"dogs playing, dogs barking ."

"You couldn't be working here, with 50-70 dogs a day, if you didn't love dogs."

Catering to canines of all sizes makes for a dream job for Giene Wicker, owner of The Dog Den in Madison.

"We really stress behavior. We hope to send dogs home better behaved than when they came in."

It's doggie daycare with a twist for the holidays.

"Christmas Day, the dogs will get a turkey dinner. And, New Year's Eve, instead of champagne, they get beef flavored water. And we watch movies like Benji and Homeward Bound, and every night, we have popcorn. It's kind of like a big sleepover party."

Wicker says the sleepover service is added for the holidays -- a time when people pack up and go but sometimes leave behind their pets, which can create stress for a best friend.

"Most of the dogs doing the holiday overnights are dogs that already come here and play during the day, so it's a familiar environment. They know the staff already."

and experts recommend a preview visit to ease your pet into its temporary home but also for you to check out the facility.

"Make sure that the kennel is clean, that the dogs look happy, are they being socialized. Do they get a lot of human socialization? Kind of check into the background. A really good point that we like to stress is to make sure that the kennel does require vaccination, current up to date vaccination records on all of the dogs."

"Go with their gut feeling. If you feel the staff is knowlegeable and that they genuinely care for the dogs, you probably have a good sense, you're probably right."

Wicker says her staff cares enough to spend the night with their four-legged friends.

"They're not down the hall, they're right with the dogs and the reason I set it up that way is because I thought what if a dog throws up in the middle of the night, or has diarrhea or has a seizure. If you're down the hall, you're never going to know until the next morning."

Experts also say to begin with recommendations from other pet owners.
You can find a complete list of tips for boarding, choosing a pet sitter or traveling with your pet by logging on to the website for the Humane Society of the United States www.hsus.org.