Imperial Dog Hostel Welcomes You
Your Dog's Home Away From Home
About Us
Next Level Pet Care
Since 2015, Imperial Dog Hostel has been dedicated to providing exceptional pet care services to pet parents in the tricity area. Our unwavering commitment to quality and our love for animals has allowed us to build a strong bond with our clients. As a result, our client base has been steadily growing, and we are thrilled to continue expanding our services to meet the diverse needs of our furry friends and their human companions.
When you choose Imperial Dog Hostel, you’re not just a customer; you become a cherished member of our extended family. We understand that your pets are more than just animals—they are beloved companions who deserve the best care and attention. Whether it’s dog boarding, day-care, or any other service, we treat every pet with the utmost respect, compassion, and personalized care.
Our experienced team is passionate about creating a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable environment for your furry family members. We strive to make their stay with us a delightful experience, filled with playtime, socialization, and lots of love. At Imperial Dog Hostel, we go beyond the ordinary to ensure that your pets feel at home and receive the care they deserve.
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Our Services
Boarding
Looking for a place where your pup can feel at home while you're away? Our boarding options offer a supervised and caring environment that prioritizes your pet's safety, security, and happiness. We take pride in our professional yet fun approach and would love to provide your furry friend with the best possible care. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our services.
Daycare
Looking for a way to keep your furry friend entertained and socialized during the day? Look no further! Our dog daycare offers group playtime and social interaction for your pup. We also offer recurring schedules, package discounts, and monthly unlimited memberships for your convenience. Contact us today to learn more!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you feed my dog really complicated meals or give medications?
Complicated meals are not uncommon here, but just tell us the details and we’ll let you know if it’s do-able. Oral medications are not a problem.
Will my dog get sick?
There are many factors involved when it comes to dogs exhibiting symptoms of illness or showing up positive asymptomatically on a routine test. The fact of the matter is that when groups of dogs get together, they bring with them all the diverse bacteria, viruses, and parasites that they were exposed to in their own separate lives. Then they play with each other and breathe on each other, lick each other’s eyeballs, and swap saliva to the max. It’s a recipe for a germ superspreader! Will your dog get sick though? That all depends on what exactly was passed around and your dog’s individual immune response (which can also depend on your dog’s age, breed, genetic predisposition, energy levels, diet, etc) and any supportive measures they are given (like adequate rest, nutritional supplements). Our team carefully monitors all the dogs in our care for signs of illness in order to identify and immediately isolate any potentially sick dogs, but that doesn’t mean that something can’t get passed around even before symptoms show up. Fortunately, the most common of these are considered by veterinary professionals to be self-limited and not life-threatening. Dogs can also pass around serious diseases that are almost completely preventable through vaccination and we require up to date vaccinations for those diseases based on the advice of our consulting veterinarian. Never say never though, and we will be the first to freely tell you that if you want to avoid an environment where dogs will be exposed to communicable diseases and parasites, you should certainly avoid daycare. And any public place where dogs are allowed. And all other dogs in general. But if you want your dog to engage socially with other dogs and experience the world beyond their home and your veterinarian considers your dog to be healthy enough to do so AND you feel comfortable with your ability to care for your dog should they fall ill, then honestly, we’re with you!
How do we keep dogs from fighting?
As social creatures, most dogs do not want to injure or harm each other unless they feel threatened. However, we screen those occasional dogs with a personality type that falls to the far end of the dog sociability spectrum and can exhibit aggressive behavior. We do this by introducing them to one of our resident staff dogs or regular client dogs designated as a temperament tester, in a safe and controlled manner. This way we can examine each dog’s behavior and reactions for aggression around other dogs. Dogs can also change in their sociability levels as they mature and become more selective or intolerant as adults and while it’s important that we differentiate between aggressive versus intolerant dogs, it’s also crucial that we identify both types of behavior as they develop and discontinue services should they become a problem. We define aggression as “the desire or intent to do physical damage to another dog or a human.” Therefore, we count all interactions between the dogs that are accepted into our daycare as communication. Just because you see some teeth or hear a growl does not necessarily mean someone is being aggressive, it’s just how dogs communicate with each other. However, just like any social creature including humans, misunderstandings, overreactions, or mistakes can happen during those communications. It’s more common to have scuffles for the younger dogs due to their social skills and emotional maturity still developing, but it can happen to anyone. It’s an unavoidable part of the joy of socializing!
Will my dog get hurt?
Dogs are physical creatures and use all parts of their bodies to communicate and socialize and play. Even friendly play can leave nicks and scratches and even friendly dogs can have misunderstandings or make mistakes that cause mild to moderate injuries. And sometimes dogs can experience “predatory drift” and behave in a more predatory manner simply because the reality is that they are animals first, and our beloved housepets second. If ever a serious injury is incurred, we will be contacting owners immediately. Additionally, because we are providing direct social interaction in a group environment, there are many communicable diseases and conditions that are inherent to such an environment, just like kids at school or adults in an office. If you should ever feel uncomfortable with the condition your dog arrives home in, please let us know immediately so we can address it.
What if my dog does not like men/women/ people?
Then daycare may be a place for them to be exposed to those people they are biased against, while in a safe and familiar environment. Not only that, but many dogs develop these biases because of uncomfortable interactions with well-meaning, but non-dog-savvy people, and by interacting with our experienced and skilled staff instead, they can re-learn to trust those they were once suspicious of. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a possibility. Many dogs that are suspicious of strangers have a great time with us here because we become like family to them.
What if my dog does not like other dogs?
We do not accept dogs with a history of aggression to people or other dogs into our program. We do however perform evaluations on dogs who meet our requirements and what we find may surprise you. Many dogs who display aggressive-seeming behaviors while on leash or with their owners can sometimes show completely different behavior outside of that situation. We define “aggression” as the desire to do physical damage to another dog or person, so we trust owners to let us know the background and tendencies of each new dog as much as possible and we will take it from there.
What will you do if my dog becomes ill or injured?
We will provide immediate basic first aid and then contact you first and if you are not available, we will notify your emergency contact. Then, we will take your dog to get immediate veterinary attention as needed. In emergency situations, we typically use the closest available veterinary clinic. All vet bills incurred are the responsibility of the owner.
Why is my dog smelly after daycare?
Depending on each dog’s play style, some will go home as clean as when they arrived and some will go home with dirty pawprints, dried up drool, and someone’s else’s hair all over them. Possibly even soaking wet paws because they tried to go for a swim in the water bowls. However, we do try to clean up those enthusiastic attendees as much as possible before sending them home. Hey, these are dogs, weird things happen! But seriously, if you are ever unhappy with the cleanliness of your dog, please let us know, and we will make sure to address it.
Contact
Get in touch to find out more about our services or to schedule a tour.
