Home Style Cage Free Dog Care
When you choose dog boarding Portland services from Safe Journey Dog Boarding, your dog has the run of the main floor of our Victorian-era home including 12 hours a day of indoor and outdoor access. There are never any cages, crates, pens, or kennels. Your dog is free to roam, play, and socialize as they please.
We have a small, high-frequency clientele from the Portland metro area. As a result, the vast majority of dogs who stay with us on any given night treat us as their surrogate owners. The vast majority of the time we manage a pack of calm, well-mannered family pets. If your dog is new here they will go through a brief adjustment period but in no time they will become part of our happy and relaxed dog family.
Our staff not only accommodates all dogs but all dog owners as well. If you have any mobility issues just let us know. We can meet you curbside so that you don’t have to leave your car. When you arrive just park and give us a call, we will come to the curb rain or shine to pick up your dog.
Safe Journey Dog Pack
High energy dog? No problem. Have a new puppy? No problem! If your dog is getting up there in years we have plenty of places for your pooch to rest and relax. Our dog pack is an excellent place for dogs with limited dog interaction experience to learn to be confident, calm, and social while around other dogs.
We emphasize and reinforce six main rules of canine good citizenship while your dog stays with us.
- No barking
- No chewing
- No fighting
- No jumping on staff or visitors
- No bolting through open doors
- Be housebroken
If your dog has challenges in these areas we have an outstanding, well-mannered dog pack that will be consistent role models of these good behaviors for your dog’s benefit. Your dog will receive regular supervision during the day while staying with us. So, inappropriate behavior can be addressed immediately and consistently.
Work graveyard or night shift? Night Shift Dog Care
Happen to have a job or profession where you work throughout the night? Night care is for dog owners working graveyard and other late-night shifts. Night care allows you to drop-off and pick-up in reverse of traditional daycare hours without having to pay overnight boarding prices. The prices and services are the same as our doggie daycare except you drop your pup off before our closing time of 7 pm and pick up right after we open at 7 am. Just purchase a daycare package and inform us of your work schedule. We are open 365 days per year to help serve you!
Different Dogs, Different Behaviors
Skittish dogs act shy and nervous because they are scared. A scared dog is in an unnatural state of anxiety that is difficult to maintain. It takes energy, adrenaline, and an accelerated heart rate for a dog to remain in flight, fight, or freeze mode. And as long as the stimulus surrounding your dog remains calm, relaxed and happy it is only a matter of time until your skittish dog allows his or her body to relax and calm down. We can never really know what kind of experience and past history a dog might have been exposed to. We do however know that it only takes patience before a relaxed, well-mannered pack of dogs communicate through behavior, body language that Safe Journey Dog Boarding is a secure environment for your pup to relax and wait for his or her owner to return.
So, it is our job to create an environment where your dog has nothing to fear. We give them plenty of space and time to get comfortable on their own. In the end, most dog owners who had doubts or uneasiness about dog daycare or dog boarding realize it is a safe and comfortable option for you and your pup. It’s not a question of if your dog will be comfortable staying with us, it is only a matter of how long it will take him or her to become comfortable in our facility.
Separation anxiety is similar behavior to skittish dogs. With separation anxiety comes fear. In some cases, they are fearful of being without you. In other cases, they are 
fearful of being left alone in general. The environment at Safe Journey Dog Boarding has successfully overcome dozens if not hundreds of cases of separation anxiety. If your dog is afraid of being left alone at daycare, no problem! They will have an unlimited supply of friends, playmates, and human supervision. If your dog is afraid of being without you it will take more time but is an equally solvable problem. Your dog will go through an adjustment period where trust is built with our staff as surrogate owners. This kind of thing takes time and patience. Once we get a good understanding of your dog’s personality and behavior our team will quickly start working to build trust and communicate with your dog to ensure their happiness and well being.
We maintain a calm environment and present your dog with happy, well mannered four-legged role models. It is unlikely your dog will maintain their scared state of mind for very long.
High energy dogs are perfect for the Safe Journey Dog Boarding environment. It is a great place for your pup to let off steam. They will have a never-ending supply of playmates and playtime while staying with us. Our high energy dogs remain on their feet all day roaming, chasing, playing, and wrestling.
Many Portland dog owners report to us that their dogs sleep long and sound after a stay with us and that their behavior is noticeably improved over the next few days after returning home from Safe Journey Dog Boarding.
Puppy Socialization At Dog Daycare
Many of our regular dogs started with us as puppies and are still visiting Safe Journey Dog Boarding frequently. Our dog pack provides safe playmates who are used to being around many different types of dogs both young and old. Our own family dogs will help be role models to all of our furry visitors. From them, your pup will learn our six rules of canine good citizenship. We do not consider ourselves professional dog trainers and in fact, it is our dog pack that provides most of the positive behavior reinforcement. However, unlike when your dog is home alone, possibly chewing or barking, we are here all day to supervise. Any concerning behavior will be addressed with you.
When you take your initial tour of our facility it is easy to see which guests are some of our regulars and which are new. Safe Journey Dog Boarding is a great place for your puppy to grow up, to socialize and learn to be comfortable around other dogs or to simply brush up on good manners.
Elderly Special Needs Dog Care
Since 2006 we have taken care of every breed and kind of dog imaginable. Is your dog blind, deaf, 19 years old, or diabetic? Is he or she fighting cancer, have only three legs, affected by arthritis, or Alzheimer’s? We care for all kinds of dogs. Young, old, large or small. We give personalized individual service to all ages, breeds, types, or infirmities. Come check us out and see why Safe Journey Dog Boarding is the perfect fit for you and your best friend! We also offer cage-free dog boarding near Beaverton, Portland, Aloha, Clackamas, West Linn, Tigard, Gresham, Milwaukie, Lake Oswego, and Happy Valley!
