Can cage-free sleepovers benefit the dogs and your business? Are there benefits to this service beyond the emotional pull to the dog owner?

Cage-free sleepovers continue to exist in various formats, but not all of them are good for the dogs or the business. Let’s start by answering this question: What exactly are cage-free sleepovers? This article discusses the dog boarding alternative of mixing non-family dogs that participate in off-leash dog play groups in a large room for sleeping overnight with a staff supervisor.

Learn from the trials and errors of an operator offering dog cage-free boarding services since 1999. You can offer a boarding alternative that benefits dogs and profits by answering four key questions: who, what, when, and how.

Who?
Dog health and safety must be your highest priority when offering any service, so start with a clear definition of requirements for dogs to be considered for cage-free boarding. Dogs should be regular participants in your off-leash play group services and have excellent social skills. (The Dog Gurus would define candidates as “green” dogs in their dog evaluation checklist.)

Since most centers will mix all dogs overnight into one large group, it is critical that dog participants are safe in a mixed-size play group. For safety, this would rule out tiny dogs or any dog with a high prey drive, which would be risky to have with small dogs in a group.

Dogs that are new to your center and play groups are also higher risk. A lesson we learned early was to require a minimum of two full days of play group attendance prior to a new dog being allowed to board cage-free. The environment needs to be familiar to the dog before you can observe their true personality and behaviors.

Cage-free boarding requires some unique logistics and procedures, including the following:

• Physical space to separate dogs for feeding meals
• Rest periods after eating prior to dogs engaging in social interactions
• Monitoring eliminations for individual dogs in the social play group environment

What?
Cage-free boarding requires clear and firm policies – ones that you can explain to your clients benefit the dogs. Be prepared to be challenged and pushed on these policies, so ensure all staff understand the reasons behind each of them.

Sleep is very important to the health of dogs in your care, so these policies are recommended to ensure all dogs get enough rest when boarding cage-free.

• Early cut-off time for arrivals – 3 p.m. was our latest check-in, and for many dogs, we required a full day of daycare on arrival day. The dogs need to sleep at night, not play with their buddies. You need active, high-energy dogs to arrive early enough in the day in order to be tired from “play” so they sleep at night.
• New dogs are required to attend two to four sessions of daycare or play group prior to their first overnight boarding appointment as discussed previously.
• Regular daycare or play group attendance required after the initial boarding appointment to retain cage-free boarding privileges – dogs need to socialize with other dogs on a consistent basis to keep skills sharp as they mature.
• Regular attendance also helps reduce stress when boarding, as the environment and play buddies become familiar to the dog. The negative impact of boarding stress is a higher risk during cage-free boarding, as a lack of tolerance could result in an aggressive act toward another dog.
• Dogs boarding for more than three nights may require extra rest periods during the day. Four or more consecutive days of daycare with night sessions can create a dog that is over tired. These dogs will be less tolerant and are at risk of responding to other dogs with an aggressive act.

We had a policy of not allowing any personal items during cage-free sleepovers. This helps avoid resource-guarding behaviors over a personal bed or favorite toy. Plan to provide bedding and all toys that are used during cage-free sleepovers.

Create firm drop-off and pick-up hours that fit the work schedule of the staff and dogs. When clients learn that staff are on the premises 24 hours a day, you will be pushed to allow pick-ups and drop-offs at any time – night and day. We clearly defined hours for each and set a very high fee for clients that came to the center outside of those hours. You must also consider the security of your facility and the safety of your clients and staff being on site during late night hours.

Always have back-up boarding options available for dogs that are just not getting along or tolerating the social aspect of the cage-free board. Be sure your facility can safely board and care for a dog that must be separated until their departure. Unforeseen health and medical issues can occur, which may not allow a dog to participate in social activities.

When?
Unless you have a large established client base with high daycare attendance, do not start by offering cage-free sleepovers every night. Launch the new service by initially offering weekends and other peak boarding periods.

Cage-free sleepovers during peak holidays can be a great way to expand your capacity. However, be sure your policies are tried and true prior to offering cage-free sleepovers during your busiest times. You will also have greater success if there are many dogs boarding cage-free over the holiday that have done so previously. For the safety and health of the dogs, it is not recommended to offer only cage-free sleepovers on holidays as a way to expand capacity and generate additional revenues.

How?
Cage-free sleepovers require a full-time attendant with the dogs overnight. Their primary responsibility is care and leadership of the dog play group. Remember that the goal is for the dogs to sleep overnight. Many facilities that provide cage-free sleepovers have Murphy beds or futons in one of their playrooms. The bed is used by the overnight staff member to sleep and lead the dog slumber party.

During the meal and rest period afterward, you can assign other work tasks to the overnight attendant. Once the dogs get up for potty breaks and group sleepover, the attendant needs to be physically present in the playroom with the dogs. When the dogs in the group are resting, they can complete paperwork or other duties within the playroom as long as their primary focus is on dog safety and rest.

Check your state employment laws on the pay structure required for the overnight shift. Since staff are required to remain physically on site overnight, many states require payment of hourly wages even though part of the shift is sleeping. Keep in mind that their sleep will be interrupted frequently, as their primary role is dog care.

Overnight attendants must be trained to understand dog language and dog play. This investment in training can make turnover in overnight attendants especially challenging. Be sure you also have back-up coverage plans in the event the assigned attendant gets ill or provides short notice of not being able to work their overnight shift.

It is important to trust all staff working in your center, but the degree of trust for staff working overnight cage-free sleepovers is heightened. It is highly recommended that you have security cameras that record activity in the overnight playroom and other key areas of the building. Make sure staff understand no visitors are allowed and all employee policies are applicable for the overnight shift. This is a case where you “trust, but verify” that overnight attendants fulfill their dog care responsibilities on each shift.

Cage-free sleepovers must be profitable for your business, so complete cost analysis prior to establishing your rates. There is a limit to the number of dogs one attendant can safely manage overnight (e.g. 15 is the standard we used), especially when mixing sizes and play styles. Sleepover reservations vary, which is the reason to selectively offer the boarding option during peak periods and increase nights as demand increases.

Cage-free sleepovers are not a “one size fits all” service option. Create a program that works for your business, the dogs, and your clients. Don’t offer cage-free sleepovers to keep up with your competition. A strong commitment to dog safety and business profits are required before you make the decision to free the boarding dogs in your center.

Susan Briggs’ newest venture provides a one-stop online resource for safe off-leash dog play tools and education. As “The Dog Gurus,” Susan Briggs and Robin Bennett’s mission is to improve safety in the off-leash dog play industry. Check out our new site at TheDogGurus.com. Susan’s career in the pet industry began as co-founder of Urban Tails, a large multiservice pet care center in Houston, Texas. One of the first cage-free sleepover and dog daycare centers in the country, Urban Tails evolved into a training resource for pet professionals on safe daycare operations. Staff training is a passion for Susan resulting in the development of Crystal Canine, a consulting and training resource for the pet industry (crystalcanine.com). In 2008, her first book, Off-Leash Dog Play: A Complete Guide to Safety & Fun, co-authored with Robin Bennett, was published. This successful book inspired a Dog Body Language poster set and pocket guide tools for pet professionals using the traffic signal safety colors. It was also the resource for Knowing Dogs Staff Training, a two-volume “staff training in a box” program on dog body language and group play produced in 2012. All resources are available from Robin’s website (RobinKBennett.com).

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