Your Dog Isn’t Going to Enjoy the Holidays.

Here’s How to Fix That.

The most wonderful time of the year is finally here! For humans.

For dogs, however, the holidays can be a lot to handle.

Strangers in the house. Routines thrown off. Excited kids running amok. Front doors opening and closing all day. Unfamiliar smells, unfamiliar faces, and a general energy that says something is different and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Most owners are unaware that many dogs only tolerate the holidays. Few actually enjoy them. And most owners find this out the hard way when something goes wrong… a jump on grandma, a bolt out the front door, a Thanksgiving counter raid that takes out half of the turkey and stuffing. Maybe even a nip on an unsuspecting petter.

The good news is there’s a fix. But the approach depends on one simple question:

Are you traveling this holiday season, or staying home?

If You’re Traveling: What Your Dog’s Holiday Actually Looks Like

A lot of traveler’s boarding plan is some version of “I’ll figure something out.”

That "something" usually turns into a neighbor who stops by twice a day, a large group facility that posts cheerful photos but only has one staff member managing twenty dogs, or a last-minute scramble the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas when every decent place is already full.

Your dog deserves better than “I figured something out.”

But what should you look for in a boarding facility before you book?

Here are the five most important attributes you should be considering to ensure a great stay for your best friend. 

•  Real grass, not asphalt or concrete. 

Don’t deprive your dog of the sensory enrichment they crave and are wired to enjoy… the smells, the textures, the feeling of actual earth. Ask any facility what their outdoor area looks like before you commit. 

•  Individual play, not group.

A handler in charge of a room full of unfamiliar dogs isn’t really managing your dog. They’re wrangling a pack of dogs who are strangers to each other, while hoping for the best. Size mismatches, social stress, and overstimulation are common in group boarding environments. You don’t want to pick up your dog, only to find they are exhausted in all the wrong ways. And you can never, ever take back a bite. Ever.

•  A dedicated handler who actually knows your dog.

Not a rotating staff member. Not a camera on an app. Someone who knows their name, their quirks, whether they like belly rubs or prefer to be left alone until they warm up. That kind of attention is hard to come by at packed larger facilities.

•  Limited capacity.

The best boarding facilities aren’t the biggest ones with popular names. If a place will accept any dog at any time with no waitlist and no questions asked, ask yourself why. The most important rule-of-thumb with limited capacity “boutique boarders”, or locally owned boarding and training facilities, is that you make sure you don’t leave the reservation until the last minute. They fill-up fast and early.

•  The boarding-plus-training option.

If your dog is staying somewhere for a week anyway, the best facilities give you the option to weave real training into the stay. Not as an add-on, but as part of the daily routine. Your dog comes home better behaved than when they left. This is one of the most overlooked opportunities for improving your dog’s behavior and definitely worth asking about.

None of these are luxury, extravagant asks.

And the facilities who meet these criteria are the ones who fill up first in November and December. So, if you find a place that checks every box, don’t wait to book it.

If You’re Staying Home: Get Ahead of the Holiday Chaos Now

Holiday guests are wonderful. For your dog, they’re a parade of unpredictable humans doing unpredictable things like arriving loudly, sitting in unfamiliar places, grabbing at them wildly, making noises your dog has never heard before, and generally upending every routine your dog relies on to feel calm amd comfortable.

The jumping up on visitors. The barking at the doorbell. The bolting outside every time the front door opens. The leap on the kitchen counter or dining room table that takes out the appetizers ten minutes before your guests sit down.

If any of that sounds familiar, here’s what to look for in a pre-holiday training program:

• Daily training, not weekly.

One lesson a week doesn’t build the kind of muscle memory that holds up under real-world holiday distraction. Look for immersive board and train programs where your dog is being trained every single day with structured sessions, consistent repetition, and positive reinforcement built into the whole stay rather than a single one-hour window.

• Customized to your dog’s actual issues.

Jumping on guests is a different problem from door bolting, which is different from leash reactivity, which is different from not coming when called. A good training program starts with what your specific dog actually needs, not a generic curriculum that works for most dogs most of the time.

• Positive, praise-based methods.

Results built on fear and correction don’t hold up under stress. Look for trainers who focus on rewarding the behavior they want to see rather than punishing the behavior they don’t. Dogs trained that way are more confident and reliable when the environment gets chaotic. Like around the holidays.

• Enough runway before the holidays.

Most dogs show meaningful, visible progress within two to three weeks of consistent daily training. That window is open right now. With the holidays right around the corner, it will not be open for much longer.

The impact? The dog who greets your guests calmly at the door in December is the same dog who was jumping on everyone last month. The difference is a few focused weeks of immersive training which you wisely decided to start now instead of after the holidays when the damage is already done.

If you’ve been nodding along while reading to either (or BOTH) of those lists, Smart Paws checks all these boxes.

For travelers: we offer individual boarding on a large, fenced natural grass yard in Cleves, Ohio. One dog, one dedicated handler, no group play, no asphalt, no chaos. Board & Train integration available so your dog comes home better behaved than when they got there. As a locally owned “boutique” boarding facility, limited spots fill quickly every November and December.

For families staying home: we provide daily sessions or Board & Train programs built around your dog’s specific behaviors, using positive praise-based training that holds up when things get loud and unpredictable.

There’s still time before the holidays. But not much, so click here to book your spot before everyone else beats you to it.

About The Author:

Tom is the owner and head trainer at Smart Paws and attended the National K-9 Learning Center of Columbus for Master Trainer education. He has trained dogs for over 10 years in homes and at other dog training locations, before starting Smart Paws.