Meals

Nothing gives a dog more of a sense of being at home, even when they’re not, than food that they’re familiar with.  To make the transition from home to K9 Ranch as smooth as possible, and to ensure that sensitive stomachs remain free from upset, it’s best to keep your dog’s diet regular and consistent.  You should therefore supply a sufficient amount of food to last the entire boarding period — including drop-off and pick-up days.  Given the pack environment, an “open bowl”/”free feeding” policy (where food is left for dogs to eat throughout the day) isn’t practical here; so feeding at the ranch takes place twice a day, at specified times.

It’s recommended that you overestimate how much your dog will eat during his or her stay, because there will undoubtedly be a greater expenditure of energy and enthusiastic burning of calories while they’re living at the ranch.  But if your dog’s food does run out, there’s no cause for panic:  K9 Ranch staff will gladly provide the ranch’s house-brand dry food (at $5 per meal) for the remainder of the boarding period.

Dogs are fed with the same attention and love that you show at home — rest assured that your feeding and special care instructions will be strictly adhered to — and every effort is made to ensure that appetites are kept at healthy levels.  Even so, there may occur times when dogs demonstrate disinterest in their food, so it’s advisable for you to also supply any special canned or raw food, or other additive enticement, that your dog particularly enjoys, so that it can be mixed into meals to encourage eating, if required.

Storage of Meals
Given that K9 Ranch has both a refrigerator and freezer available for the storage of its guests’ food, raw diets, dehydrated food, and home-prepared meals are fine as well, if these are your dog’s preference.  If your dog eats a different meal for breakfast than for dinner, then the individual meal bags should be labelled accordingly.

K9 Ranch staff understand that some dogs are, for any of a number of reasons, on a diet of fresh food.  If this is the case with your dog, all you need to do is contact staff beforehand to discuss special dietary arrangements.

Summary

Dry Food (Kibble)

• Food can be BULK packaged with the per meal amounts clearly identified.
• If your dog eats a different meal for breakfast than for dinner, then the individual meal bags should be labelled accordingly.
• All your dog’s meal bags will be kept in his or her own personal storage compartment.
• When estimating the number of servings, make sure to include drop-off and pick-up days.  And, just in case, add extra servings for a day or two.

Canned/Wet Food

• Unopened cans should be brought and will be stored in your dog’s personal storage compartment.

Enticements

• In the event that your dog becomes disinterested in his or her food because of the unfamiliar ranch environment, enticements that can be added to meals to encourage eating should be brought, suitably bagged in portion amounts.

Edible Treats

• Treats such as dog biscuits, cookies, Milk-Bones, Dentastix and Greenies can be brought and will be stored in your dog’s personal storage compartment.
• Unfortunately, given that their consumption requires full supervision, treats such as raw bones, rawhide bones, pig ears, bully sticks and similar, cannot be brought, out of concern for canine safety.

Refrigeration and Freezing

• The ranch’s refrigerator and freezer — available for the safe storage of guests’ food — mean that raw, dehydrated and home-prepared dog food can be brought for feeding your dog during his or her boarding period.

“Open Bowl”/”Free Feeding”

Given the pack environment, an “open bowl”/”free feeding” policy (where food is left for dogs to eat throughout the day) is not practical here; so feeding at the ranch takes place twice a day, at specified times.