Why the Kennel Environment Disrupts a Dog's Baseline
Dogs are creatures of associative routine. Their nervous systems are calibrated to the specific sounds, smells, and rhythms of the household they live in. A boarding kennel replaces all of that simultaneously: the scent profile changes, the vocal landscape changes, the light cycle may change, and the person who normally signals safety is absent. Research in canine stress physiology has established that cortisol, the primary stress hormone in dogs, rises measurably within hours of placement in an unfamiliar environment and can remain elevated for several days. The body running on elevated cortisol suppresses digestion. This is not a dog being difficult. It is a dog whose gut has received the signal that this is not a safe moment to process food.
