K9 Approach

Upon the foundation of love and respect that Julie and Ronn have for all dogs, they’ve built a three-level approach to ensure the well-being of every canine they care for:

Level 1 — Fulfilling Physical Needs

• Dog-boarding at K9 Ranch means no cages. Instead, each canine guest is provided with the same comforts we humans would receive in a hotel: a clean, climate-controlled, restful and relaxing private room. Unlike hotel guests, however, dogs staying at the ranch have constant access to their individual outdoor runs, so if the canine call of nature doesn’t happen on one of their numerous daily walks, it can still be answered as nature intended: outside.
• The ranch requests that each dog’s food is brought with him or her from home, to ensure that brand, taste and nutritional requirement continuity are maintained in the boarding (or daycare) environment.
• Dogs who stay at the ranch are walked and played with by the genuinely caring staff. The play and exercise are conscientiously monitored and take full advantage of the open space this expansive property offers and, of course, the fresh and abundant country air.
• To balance the physical exercise, dogs are given ample opportunity to rest and sleep, without disturbance, without stress.

Level 2 — Caring for Emotional Well-Being

• Just as they freely give their unconditional love to humans, dogs need to be loved in return; they need kind words and voices, and gentle physical contact. These positive aspects of warm human companionship are lavished upon the ranch’s canine guests; in fact, the innate need to give this love and affection is a job prerequisite for everyone who works here.
• As well as human-to-dog interaction, most dogs also need dog-to-dog interaction. Depending on temperament, compatible dogs are encouraged to socialize with one another — under supervision, of course — to make friends, and to experience the joy of shared playtime.
• For those canine guests who are more introverted, individual supervised playtime is a definite option — whatever puts a dog’s mind and spirit most at ease.
• The unique and individual emotional state of the dogs in Julie and Ronn’s care is equally as important as the physical and therefore is carefully observed and monitored. The ultimate goal here is to ensure that the ranch’s stress-free environment generates within its canine occupants a consistent feeling of safety and security.

Level 3 — Providing Mental Stimulation

• K9 Ranch is something of a sensory paradise for dogs. To canine eyes, ears and highly sensitive noses, the property is a rural wilderness that begs to be explored, offering a constant stimulating flood of enticing sights, sounds and smells. As a result, natural, instinctive inquisitiveness is kept at high levels and boredom and depression are literally unheard of.
• Whether on an individual basis or in a group, playtime is not a wild free-for-all here; rather, it’s a learning experience for the ranch’s canine guests. Through interaction with human play-partners and/or with new four-legged friends they’ve made, dogs are taught — without knowing it — lessons in socialization, respect, positive reinforcement, instruction, controlled behaviour and leadership that they will benefit from when they return home.
• The exciting games dogs engage in during playtime have been devised to challenge and stimulate the canine mind and personality as well as the body.