Kennel Owners And Dog Professionals: How Are You All Doing?

[sandgrubber]

I sold my boarding kennel to some lovely folks, who are now having a hard time. WA's economy hasn't been so good. Seems like people haven't been taking as many vacations, and aren't as willing to spend on their dogs. I'm curious, is everyone having a hard time? Or Is it just WA?

[Teebs]

I'm not as busy,but I also haven't advertised this year.

I usually do something around November and it goes crazy, this year I rather enjoy Christmas with the kids. I've only got 8 jobs Christmas day and won't be taking any more

[Roova]

There seems to be so many people advertising to house sit or board dogs at their own house nowadays, I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Knowledge or skills doesn't seem to be a huge factor!

[Pjrt]

I'm having no trouble at all keeping busy with my grooming salon. But I've been hearing a lot of groomers are not as busy as they'd expect ATM.

With grooming I think it being completely unregulated and reasonably cheap to get started there are a lot more operators

With boarding I think there is a generational shift away from back yard pets towards pampered and indulged indoor pets that are more like pseudo children and the old outdoor style kennel runs are not at all appealing to this market. Unless you have a resort style set up with couches and TVs etc. and the rise of in home pet sitting appeals to this market and again relatively inexpensive to set up as a pet sitter.

Another factor is possibly slowly but surely pet ownership is declining

[Loving my Oldies]

There seems to be so many people advertising to house sit or board dogs at their own house nowadays, I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Knowledge or skills doesn't seem to be a huge factor!

Ads for in home pet sitting pop up all over website and FB too. I am sure it is having an impact. And what Gruf says, too.

Apart from the fact that I couldn’t afford both a holiday and dog boarding :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: , I wouldn’t place my dogs in boarding no matter how excellent. They’d be traumatised and so would I :o

ETA: The grooming salon down the road from me is always busy too. I had my dogs groomed the other days and when I picked them up she asked me about pre-Christmas grooming and managed to slot me in on Friday 23 - last day.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Dame Danny's Darling

[Dogsfevr]

Boarding steady flow & grooming booked out till last week of Jan .

[mowgliandme]

I think there is more demand for personalised boarding now - with photos sent of your dog's adventures, knowing that they are getting one on one time, treated like a pet inside the house etc

I used to board my previous dogs and wouldn't do it now at the same places even though they were described as "luxury" pet accomodation.

Some reasons are: I'd want my dog to have some interaction which I don't think they would get much of it there,

id want her to have access to toys/treat balls/something to keep it entertained all day

I really dont want her to learn barking - last time i went there, there was heaps of dogs barking all day - they had nothing else to do. She is also sometimes fearful of dogs barking behind fences while we walk past which I am working on desensitising

She's more on an indoor dog and loves being with people

I wouldn't like her to be left alone in a kennel run for weeks at a time, but if she was with another dog id want them supervised (probably not going to happen in a kennel) as shes a puppy and sometimes can annoy my housemates dog - she doesnt listen much to his growls either and just continues to try to play which i think is dangerous with new dogs as she could get nipped

There is a huge demand for doggy day care here though and grooming gets booked out weeks in advance even without the summer rush!

(although i am grooming her myself at this stage)

[Papillon Kisses]

I have an emergency boarding place I'd send Malcolm to which is recommended by a number of VBs, but I prefer for him to stay at home as it is less stressful for him. The boarding option at the level of care I'd want him to receive is also quite expensive. I wouldn't get just anyone to mind him though.

I think the proliferation of home style boarding is concerning. I had Malcolm stay with someone once who was registered as part of a major pet minding company that had their own care protocols, insurance, etc. I gave the minder four easy to follow instructions: (1) feed the food provided which was a prescription diet, (2) do not have him socialise with other dogs, (3) put his calming cap on in the car, and (4) put him in another room while vacuuming.

1 & 2 are standard protocols for the company anyway.

She fed him her own food, had puppy play dates, and had him in the car without his cap on while she vacuumed around him!!! She had the gall to send me a photo of a terrified, shut down Malcolm as she felt proud of herself because he wasn't barking.

Never again!!!!

[mowgliandme]

I have an emergency boarding place I'd send Malcolm to which is recommended by a number of VBs, but I prefer for him to stay at home as it is less stressful for him. The boarding option at the level of care I'd want him to receive is also quite expensive. I wouldn't get just anyone to mind him though.

I think the proliferation of home style boarding is concerning. I had Malcolm stay with someone once who was registered as part of a major pet minding company that had their own care protocols, insurance, etc. I gave the minder four easy to follow instructions: (1) feed the food provided which was a prescription diet, (2) do not have him socialise with other dogs, (3) put his calming cap on in the car, and (4) put him in another room while vacuuming.

1 & 2 are standard protocols for the company anyway.

She fed him her own food, had puppy play dates, and had him in the car without his cap on while she vacuumed around him!!! She had the gall to send me a photo of a terrified, shut down Malcolm as she felt proud of herself because he wasn't barking.

Never again!!!!

That sounds horrible! that is exactly my fear with the home based ones: that any instructions wont get taken seriously enough... that said I havent tried any and would only give my dog to my sister at this stage as she actually understands dog behaviour

[tdierikx]

I've got lovely friends who are happy to come feed and play with Trouble and Pickles if I have to go away... but Harper is a different ballgame.

Harper has a few issues, and she's a big girl (Dane cross) - so I prefer boarding kennels where she won't be running free with strange dogs, and she will be secure in a kennel with a roof (not that she will normally try to escape, but just in case her crazy kicks in). She is a fear barker, and that can be offputting - but she's not a biter, and will love you forever if you have treats and talk to her while working in her kennel.

I have two different kennels that will respect Harper and her wierdness - and she loves staying at both, so all good there. Would be mighty upset if either had to close down... as there is no way on earth she'd be acceptable in a home stay environment.

T.

[Scottsmum]

I have an emergency boarding place I'd send Malcolm to which is recommended by a number of VBs, but I prefer for him to stay at home as it is less stressful for him. The boarding option at the level of care I'd want him to receive is also quite expensive. I wouldn't get just anyone to mind him though.

I think the proliferation of home style boarding is concerning. I had Malcolm stay with someone once who was registered as part of a major pet minding company that had their own care protocols, insurance, etc. I gave the minder four easy to follow instructions: (1) feed the food provided which was a prescription diet, (2) do not have him socialise with other dogs, (3) put his calming cap on in the car, and (4) put him in another room while vacuuming.

1 & 2 are standard protocols for the company anyway.

She fed him her own food, had puppy play dates, and had him in the car without his cap on while she vacuumed around him!!! She had the gall to send me a photo of a terrified, shut down Malcolm as she felt proud of herself because he wasn't barking.

Never again!!!!

Not trying to belittle your experience PK - but I think that's more to do with the wrong homesitter than home sitting in itself. We had a similar shitty experience with Scottie while I was home in October. He was in a registered kennel / commercial place as I couldnt find a sitter I was happy with & woofintons was too far away and clashed with my flight plans. I had paid more for the "deluxe" kennel and I was very unhappy. He there for 10 days was sent with exactly 20 serves of food - all clearly marked, all labeled + some "emergency" cans if he went off his mince/raw combo. He was also sent with enough xanax for 10 days. He came home stinking, he had a new rub mark on his nose where he'd obviously been trying to escape, he had a huge amount of food left over as well as the canned stuff - so F knows what they'd been feeding him and they didn't give him his xanax once. To top it all off - they treated an "infected eye" without even trying to contact me or hubby - and they knew hub was in the country (on reflection - considering he'd obviously not been eating his own food it would have been grain related) and they gave me the standard spiel about "how wonderful and happy he'd been"

By comparison when he was at Woofingtons they told me he hadn't been eating - so hand fed him for me & also said he'd been a big glum & that they'd let him do his own thing and spend longer in the exercise yard at in the morning because he was happy there.

I still do the odd home sit & walk. I find the bulk of my bookings come from my no-off leash policy for walks (dogs), my location (we live in the army camp so I get some army inquiries - I've been told they figure I'm safe & reliable to have in their home) and I get lots of cats where people don't want the stress of bundling a cat or two up off to the cattery when "all they need is some jellymeat spooned into their bowls and the litter changed".

I have a lot of competition, but I'm pretty frank and very fussy with who I take on as a client and I do what I say I do - and that is reflected in my reviews.

If I get stuffed around too much - gone. Don't agree with something I consider major - gone. Unsafe practices - gone. I wouldnt accept a booking I was uneasy with either - I wouldn't leave a young pup or a single dog on its own in it's own home. We do not bring dogs back here. To be honest - under my current set up I would be hesitant to take Mal as I could not have him here and he'd have to be home on his own for extended periods of time (not that you'd agree to that either - but as an example).

I never take Scottie with me house visits. He only comes on walks in under very specific circumstances.

I also stress that I provide a service I would use for my own dog/pets - that means I follow the instructions to the letter & I do check in with photos etc.

To answer the OP - I'm low to moderately busy. I have three bookings around xmas and that's enough for me as it's not a primary source of income.

[Papillon Kisses]

You raise a very good point SM. It does come down to the particular sitter or kennel. In our case though I'd done two house visits and was comfortable with the sitter, she actually seemed even more cautious than I was/needed to be with Malcolm at the time! You'd also expect that the company in question would have properly vetted and schooled their sitters to follow their supposedly strict protocols. Same with your kennel experience.

Sigh. I suppose all you can do is get good references from people you know and trust for the particular sitter or kennel. Not the company in the case of the former, but the actual sitter.

[Scottsmum]

You raise a very good point SM. It does come down to the particular sitter or kennel. In our case though I'd done two house visits and was comfortable with the sitter, she actually seemed even more cautious than I was/needed to be with Malcolm at the time! You'd also expect that the company in question would have properly vetted and schooled their sitters to follow their supposedly strict protocols. Same with your kennel experience.

Sigh. I suppose all you can do is get good references from people you know and trust for the particular sitter or kennel. Not the company in the case of the former, but the actual sitter.

It sucks. I was assured he'd be pampered & well looked after. I was quite explicit in my concerns re: SA, Dementia & deafness.... I even paid more for a last wee & stuff at 8pm.

[huski]

We only have a small number of kennels but are booked out 3-4 months ahead of time all year round.

[Scottsmum]

We only have a small number of kennels but are booked out 3-4 months ahead of time all year round.

I'm not surprised by that. I've seen Steves videos, cant image there'd be too many better places to leave your dog.

[OSoSwift]

I am as busy if not busier than normal. I do live in a regional popular tourist spot which helps.

There are good and bad in every industry. I like to think I go above and beyond to keep owners and animals happy, safe and content. Sometimes owners can be a little over the top, sometimes owners do not want think their dog is actually quite happy.

Would they prefer to be at home? Of course but I think some owners would prefer they were miserable so they feel better about their own feelings.

I strictly adhere to any allergy/feeding/medications as required. I want happy healthy dogs to hand over!

Edited December 6, 2016 by OSoSwift

[huski]

We only have a small number of kennels but are booked out 3-4 months ahead of time all year round.

I'm not surprised by that. I've seen Steves videos, cant image there'd be too many better places to leave your dog.

Thanks SM! :)