Oliver and Summer Camp

My little buddy Oliver, a dog after my own heart. He's very clever at finding sources of snacks. He has three very small, young humans who live with him and they are great at spilling or dropping "people food." Oliver wrote to me for some advice, so I am going to try to help:

Hi Lenny! My humans are going to Indiana this weekend to visit you! But they said they are not bringing me because the car ride is too long. Not nice! I have to go to the kennel - what does that mean? Is that like the vet? I'm scared! I wish I could visit you too.

Thanks for writing, Oliver! I wish you could come too.
I have been to the kennel before - a few different ones. My mom calls it "Camp." I actually really like going to the kennel. It's a lot of fun, because there are lots of other doggies there, and for part of the day you get to play with all of them. And there are different humans that will feed you and let you outside. A lot of the time you might have to be in your own little cage or crate, but you can just snooze then. So it's like your own doggie vacation! Be brave, and you will enjoy it. Let me know how it goes while you're there.

P.S.: My buddy Gus sent a great suggestion: bring something that smells like your humans, so you won't get lonely. Do you have a blankie?

Not to scare Oliver, but I did go to a bad kennel once. Make sure your humans check out the place before they send you to camp. (If they're not taking you on vacation, it's the least they can do!) I used to go to doggie daycare at a certain place which I will not name, and while I was there, I played a little too hard and tore my A-C-L in my knee. I had to have surgery three days later. The daycare did not tell my people I was injured. Later they said the vet there looked at me, and somehow didn't see anything wrong with me. Then they wouldn't give my people a copy of the vet paperwork to give to MY vet!! They were afraid my people would sue them. My people just wanted an apology for not taking care of me properly. The manager was really mean to them and I don't go there anymore. I'd like to bite that guy in the behind!

Now I go to a great place called Bark'n Buddies. My mom likes it there because I have a pretty big individual area to sleep in, and they have supervised playtime both indoors and outdoors. They gave my people a tour of everything and even tested my behavior around other dogs before I stayed there.

So humans, make sure you check out a place, make sure they're very upfront, and leave all of your emergency contact info - your phone, a local contact person's phone, and your vet's phone. My people have even made a power-of-attorney type of document, so my friend Amanda can authorize medical treatment for me and make decisions in case my people can't be reached. You can't be too careful when it comes to taking care of your precious poochie!