Beginning A Boarding Kennel

[Lady Flying Furball]

Having recently had one of my sweet little angels killed at a Sydney facility, I have a clear idea of what I SHOULD have looked for

Oh my goodness! How terrible for you and your poor dog I know accidents can happen but how on earth could that happen in a kennel. So sorry for you. I have not boarded my dog for a few years now but I always go with a big one in Sydney because I think they have a reputation to look after...now I am not sure at all.

[Steve]

I have to admit I was pretty naive re boarding kennels until last year when Pacers was helping someone . I had always assumed that dogs which were left in kennels were handled daily especially in areas where things like ticks were a problem. Seemed like common sense to me but it isn't done and until a dog is falling down almost dead they don't know it has a tick ! The person we were helping had one of her dogs go down with a tick and it came close to dying and her other dog had a staph infection in its leg which wasnt picked up.

It never occured to me that this wasnt the case and that some kennel facilities have a hundred plus dogs with only a couple of staff and the dogs are never touched through out their stay but I get that there are reasons why they dont handle them.

If you had a sales pitch where you could give people that assurance it would be better than most around.

[Steve]

Having recently had one of my sweet little angels killed at a Sydney facility, I have a clear idea of what I SHOULD have looked for

Oh my goodness! How terrible for you and your poor dog I know accidents can happen but how on earth could that happen in a kennel. So sorry for you. I have not boarded my dog for a few years now but I always go with a big one in Sydney because I think they have a reputation to look after...now I am not sure at all.

The one we dealt with was one of the biggest in Sydney - Id rather small.

[sandgrubber]

I have to admit I was pretty naive re boarding kennels until last year when Pacers was helping someone . I had always assumed that dogs which were left in kennels were handled daily especially in areas where things like ticks were a problem. Seemed like common sense to me but it isn't done and until a dog is falling down almost dead they don't know it has a tick ! The person we were helping had one of her dogs go down with a tick and it came close to dying and her other dog had a staph infection in its leg which wasnt picked up.

It never occured to me that this wasnt the case and that some kennel facilities have a hundred plus dogs with only a couple of staff and the dogs are never touched through out their stay but I get that there are reasons why they dont handle them.

If you had a sales pitch where you could give people that assurance it would be better than most around.

This is one of the reasons you need quality staff with dog handling skills. Most dogs welcome handling, but you always get a few who don't tolerate it. It's not sufficient to have kids who love dogs. And then there's the occasional Newfie or other heavily coated large dog, especially if they come in with a matted coat with seeds and burrs, where tick checking requires skill and patience.

I'm glad to be out of the business. It's too much responsibility, too much capital investment, and too much hard work for a business that's anything but lucrative.