Dog Boarding Checklist: Vaccines, Medications, and Feeding Notes

Quick answer

For a safer dog boarding handoff, prepare three things before drop-off:

1. An accepted health-record packet with the vaccine names, administration dates, due dates, clinic details, and any other proof the facility requires.
2. A medication plan that leaves no room for guessing about the product, dose, route, time, food instructions, storage, and what to do after a refused, spat-out, vomited, missed, or uncertain dose.
3. A measured feeding plan with the exact food, amount per meal, meal times, approved treats, allergies, storage needs, and instructions for appetite or stomach changes.

Send copies early enough for the facility to review them. Keep medication in its original labeled container, pack food in the format the facility accepts, and record the last meal and medication actually given before arrival.

This checklist does not decide which vaccines or medicines your dog needs. The boarding facility sets its admission rules, while your veterinarian decides what is medically appropriate for your dog.

Build one boarding packet, not several loose notes

The most useful boarding packet is a small set of documents that staff can check quickly during a busy shift.

Prepare:

• The facility's current admission requirements
• The veterinary vaccine record and any required certificate
• A one-page care sheet
• A medication schedule for every product staff must give
• A feeding sheet with measured amounts
• Your contact details and one reachable backup contact
• Your regular clinic and preferred emergency clinic details
• Any veterinarian-written instructions for a medical condition

Put your dog's full name and your phone number on every separate page. If the facility uses an online portal, upload the packet there and keep a copy you can access while travelling.

Avoid building the plan from memory at the front desk. The drop-off conversation should confirm a plan that has already been reviewed, not create one while other dogs and owners are waiting.

Ask for the facility's exact vaccine rule

"Vaccines current" is too vague for boarding. Ask the facility to send its requirements in writing, including:

• Which vaccines it requires
• Whether requirements differ for overnight boarding, daycare, or group play
• How recently each vaccine must have been administered
• Whether there is a waiting period before admission
• What counts as proof
• When records must be submitted
• Whether the facility needs a current rabies certificate, dog licence, or other local document
• What happens if a record is incomplete or a due date falls during the stay

Requirements can differ by facility and location. A neighbour's boarding checklist is not proof that your dog will be accepted.

AAHA canine vaccination guidance separates vaccines recommended for all dogs from vaccines chosen according to lifestyle and exposure risk. Its respiratory-vaccine guidance discusses Bordetella, canine parainfluenza, and canine influenza for dogs that are boarded or otherwise mix with groups of dogs. Your veterinarian should interpret that guidance for your dog's age, history, health, location, and planned boarding environment.

Do not arrange an extra vaccine only because a name appears on a checklist without first speaking to the veterinary team. Some vaccines involve product-specific schedules, routes, or timing. A facility deadline and a medically appropriate vaccination plan need to be reconciled early.

If you need a reliable master record first, use How to Keep Track of Your Pet's Vaccination Schedule.

Check that the record proves what the facility needs

Open the actual document instead of trusting the filename. Look for:

• Your dog's name and identifying details
• The vaccine or antigen name
• The date administered
• The date due or valid-through date, when provided
• The veterinary practice name and contact details
• The veterinarian's details or certificate information where required
• A readable rabies certificate when the facility or local rules require one

A receipt, reminder email, or portal screenshot may omit information the facility needs. Send the veterinary record or certificate requested by the facility and ask for confirmation that it was accepted.

If the vaccine history is incomplete, overdue, or uncertain, contact the veterinarian. Do not invent a date, copy a date from an old reminder, or assume that a previous facility's approval still applies.

Confirm that staff can give every medication

Before booking, list each prescription, supplement, preventive, eye or ear product, topical treatment, and as-needed medication your dog may need during the stay. Then ask whether the facility can administer that exact type of product on the required schedule.

Important questions include:

• Can staff give tablets, liquids, topicals, eye drops, ear drops, or injections?
• Can they meet an exact time rather than a broad morning or evening window?
• Can they follow with-food or empty-stomach instructions?
• Can they refrigerate the product within its required range?
• Is trained staff available for every scheduled dose, including overnight?
• Can they safely handle your dog for administration?
• How is each dose recorded?
• Who is called if a dose cannot be given?

Do not assume that accepting dogs with medication means accepting every medication. A dog who needs insulin, seizure medicine at fixed intervals, multiple eye products, or monitoring after a dose may need veterinary-supervised boarding or an appropriately qualified in-home caregiver.

Ask the veterinarian who knows your dog whether the proposed arrangement is suitable. Do this before paying a non-refundable deposit when possible.

Write medication instructions staff can execute

Create one row for each product. Use the wording on the current prescription label and any written instructions from the prescriber.

Avoid phrases such as "usual dose," "one scoop," "give at night," or "use if needed" without a defined amount, time, and trigger. A new staff member should be able to follow the sheet without interpreting your routine.

The FDA advises owners to know the route, amount, timing, food instructions, storage, possible side effects, and product-specific response to a missed, spat-out, or vomited dose. The correct response varies by medication. Do not tell staff to repeat a dose automatically or double the next one.

Pack medication without changing its identity

Follow the facility's intake policy and keep every medication in its original labeled veterinary or pharmacy container unless the facility and prescribing clinic direct otherwise.

Before packing:

• Check that the label is readable and matches the current instructions.
• Resolve any recent dose change with the prescribing clinic.
• Check the expiry date and remaining quantity.
• Include the supplied oral syringe, dropper, applicator, or other measuring device.
• Confirm storage during transport and at the facility.
• Pack the amount the facility requests, including any agreed delay allowance.
• Keep different products in separate containers.
• Tell staff about any dose already given on drop-off day.

Do not send loose pills or combine several products in one unlabelled container. Do not pre-fill a syringe unless the prescribing veterinarian and facility have confirmed that the medication can be prepared and stored that way.

If two people are preparing the dog, use a single record for the final day. Mark each dose only after it has been given so nobody repeats it.

Make feeding instructions measurable

Pack the diet your dog already tolerates unless the veterinarian has directed a change. A boarding stay adds a new environment and routine, so it is a poor time to experiment with a different food or several unfamiliar treats.

Write down:

• The complete food name, variety, and form
• The amount per meal in grams, cups, cans, pouches, or another precise unit
• The meal times
• Whether water or another prescribed addition is mixed in
• The permitted treats and daily limit
• Food allergies or ingredients that must be avoided
• Storage and preparation requirements
• What counts as an unusual refusal for your dog
• When staff should call you or a veterinarian

If you use a household scoop, measure what it holds before the trip. "One scoop" is not useful if the scoop becomes separated from the food or staff use a different one.

WSAVA nutrition guidance emphasizes an individualized nutrition plan and a clear diet history. Keep the boarding feeding plan aligned with the amount your veterinary team has recommended for your dog. Do not calculate a new calorie target for the stay from a generic chart if your dog is growing, underweight, overweight, pregnant, highly active, or being treated for a health condition.

Pack food in the facility's preferred format

Ask whether the facility wants one bulk container or individually portioned meals. Also ask whether it accepts opened bags, canned food, frozen food, raw food, home-prepared diets, refrigerated products, supplements, and feeding toys.

For individual portions:

• Pack one sealed portion per meal.
• Use the facility's requested container type.
• Identify your dog and the meal time without covering required product information.
• Include an agreed number of extra meals for a travel delay.
• Keep the original product name, lot information, and feeding directions available.

For a bulk container, include a dedicated measuring scoop and a clear per-meal amount. Seal the food against moisture and pests.

Tell staff whether your dog normally finishes immediately, grazes, needs quiet to eat, or sometimes skips a meal. Then define the response. For example, ask for a call after a specific number of refused meals rather than writing "picky eater."

A dog with diabetes, a history of low blood sugar, a prescribed therapeutic diet, repeated vomiting, or another condition linked to food intake needs an individualized plan from the veterinary team.

Use a one-page care sheet for everything else

Keep the medication and feeding tables detailed, but make the main care sheet short.

Include:

Use observable descriptions. "May growl if the left ear is touched" is more useful than "can be difficult." "Usually urinates on three walks a day" is clearer than "normal bathroom routine."

For holiday hours, fireworks, carrier needs, and backup pickup planning across dogs and cats, see 4th of July and Long Weekends: Preparing Your Pet for Boarding.

Do a health check before drop-off

The Maine Department of Agriculture's kennel biosecurity guidance tells facilities to ask about health, exclude dogs showing signs of disease, separate a dog who becomes ill, and have a backup plan if the owner cannot collect the dog promptly.

Call the facility and your veterinarian before arrival if your dog develops:

• Coughing or sneezing
• Eye or nose discharge
• Repeated vomiting or diarrhea
• Marked lethargy
• Loss of appetite
• A new rash, wound, or parasite concern
• Another sudden or worsening change

Do not hide a symptom to protect the reservation. Ask whether the dog needs an examination and whether boarding should be postponed or replaced with another care arrangement.

Seek emergency veterinary care instead of proceeding to boarding for difficulty breathing, collapse, unresponsiveness, a seizure, severe trauma, uncontrolled bleeding, blue, grey, or very pale gums, repeated unsuccessful retching with a swollen abdomen, inability to urinate, or suspected poisoning.

Use a read-back at drop-off

At the desk, report what actually happened that day:

• The time and amount of the last meal
• The time and amount of the last medication
• The next meal and medication due
• The last bathroom break
• Any change in appetite, stool, behavior, mobility, or health
• The quantities of food and medication handed over

Ask the staff member to repeat the first meal and medication they expect to give. This quick read-back can catch a time-zone mistake, an outdated sheet, or a dose that was already given at home.

Confirm that the facility has accepted the records, stored the medication correctly, and attached the care sheet to your dog's booking. Keep a photograph or copy of the final packet.

Check the handoff again at pickup

Before leaving the facility, ask for:

• The medication administration record
• The time of the last dose and next dose due
• The feeding record and remaining food
• Any vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, appetite change, injury, or behavior concern
• Details of any missed, refused, spat-out, vomited, delayed, or uncertain dose
• Any veterinary visit, incident report, or known infectious-disease exposure
• The remaining medication and original containers

If a dose is uncertain, do not guess or automatically give another one. Call the prescribing clinic with the product, scheduled time, boarding record, and what staff observed.

Contact a veterinarian promptly about a new or worsening symptom after boarding. Tell the clinic when the stay occurred, what signs were reported at the facility, when the signs began, and whether other dogs were known to be unwell.

A practical boarding countdown

As soon as you consider the facility

• Get the complete admission checklist.
• Confirm that staff can meet the medication, feeding, handling, and monitoring plan.
• Ask how vaccine records are reviewed and accepted.

Several weeks before the stay

• Send the vaccine record.
• Arrange any veterinarian-approved care needed before the deadline.
• Resolve unclear labels, refills, diet questions, and special-care limits.

One week before

• Finish the one-page care sheet.
• Prepare the medication and feeding tables.
• Confirm emergency contacts and pickup authority.
• Start packing in the format the facility requires.

One to two days before

• Count food and medication.
• Check labels, expiry dates, and storage needs.
• Review your dog's health.
• Send the final packet and ask the facility to acknowledge it.

At drop-off

• Record the last meal, medication, and bathroom break.
• Report any new health or behavior information.
• Use the read-back for the first care tasks due.

Pet Care Reminder can hold the record-request deadline, pre-boarding veterinary appointment, refill date, packing checklist, and drop-off time. Keep the final medication administration record separate from future reminders so a scheduled notification is never mistaken for proof that a dose was given.

The simple rule

Boarding instructions should identify the dog, prove the required health status, and tell staff exactly what to do next.

Get the facility's written rules early, let the veterinary team make medical decisions, measure every meal, preserve every medication label, and confirm the first task due at drop-off. When the person receiving your dog can follow the plan without guessing, the checklist is doing its job.

Sources

1. Key Vaccination: Bordetella, Canine Parainfluenza, and Canine Influenza. AAHA clinical vaccination guidance on individualized respiratory-disease risk, vaccine routes, and considerations for dogs that are boarded or otherwise commingled.
2. Preventing Disease in Facilities that House Dogs. Maine Department of Agriculture technical guidance for vaccination policies, pre-entry health screening, exclusion and isolation of sick dogs, cleaning, and backup collection plans.
3. Medications for Your Pet ... Questions for Your Vet. FDA guidance on medication route, dose, timing, food instructions, storage, side effects, interactions, and product-specific action after a missed, spat-out, or vomited dose.
4. Nutrition Guidelines. WSAVA global guidance and tools for individualized nutrition planning, diet history, feeding instructions, and monitoring.