We often get asked why little Fido can't bring his dog bed or why he can't have his favorite stuffed animal.  Here at Elkhound Ranch we truly strive to keep it Safe and Simple.  There are a few different reasons that we respectfully ask all of our customers to leave beds, blankets and toys at home.  Most of our guests tend to thrive often when they simply get to be around their friends and pet sitters.  Their excitement often outweighs there need to take comfort in their personal belongings and they love to boast about how many pieces they can shred their favorite bed or blanket.  Most of our four-legged guest also tend not to be very responsible about putting away their toys.  They will take their toy to the play yard and then they always seem to forget to bring it back to their kennel.  Our routine allows that the outside kennel door be left open, so they can use the yard to stretch and play for a bit and that is when the toy incident happens every time.  These instances can leave an owner asking why we allowed this to happen.  However, we are not at the kennel overnight and do not have a visual of them 24 hours per day.  The toy issue can happen after we let them out with access to their kennel and when we walk away to perform another task.  In addition, we have many donated blankets and bedding that we utilize.  If your pet soils his or her bed or blanket and these go in the wash, with many staff members performing laundry, yours might get lost in the mix very easily.  With customers showing up and our staff retrieving your blanket from a wash tub full of water, it can be frustrating to all.  Shredded beds and blankets quickly become pet chocking hazards as do toys.  And when Fido leaves his toy out and then the next two dogs out on playtime find it, this can easily start a fight.  Dogs can become possessive over the neighbor's toy that they are now claiming.  So, we like to keep everyone safe and our customers happy by mitigating all of these instances.  Thank you for inquiring!! God Bless.