Boarding Kennels, Anyone Recommend One?

[Dogsfevr]

. In addition, by choosing a service that restricts the amount of dogs that yours comes into contact with, you're minimising your dog's risk of contracting diseases or being in any scuffs

Not true at all.

Are you saying the dog will never leave the careers backyard then??

[newfsie]

Also some dogs, no matter how often they are let out are dirty dogs and make a mess and a lot of average people cannot handle that and would be aghast.

I don't agree with this bit though, Newfsie. Of course there are some dogs who might soil their pens. Although I do note that the dogs at the kennels I visit are out so often that they tend not to mess that much in their pens. But even then, the mess is cleaned up pretty much once it is seen. Because it might only be in a pen here and a pen there, anyone who did happen to see it on inspection wouldn't be too concerned about it. The person would probably also see it in the process of being cleaned it up anyway.

I am only really saying this because of one dog we used to get, who every morning when you came in had made a mess of herself and her run. She was an old English Sheep dog and no matter how often we let her out she did the same thing, just a mess. And I will stick with the fact that some people cannot cope with it. And you have just no idea what individuals ( meaning general dog owners) cope with. We here on Dogz are really the more aware dog owners. A lot who board dogs are not always so awre of what can happen.

Our final solution with her was to keep her with us, which was only because we were concerned about her stress levels, but her owners were not.

In a kennel situation it is very hard to generalize..........I actually found it too stressful to try and keep all dogs totally happy and their owners, hence we sold out after ten years.

They were great kennels, with a lot of time spent in large grassy runs, but no matter how hard you try, a lot of dogs still stress and you get results that some visiting people might not always understand.

[Guest Labradork]

. In addition, by choosing a service that restricts the amount of dogs that yours comes into contact with, you're minimising your dog's risk of contracting diseases or being in any scuffs

Not true at all.

Are you saying the dog will never leave the careers backyard then??

I said minimise, not eliminate.

A dog staying at a carer's house might be living within the company of one or two other dogs. He/she will go out to the park for maybe a couple of hours a day, where there might be a few other dogs.

My experience with kennels is that dogs have a much greater level of contact with a greater number of other dogs, and logically speaking, this points to an increased chance of fights/illnesses, as compared to staying in a home situation.

[OSoSwift]

My experience with kennels is that dogs have a much greater level of contact with a greater number of other dogs, and logically speaking, this points to an increased chance of fights/illnesses, as compared to staying in a home situation.

Um No........ I would only put my dog in a kennel where they WERE NOT run with other unknown dogs. There is no way I would put my dog in a kennel where they ran them with others and I most certainly would not put them in a strangers house with unknown dogs that may have territorial issues.

There are plenty on kennels that will not mix dogs that are safe, have lots of human contact and play and are recommended. I agree with times or appointments for looking through I know how annoying it was trying to groom animals when people kept interrupting because "they just needed a quick word"! Not only that it is hard to get and maintain a good routine for the dogs - with VERY important quiet time included- when people just drop in willy nilly.

[PAX]

* There are also companies which will visit your house a couple/few times a day, allowing your dog/s to stay within his/her own environment; this may not suit each and every dog but is a great solution for those who have a good outside set up and are somewhat independent. This is what's worked for me in the past.

Cheers,

L

I boarded a three legged whippet last year that the owners chose home care for the year before.

I innocently asked what had happened to her hind leg. They answered that she had home care the Xmas before, while they were away, they suspect she was frightened by fireworks and jumped the side fence, something she had never done before. The fence was a bamboo fence and she caught her hind leg in the wire that holds it together. By some odd luck the owners came home early from the vacation and noticed her food bowl was still full, went searching for her and there she was, almost dead, hanging by a hind leg, thank-god she survived.

Dogs need more than a couple of visits a day, you never know what can happen, at least at a kennel they are safe.

[macka]

If you had ever actually been to a kennel, you would know that having strange people wandering around can greatly excite/wind-up the dogs and it's fair enough that the owners don't want that happening at all hours of the day unexpectedly. I think you're being unreasonable to hold inspection times against them.

[OSoSwift]

* There are also companies which will visit your house a couple/few times a day, allowing your dog/s to stay within his/her own environment; this may not suit each and every dog but is a great solution for those who have a good outside set up and are somewhat independent. This is what's worked for me in the past.

Cheers,

L

I boarded a three legged whippet last year that the owners chose home care for the year before.

I innocently asked what had happened to her hind leg. They answered that she had home care the Xmas before, while they were away, they suspect she was frightened by fireworks and jumped the side fence, something she had never done before. The fence was a bamboo fence and she caught her hind leg in the wire that holds it together. By some odd luck the owners came home early from the vacation and noticed her food bowl was still full, went searching for her and there she was, almost dead, hanging by a hind leg, thank-god she survived.

Dogs need more than a couple of visits a day, you never know what can happen, at least at a kennel they are safe.

OMG that story is horrifying.

[Guest Labradork]

I boarded a three legged whippet last year that the owners chose home care for the year before.

I innocently asked what had happened to her hind leg. They answered that she had home care the Xmas before, while they were away, they suspect she was frightened by fireworks and jumped the side fence, something she had never done before. The fence was a bamboo fence and she caught her hind leg in the wire that holds it together. By some odd luck the owners came home early from the vacation and noticed her food bowl was still full, went searching for her and there she was, almost dead, hanging by a hind leg, thank-god she survived.

Dogs need more than a couple of visits a day, you never know what can happen, at least at a kennel they are safe.

This is one very sad and horrifying story, nay a once-off freak accident, that shouldn't generalised as a blanket opinion of in-home care. In all of my years working in the Pet Care industry, I've never experienced or even heard of anything so terrible.

There are plenty of bad kennel experiences too. Just Google it.

In my personal experience, every single time we sent my old dog (now passed away) off to a kennel, he would come back with "kennel cough", without fail. He would also be overly exhausted.

I referred to a kennel in my initial post, where I actually did a day of work experience. In this kennel, the owners were only allowed to look through a small window to see the set up. The dogs were essentially kept in a big factory on a concrete floor, about 20 to a large cage/run on average (there were 5 runs, with approx 20 small kennel areas with beds etc. around the outside). All of the areas were separated by cyclone fencing, including the boarding cages, so with the dogs' constant barking, it was extremely loud all the time - I honestly can't imagine how the dogs would've slept at all. Not to mention the beds were old, filthy and falling apart. It was sheltered, but had a large opening at the back, meaning there was no control over the cold/heat. The dogs would wee/poo on the floor and the "attendants" (i.e. 17yo school dropouts on about $12ph) would come along every few hours and mop it up (the mop water might be changed once a day?) - so the dogs were essentially walking through their own urine and faeces. Each group was taken out to toilet maybe 2-3 times a day, onto a stone covered area about 2x3m called the "kitty litter", which was so littered with dog poo that it was near impossible not to step in one. No one ever seemed to clean it but I'd be generous if I said it was attended to once a day. Within the runs, the "attendants" would essentially stir up the dogs by running around senselessly, racing computer chairs, and making heaps of noise, so the dogs would become stressed/agitated, instead of relieved through expending energy. It was an incredibly unnatural and intense environment. There were frequent scuffs/fights, which were dealt with by yelling/screaming, and sending the dogs to a "time out" cage. Two of the dogs remained in these "time out" cages for over an hour because they were forgotten about. The dogs' paws never saw grass- they were stuck inside this prison-like structure for the entire duration of their stay. People pay this kennel $40 per day to provide top-quality care for their dogs. Needless to say, I wouldn't send my dogs there even if you paid me.

Just my opinion/experience. I'm not saying in-home care is for every dog, I simply wanted to offer it as an alternative.