Puppy Boarding | Frequently Asked Questions

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Puppy Boarding, AKA the "Skinny" Puppy Board & Train, is a positive, structured, training-based alternative to a boarding facility, pet sitter, or other pet care facility. It is designed to provide puppies with consistent routine, reinforce polite manners, and maintain behavior cues that your puppy already knows. This program allows you to rest easy knowing that everything you have done to train your puppy thus far will be continued, maintained, and refined while you are away! Your puppy will also experience safe, positive socialization opportunities on a daily basis with small play groups of 2-4 puppies at a time. *Please note that new obedience cues are not taught in this program. Progressive obedience cues are taught in our Board and Train Program.*  

You should enroll in "Skinny" Board & Train if you answer yes to any of these statements...  

• Your puppy is currently enrolled in or has completed any training program with us. 
• You want your puppy to have a safe, consistent, comfortable stay in a home environment and daily fun, positive socialization opportunities while you are away. 
• You've invested into training and want to ensure that current behavior expectations, obedience cues, and manners are maintained while you are away. 
• You need/want care for your puppy for less than two consecutive weeks​.

You should enroll in full Board & Train if you answer yes to any of these questions...  

• You are willing and able to leave your puppy for at least two full weeks. 
• You have specific training goals that you want accomplished while your puppy is enrolled. 
• Your puppy has never enrolled in or completed one of our training programs. (However, Board & Train is always available to owners who have completed in-home training!)

Happy Hounds Boarding Programs are based out of Jenn's home which is located near the intersection of Iliff and I-225, about 5 minutes northeast of the Denver Tech Center.  

Yes. Happy Hounds Dog Training, LLC is licensed by the Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA) which requires a facility to undergo annual inspections to ensure a safe and secure environment for your pet. Happy Hounds is insured through Liberty Mutual's Commercial General Liability insurance with additional coverage for animals that are within our care.  

Not necessarily. Puppies get vaccinations ever 3-4 weeks, usually at/around 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks. They will not be 'fully vaccinated' until they are 16 weeks old, which is when they receive their Rabies vaccine as well. For puppies under 16 weeks of age, we require that your puppy is current on their age-appropriate vaccinations for distemper and parvo. If your puppy is over 16 weeks old, they need to be 'fully vaccinated' but if they are younger than that, they simply need to be current for their age and following the veterinarian-recommended vaccine schedule. Our home is a controlled environment - all dogs that come here must be healthy and current on the required distemper/parvo vaccines, and we recommend leptospirosis and bordetella (kennel cough vaccine).   

Jenn accepts unaltered puppies who are 6 months and younger. Adolescent pups 7 months and older must be spayed or neutered and fully recovered from surgery prior to enrollment.   

Plan to bring along the boarding contract (which you will receive at the time of confirmation) in addition to your puppy's crate, food, food bowl, leash/harness, and KONG or other approved chew item(s). Jenn has spare crates that your puppy can use if you prefer to leave your crate at home.  

Drop-off and pick-up times are pre-scheduled between 8am-8pm in accordance with your travel schedule. 

Of course! You'll get regular updates via text. Follow Happy Hounds on Instagram to see even more of your puppy during their stay @HappyHoundsDogTrainingDenver  

Puppies in "Skinny" Board & Train will receive 2-3 training sessions per day that maintain/refine all the cues and behaviors they know.  

​Puppies boarding with Jenn will have daily practice of the behaviors that they already know, positive socialization, and reinforcement of polite household manners. Any puppy under 5 months of age can be expected to progress and improve upon potty training and comfortable crate conditioning.

Your puppy will sleep overnight in the comfort of their personal crate in Jenn's designated puppy training room. Please bring along the anything you put inside the crate so Jenn can mimic the way you do it at home (blankets, towel, bed, toy, etc). ​  

Puppies are only crated during the day if/when they are unsupervised. They are not left in a crate during the day for any more than 2-3 hours at a time and this will not happen more than once per day if Jenn needs to step out for any reason. Happy Hounds promotes positive crate conditioning, so you can expect your puppy to experience calm, structured, and temporary crate time usually once per day in order to boost reliability of positive crate conditioning. 

​There is no minimum length of stay for this Puppy Boarding program.  

Puppy Boarding is $175 per day during non-peak dates.

Per Day = any part of a day no matter what time the puppy arrives/departs.  

Please check main webpage for Puppy Boarding Rates during peak times, including holidays and school breaks.

Enrollment in this program is extremely limited and takes place in Jenn's personal home. While a boarding facility might accept 40-60 dogs, Jenn only accepts 2-3 puppies into her home at any given time so that she can provide individualized attention and training to each puppy.  ​

Jenn designed this program to cover ALL of your puppy's needs in one fixed price. Puppy Boarding includes everything your puppy could possibly need during their stay, including but not limited to....

Daily Training. Unlimited Playtime. Chew items. Treats. Walks/Outings. Grooming/Baths.  Nail trims.  Bedtime snuggles. One-on-one attention. Daily updates straight to your phone.  

Your puppy needs it? Jenn will do it! No extra charges.

Most importantly, Jenn is not just a 'dog lover', she is a puppy behavior expert. Her boarding programs are designed to enhance and improve upon puppy behavior through structure, training, socialization, and enrichment. Puppies who stay with Jenn become more reliably potty trained, crate trained, socialized, and get daily practice of obedience commands through intentional training sessions. Jenn will constantly reinforce polite behaviors and set your puppy up to practice all the behaviors that puppy owners desire. This means that you get to bring home a puppy that is more attentive, more confident, and better behaved. By investing in training early-on, you set yourself up for a peaceful and happy life with your pup into the future.