program

Trees are the silent, stalwart protectors of our environment. They combat climate change by absorbing harmful carbon dioxide. They produce oxygen. They absorb odours and polluting gases and literally filter the air to clean it. They provide a protective canopy and habitat for wildlife. They benefit the human race (and dogs too) in more unexpected and wonderful ways than can be listed here.

We need trees.

K9 Ranch understands that, as remarkable as they are, trees can’t plant themselves. And so, the ranch has joined forces with both the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Trees Ontario (an organization committed to the re-greening of Ontario through tree-planting on private, rural lands) for the specific purpose of establishing the K9 Ranch Plant-a-Tree Program. Owners Julie and Ronn have agreed to devote 10 acres of the 26-acre K9 Ranch property to reforestation. In fact, 7,500 new trees were planted here in the spring of 2015! And these silent, stalwart natural wonders are already doing their part to protect our precious Ontario environment.

Your Dog Can Help Too

No, K9 Ranch doesn’t expect your dog to dig holes for tree-planting. Your dog will be helping the environment simply by boarding here! The way it works is that K9 Ranch has pledged to dedicate a portion of each dog’s boarding fee to the Plant-a-Tree Program — think of it as “for each night of boarding, a tree is planted.” A small contribution for the ranch to make, absolutely, but one that will bring about significant environmental benefits in the long-run.

And, as an added bonus, your dog will feel a powerful sense of pride that they’ve done their part to help. (Not to mention the fact that more trees on the property means more places where your dog can — no, best not to mention that….)

10. Security

Every single policy, requirement and rule at K9 Ranch must — before anything else — satisfy one primary objective: to protect the health, safety and well-being of all canine guests in residence. This declaration has been made numerous times in these pages but certainly bears repeating here. For its message is nowhere more applicable than to the issue of K9 Ranch security.

Protecting Dogs from Potential Harm

The K9 Ranch boarding facility is monitored 24 hours a day by closed-circuit cameras that cover all necessary angles and areas. These cameras feed directly to video surveillance screens to which ranch staff have 24-hour-a-day access. So, even when staff members aren’t actually with the dogs in person, they know exactly what’s going on, everywhere that matters.

As reinforcement to this visual protection, all ranch buildings are fitted with state-of-the-art CO2– and smoke-detectors.


Protecting Dogs from Their Own Childlike Curiosity

When a dog gets the urge to wander and explore, he or she rarely appreciates the potential dangers this curiosity can lead to. K9 Ranch does. So, to keep canine curiosity in check, the entire 26-acre property is surrounded and enclosed by 5-foot-high wildlife fencing. And, within this outer perimeter, all the ranch’s off-leash areas are also securely fenced-in. Lastly, at night, the door to each guest room is closed, ensuring the dog within a protected period of slumber. A dog may dream about “escaping” his or her room and roaming freely but the chances of that actually happening are slim to non-existent.

But it’s important to reiterate: even if a little Hound-ini (sorry) does manage to escape from his or her room, or from one of the off-leash areas, the property-perimeter fencing will bring to a halt all curious wanderings, swiftly and safely. The ranch’s fence-within-fence security — while in no way detracting from the overall rural beauty of the 26 acres — makes sure that the only way anyone on two legs or four can enter or leave the property is if the front gates have been opened for them.

Activities

K9 TREE PROGRAM?


We are planting 8,000 new trees, to do our part for the environment. With each dog that visits K9 Ranch we will dedicate 5% of the fee to pay for a portion of our tree program… think of it as “for each night of stay, a tree is planted”.

Learn More about Why choose K9 Ranch