Happy.
Whole.
Welcome to Central Bark Fort Walton Beach
The bond we share with our furry companions is incomparable. Our love for dogs drives us to provide them with the utmost care and support. Still, meeting all their needs can pose challenges. That’s where Central Bark steps in, a trusted choice for families seeking comprehensive care for their beloved pets.
At Central Bark Fort Walton Beach, your dog will thrive in a secure and affectionate environment, spending quality time with their canine companions.
Our holistic approach, known as Whole Dog Care, is designed to promote your dog’s overall health and happiness. Central to this philosophy is our Enrichment Dog Day Care program, which focuses on nurturing your dog’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In addition to day care, we offer a range of services including boarding, grooming, training, and more. They are all aimed at enhancing the bond between you and your dog.
Recognizing that dogs are not merely pets but integral members of the family, we treat every dog with the same love and dedication as if they were our own. As fellow dog parents, we take pride in providing a personalized experience for each furry friend entrusted to our care.
COMING SOON
Central Bark
Fort Walton Beach
35 Miracle Strip Pkwy SW,
Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548Get Directions
fortwaltonbeach@centralbarkusa.com
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Central Bark® Whole Dog Care
Our comprehensive Whole Dog Care approach provides an extensive array of tailored products and services. All are aimed at fostering your dog’s lifelong physical, mental, and emotional well-being and joy.
Enrichment Dog Day Care
Elevate your dog’s daily routine with tailor-made activities crafted exclusively for their enjoyment, injecting excitement into every moment.
Grooming
Treat your cherished companion to a lavish grooming experience, ensuring they remain content and impeccably groomed.
Boarding
Provide your dog with a serene and snug retreat through our Dog Boarding service, offering them a tranquil escape for ultimate relaxation.
Products
Browse through our curated collection of premium dog products, from nourishing foods to engaging toys, to keep your canine companion healthy.
Training & Enrichment
Deepen your connection with your furry friend through engaging positive training sessions and enriching activities designed to strengthen your bond.
Pet Insurance
Safeguard your dog’s well-being with personalized coverage tailored to their medical needs, granting you peace of mind and security.
Why do dogs LOVE
Central Bark?
- Tailored Just for Them: Every dog is unique, and we recognize and cater to their individual needs and preferences.
- Whole Health and Happiness: Our focus is on providing personalized attention, activities, and rest to ensure your dog’s overall well-being. This promotes good health, happiness, and positive behavior both at home and in the community.
- Fluent in Dog: Our staff are experts in understanding canine behavior, trained in science-based positive reinforcement techniques to communicate effectively with your furry friend.
- Safety and Cleanliness: We prioritize the safety and welfare of all our guests. Rigorous safety protocols and cleaning procedures are in place to maintain a healthy and secure environment for your dog.
- Trusted Care: For over two decades, families have relied on Central Bark to enrich their dogs’ lives with a perfect balance of personalized attention, play, exercise, socialization, training, rest, and affection.
- Strengthened Bond: A day spent apart can strengthen the bond between you and your dog. With us, your pet returns home happy and healthy, alleviating any worries about leaving them home alone.
Dog Day Care. Reimagined.
Experience Dog Day Care like never before with Central Bark Enrichment Dog Day Care. We’re revolutionizing the concept by blending our unmatched expertise with cutting-edge dog behavior science and positive training techniques. Your furry friend will indulge in a customized day filled with just the right balance of play, mental and physical stimulation, socialization, training, relaxation, and affection, ensuring they emerge as healthier, happier, and more well-rounded companions.
Flexible Playgroups
Small and large playgroup options allow us to match better your dog’s personality, needs, and preferences with the social atmosphere and amount of play they can enjoy and benefit from most.
Group Play Skills
Group Play Skills are a fun and rewarding way for dogs to practice important skills like name recall, and behaviors like group sit and calmly going in and out of doors and gates.
Rest Period Enrichment
Rest Period Enrichment sessions help dogs achieve a healthy balance. They can relax and recharge in their own private space with calming enrichment toys and healthy foods tailored to their preferences and diet.
Enrichment Sessions
Personalized One-on-One Enrichment sessions give the extra attention dogs love and the freedom to use their senses and safely explore their instincts through interactive toys, puzzles, and games.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. We offer sleepovers to puppies and dogs enrolled in our Enrichment Day Care. Sleepovers at Central Bark® provide your dog a calm, relaxing sleepover in a place they can feel comfortable and loved. Because they’re in a familiar place, they can feel less stressed about being away from home (and so will you). A full day of Doggy Day Care is complimentary with your sleepover stay.
Sleeping in a new or unfamiliar environment can be stressful for some dogs. That’s why we offer sleepovers to dogs already enrolled in our Enrichment Day Care.
Sleepovers at Central Bark® offer your dog a calm, relaxing sleepover in a place they can feel comfortable and loved. Because they’re in a familiar place, they can feel less stressed about being away from home (and so will you). A full day of Doggy Day Care is complimentary with your sleepover, so your dog can play with their friends after a good night’s rest.
Flexible playgroups allow us to match your dog with the social atmosphere and play schedule they can enjoy and benefit from most. This helps give them a healthy balance of play, rest, and learning and creates a safer social environment with a better quality of play. And our lower dog-to-staff ratios offer more individual attention, education, and love.
Selecting the right doggy day care is an important decision for you and your family. You want to make sure you find the right fit for your dog and your family’s needs. Follow these tips to find the perfect place for your pup!
Tour the day care center before leaving your dog there. We recommend visiting several centers in your area before making a final decision.
While you’re there, ask yourself:
- Is the play space clean, odor-free, comfortable, and safe for the center’s stated capacity?
- Pay attention to how the management and staff treat you, your dog, and the dogs in their care. Are they mature, knowledgeable, courteous, professional, and patient at all times?
- Note how the dogs respond to the staff – do they seem happy, relaxed, and excited? How do staff members greet and treat each dog?
- How do other dogs act during your visit – relaxed, happy, stressed, scared, or out of control?
- Is there a great deal of noise?
- Does the facility seem well organized and equipped with essential tools and supplies? Look for access to fresh, clean water, sanitation tools, ready access to treats to reinforce good behavior in playgroups, toys, secure fencing, rubber flooring in the inside play spaces, and access to outdoor play spaces.
- Are there enough crates for every dog on-site in case of an emergency?
- Are the dogs ever left alone together without a staff member present?
- Are the handlers engaged with the dogs in their care and actively working with them? Or are they sitting on the sidelines?
Questions to ask the doggy day care provider:
- Will my dog get individual attention time with staff?
Ask if staff will have time to work individually with your dog on behaviors, play with them, and give them support and love while at day care. - Are there small group play options?
Small playgroup options help ensure your dog will have a social environment that allows them the freedom and comfort to thrive based on their unique needs, preferences, and play styles. - What’s the daily schedule? Is this tailored to my dog’s unique needs and preferences?
Dogs thrive on routine, so the center should have a clear schedule for how things run every day. A consistent program tailored to your dog’s individual needs and style will promote a healthy and happy dog. - Are there regularly scheduled playtimes and nap times throughout the day?
Day care should offer your dog a safe and balanced day of play, learning, rest, and love so you can look forward to a happy, well-balanced dog at the end of every day. - How and where are the dogs’ given downtime to wind down from the day’s activities to help prevent exhaustion and overstimulation?
Maintaining a healthy balance of rest and play is important for the physical, mental, and social health of dogs. Just like human athletes, rest helps dogs avoid bodily injury and provides a space for them to unwind, so they do not become over-stimulated or over-aroused during play. This creates a much safer social environment for dogs. - Are there fenced and secure outdoor play areas?
Safe outdoor areas are important for a healthy, fun playtime. Whether it is romping in the snow or playing in swimming pools, everyone loves recess outside! - How are new dog introductions handled?
The center should clearly outline their procedures around new dog introductions, with effective policies that encourage happy, healthy, and lasting relationships and experiences. - What training does the staff receive?
Doggy day care staff should be professionally trained and educated in animal behavior, socialization, and obedience training to ensure every dog’s well-being. - Are the dogs supervised at all times?
A trained staff member should ALWAYS supervise dogs. - Ask about behavior management tools used at the facility while caring for the dogs. What happens if your dog does something right? What happens if your dog does something wrong?
Staff should use positive reinforcement and reward-based techniques to develop and reinforce behaviors that will enrich dogs’ lives at home and day care. Avoid centers that use punishment or correction to manage dog’s behavior as those techniques can create negative associations and fear. Utilizing reward-based techniques and positive reinforcement, on the other hand, can help build healthy relationships and happy experiences. - What provisions are there for avoiding dog scuffles?
Ask staff how they manage the dogs in their care. What do they look for in dog-dog interactions? How do they deal with emergencies and scuffles? How do they interrupt and redirect dogs? How do they build useful playgroup skills to keep the dogs safe proactively? Pay attention to how staff redirects dogs who need additional support to stay safe and whether they respond promptly and use effective strategies in these situations. - Is there an in-depth interview to determine relevant background, behavioral, and health information including confirmation of spay/neuter, proof of vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, etc.? How is this information kept up to date?
Find out what kind of assessments and evaluations the center uses before they accept a new dog. Also, every dog’s information should be regularly updated and kept on file to prevent illness and injuries. - Do they have safety, cleaning, and disinfecting policies and procedures? What are they?
