In June 2026, a Maryland family dropped their six-month-old Rhodesian ridgeback at a Potomac boarding kennel at 9:30 in the morning. When Andrew Kern came back at 2:30 that afternoon, staff asked him to describe his own dog. Zoey had been gone for hours. She turned up the next morning outside a firehouse a mile away, across a busy intersection, with a sore paw and scratches — and as FOX 5 DC reported, Kern only learned late that night that there had reportedly been a dog fight before she went over the fence. The facility called the escape very rare.
It probably is. But "rare" is a statistic and your dog is a single case. Choosing a dog boarding facility is the part of trip planning that gets the least attention and carries the most downside, and the questions that actually predict safety are not the ones on the tour script.
Tour the Dog Boarding Facility in Person, Unannounced If You Can
A website gallery tells you nothing. Oregon Humane advises seeing the space yourself and being realistic — it houses dogs, so it will not be spotless — but it should be clearly well maintained inside and out. Ask where your dog sleeps, not just where they play; those are often different rooms and the sleeping one is rarely on the tour.
Watch what happens when you ask to see something. In the Potomac case, the owner said he was not allowed inside even while his dog was missing. An operation confident in its standards does not treat a paying client as an intruder.
The Staff Questions That Actually Predict Safety
The single most useful number is the supervision ratio. Oregon Humane's guidance is direct: dogs in off-leash play should be supervised 100% in person, not through a video screen, with no more than 10 to 15 dogs per staff member, adjusted down for size, temperament, and how experienced that staffer is. If nobody can give you a number, that is the answer.
Then ask three follow-ups most owners skip. What training do the people running group play have beyond on-the-job learning — Oregon Humane recommends facilities that invest in books, seminars, and continuing education, and that staff a play yard with more training than the front desk. When is my dog unsupervised, since most kennels do separate dogs overnight and you want that said plainly. And how do you discipline dogs, where the answer you want is redirection and time-outs rather than physical corrections.
What a Dog Boarding Facility Should Require Before Check-In
Every reputable dog boarding facility screens incoming dogs for vaccination status, health issues, temperament, and social history. Rabies and DHPP are the near-universal baseline, with Bordetella effectively mandatory — UC Davis veterinary guidance recommends annual mucosal Bordetella vaccination for dogs expected to board within six months. Canine influenza is usually recommended rather than required, and needs a two-dose series two to four weeks apart, so it is not a last-minute fix. Book the vet early and confirm your facility's exact cutoff, which commonly runs from several days to two weeks before check-in.
While you are handling paperwork, name an authorized agent. The AVMA advises designating someone who can make care decisions if your pet has an emergency and you cannot be reached — which matters most when you are on a plane. Ask what happens if your return is delayed, and confirm the business is licensed and insured.
Ask About Escapes Before There Is One
Owners almost never ask this one, and it belongs in the tour. What is your procedure if a dog gets out? A serious answer covers who notifies the owner and how fast, whether there is double-gating between play yards and the exit, fence height relative to athletic dogs, and who searches while someone else keeps calling you.
Ask whether your dog wears their own collar and ID during their stay, because many facilities remove personal collars for group play to prevent choking hazards — a legitimate practice that also means a bolting dog may be carrying no identification at all. If they remove it, ask what your dog wears instead and what happens at pickup and potty breaks.
That gap is worth closing on your end. A Bloomtag NFC tag means the person who finds your dog needs nothing but a phone: one tap on the flower-shaped tag opens your contact page instantly, no app, no chip scanner, no shelter trip first. When you are unreachable on a flight, list your emergency contact's number on that page too, so a stranger a mile from the kennel can reach someone who can actually come get your dog.
The Bottom Line
A good dog boarding facility will welcome every question in this checklist, because the answers are things it already gets right. Tour it in person, get a real supervision number, sort vaccines weeks ahead, name an authorized agent, and ask the escape question before you need it.
Then cover the case nobody plans for. Get a Bloomtag — the flower-shaped NFC tag that opens your contact page with one phone tap. $24.99 one-time, no subscription ever, free worldwide shipping. If your dog ends up loose in an unfamiliar neighborhood while you are three time zones away, it is what gets them home.
This article was written with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy against authoritative sources, including Oregon Humane, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the AVMA, and FOX 5 DC reporting. It is general guidance, not a substitute for advice from your veterinarian.