The Ranch Pet Resort

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Holidays

Holiday Pet Travel Guide: Tips to Make Your Vacation Smooth and Enjoyable

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Traveling during the holidays can be exciting, chaotic, and full of memories — especially when your furry family member comes along! Whether you’re heading to Grandma’s house, a cozy winter getaway, or hopping in the car for a road trip, preparing your pet ahead of time will make the adventure smoother for both of you.

At The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa, we know the joy pets bring to the holiday season, and we’re here to share our best tips to help you and your furry friend enjoy every moment together.

Plan Ahead for Pet-Friendly Accommodations

Before you finalize your holiday travel plans, make sure your destination allows pets. Many hotels, vacation rentals, and relatives welcome pets — but some have restrictions or extra fees. It’s always best to call ahead, ask about pet rules, and confirm details such as yard access or crate requirements. This eliminates last-minute stress and helps your pet settle comfortably.

Update Contact Information on Tags and Microchips

In the event your dog or cat gets loose, you want to make sure you will get your pet back. Updating tags and microchips with your cell phone number will ensure a reunion if your pet is found roaming.

Double check their collar is secure by tightening it. Allow two fingers in between the collar and the neck of your pet in the event your pet is like mine and knows how to back out of his collar.

Pack Your Pet’s Travel Essentials

Pack Your Pet’s Travel Essentials

Just like you pack for yourself, pets need their own holiday travel kit. Must-haves include:

  • Food, treats, and collapsible bowls
  • Leash and harness
  • Medications and health records
  • Waste bags
  • Favorite toys or blanket
  • A cozy bed or crate

Bringing familiar items helps your pet feel safe and relaxed in a new environment.

Just like you pack for yourself, pets need their own holiday travel kit. Must-haves include:

  • Food, treats, and collapsible bowls
  • Leash and harness
  • Medications and health records
  • Waste bags
  • Favorite toys or blanket
  • A cozy bed or crate

Bringing familiar objects from home can ease the anxiety and confusion your pet may feel in a new environment. A crate can keep your pet safe when you want to travel or spend time with friends and family. Remember, not all people like your pet as much as you do, so ensuring your dog or cat can be safe and enjoy the holidays is equally important.

Make the Trip Comfortable for Your Dog or Cat

If you’re driving, plan for frequent potty and stretch breaks. Never leave your pet unattended in a parked car, even in cooler weather. For longer trips, make sure your pet is secured safely with a seatbelt harness or crate. Attached a well-secured leash or harness on your dog before you open the door for breaks to ensure you will have full control of a pet who may be excited and scared and bolt from the car.

If you’re flying, check airline pet policies well in advance. Some pets may need a health certificate or specific carrier guidelines. The earlier you plan, the easier the trip.

Keep Your Pet Calm and Happy

Holiday travel can be full of unfamiliar sounds, smells, and people. Keep your pet calm with:

  • Favorite toys
  • A calming chew or spray
  • Extra snuggle time
  • Soft music in the car

A relaxed pet makes for a much smoother journey — for everyone!

Consider Boarding for a Stress-Free Holiday

Not all pets love travel, and that’s okay! If your pet would be happier staying close to home, The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa offers a safe, loving place to spend the holidays.

With cozy accommodations, supervised playtime, and attention from pet-loving staff, your pet will feel right at home while you enjoy your travels with peace of mind.

Wishing You and Your Pet a Wonderful Holiday Season!

Wherever your travels take you, a little planning goes a long way. We hope these tips help you make unforgettable memories with your pet this holiday season.

If you’d like to learn more about boarding, daycare, or grooming during the holidays, call The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa — we’d be delighted to take great care of your furry friend!

Santa Paws is Coming to The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa

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The bigs and littles are so excited that Santa Paws is coming to The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa next Thursday, December 11, 2025.

Our Santa Paws Pawty is the talk of the play yard, with both bigs and littles suiting up for their ugly sweater contest, practicing their smiles for pictures with Santa, and wondering who is going to go home with the day’s prizes.

Santa Paws Pawty is pawsed to be one epic day, and we’d hate for you to miss out! There is still time to join the fun!

Call or contact us to add your dog to doggie daycare on Thursday, December 11, 2025. There is an additional $20 fee that goes toward providing all of the fun and activities and necessities to make Santa Paws Pawty memorable!

Howl-o-Ween 2025

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Happy Howl-o-Ween 2025 from The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa. Today we celebrated Howl-o-Ween at The Ranch with a pet costume contest, games, and prizes! Our daycare dogs really pulled out all the stops with their adorable costumes. Who is your favorite?

Head on over to our Facebook page and vote for your favorite dog in costume and check out the adorable photos and videos!

Thank you to everyone who participated!

The Ranch Pups in Costume

Our Howl-o-Ween event is one of the most popular events of the year for our staff, clients, and the dogs! We are pleased to share just some of our adorable pets in their costumes!

Have a safe and happy Halloween from The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa. Consider these pet tips to make the most out of a most spooktacular night!

Tips to a Safe and Vet Visit Free Halloween

With all of the excitement building around Halloween, please remember to take some extra precautions to ensure a safe and vet visit free Halloween!

  • Keep candy aware from dogs and cats. Chocolate can be deadly for dogs and cats.
  • Bring pets in before children come knocking on the door for trick or treats! Some pets get scared, especially from the noise and chaos and costumes.
  • Make sure pets have their ID tags on so they do not bolt out an open door.
  • Pets who are afraid of noise can be placed in a quiet room in a cage or surrounded with blankets and stuffies. Muffle sounds by turning on the radio or TV.
  • If you take your dog trick-or-treating, place a light up collar around their necks so others are aware your dog is nearby. Consider your dog’s personality to determine if he or she may prefer to stay home. Shy or reactive dogs may try to escape or slip out of their collars.
  • Enjoy the time with your pets and share any. photos you have of your pets in costume!

Our Howl-O-Ween Event is Back!

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Don’t miss out on one of the most pupular events at The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa! Our Howl-O-Ween event features Bigs and Littles in daycare dressed up as their favorite superhero, spider, monster, ghost, clown, ghoul, cowboy and more!

This fun event takes place at The Ranch on Thursday, October 30 for our doggie daycare clients.

Your Dog Can be an Influencer!

Howl-O-Ween is a fun, festive and safe event that offers a chance for your pup to showoff in his favorite costume, compete for the best costume, play games, earn prizes, and get posted all over social media, our website and our email campaign.

Take Home a Photo

Our friendly pet staffers love the event just as much as the pets and are extremely talented in making your dog look its best so you can have a photo keepsake!

Sign Your Dog Up for Howl-O-Ween Today

Spots are limited so make sure you sign your pup up today! The cost is $20 and any daycare doggie is available. Reserve your spot today!

Fourth of July Holiday Tips

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The Fourth of July weekend kicks off this Friday, which makes for a long weekend of celebrations. We are lucky to live in Livermore, home to many fun and family-friendly Fourth of July activities right in our own backyard. Or, we can make a short trip to the mountains or the beach!

However you decide to celebrate the Fourth of July, The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa wishes each of you a fun, safe, and festive Fourth of July. Please enjoy the holiday even more with our Fourth of July Holiday Tips.

Keep Your Pet Safe on the Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is filled with crowds, music, action, fireworks in some places, and a variety of tasty food and drink.

At this time of year, it’s especially important to remember that not all of our pets enjoy the festivities and are easily spooked; some are even traumatized.

While you enjoy the Fourth of July celebrations, please make safety a primary consideration for your pets, as fireworks, strangers, and loud noises are a trigger for many animals, creating stress, anxiety and overcrowded shelters.

Place your pet in a crate or locked room with food and water, comforting toys, chewies, soft music or a quiet TV show. Thundershirts are often a great tool for dogs who experience much stress.

If you go out, ask a responsible person to check on your pet. Having someone there to calm a stressed dog can do wonders for a reactive pet. Just make sure they return the pet to the closed crate or room.

Keep your dogs at home for any Fourth of July activity. Even the most secure pooch can be easily stressed or escape if you are distracted. Hot pavement or heat create health hazards to our beloved canines. Make the Fourth a time for you and your friends and family, securing your pet at home.

DID YOU KNOW? ***************

The day after the Fourth of July is the most crowded day at the shelters, as frightened pets who aren’t secured safely in a room or crate often get scared and run off.

Watch the video below to learn ways to keep your pet out of the shelter on the Fourth of July.

Take Measures to Track a Lost Pet

If your pet does get lost, you should take these measures to find it.

  • Call and visit your local shelter daily.
  • Put lost and found posters around the neighborhood and beyond. Dogs can roam for miles, increasing the travel distance.
  • Offer a reward for the safe return of your pet.
  • Post on Nextdoor and all social media platforms.
  • Ask everyone to share the news that your pet is missing. Give details about what your pet looks like, what its name is, and ways to get it back or advice on not chasing it in the event it may run further away.

Keep Dogs and Cats Away from Holiday Food

Holiday food is oh, so good, but can cause diarrhea, vomiting, an expensive hospital visit, or even death to a dog or cat.

Avoid sharing even the littlest bit of food with your dog and ask your guests to not share food either.

You never know how a pet is going to react to a holiday treat or if it may contain something in it that causes allergies or is toxic to your dog or cat.

If you have a side yard, room, or crate, it’s best your pet is unable to roam around during your Fourth of July holiday party. Even the most attentive hosts can be distracted by the most cunning dog or cat who is just as tempted to enjoy the food and drink.

Happy Fourth of July from all of us at The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa

Happy Valentine’s Day from The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa

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On this day filled with love and affection, The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa would like to wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

And what better way to kick off today than with Valentine’s from some of our beloved guests!

Happy Valentine’s Day from The Dogs of The Ranch

Blue wishes you a most delightful Valentine’s Day! Blue represents all of the pittie dogs and pups who have endless love and affection to give all day every day. Who can resist Blue’s sweet charm and puppy dog eyes?

Dolce wants no none to be left “behind” on this Valentine’s Day. He represents the German Shorthair Pointers and all of the Ranch Dogs who have no problem being behind the scenes. These goofballs are fine not to take center stage and have all of the confidence to be photographed from all angles. If you look closely enough, you might even see the resemblance of a heart amid all of those mass muscles and spots!

With eyes this affectionate, how can you not fall for Lula? Lula represents all of the Ranch pups who speak with their eyes and melt our hearts. How can you not fall in love with someone so sweet and ready to give hugs with those giant paws. Lula, you had us with your brows. May all of your Valentine wished come true!

Ah, Pretzel, no one ever wants to be dumped on Valentine’s Day. That is why we count on you to make sure you do your “doodie” and keep us together. Pretzel represent our self-confident puppers whose high-energy antics and agility skills keep us on our toes. You know what’s better than this sweet Pretzel? Lots of pretzels covered in chocolate and dipped in sprinkles.

Valentine’s Wishes from The Ranch Pet Resort and Spa

May your Valentine’s Day be filled with love from your fur babies, and may you shower them with the affection they deserve.

We feel so lucky to be able to spend Valentine’s Day with your dogs and soak up all of the love and affection they provide to us this day and every day!

Human Foods that are Safe for Dogs

If you want to spoil your dog this Valentine’s Day, here are some human foods that are safe for dogs as well as some foods that you should avoid. Remember, chocolate and alcohol is toxic for dogs, so keep the chocolate covered strawberries and champagne for you!

Natural dog food Hungry brown dog lying near its bowl full of meat food looking at camera, top view