What are your concerns about boarding kennels?

Dogs wearing thongs...... Hehehe *sniggers*

I worked at a boarding kennel once. It was when I worked at the kill shelter because oddly, the boarding kennel also ran and staffed the shelter (I don't think it does anymore, but I'm not sure). Most of what they did was ok, but I remember being appalled that the way they took the dogs out to use the bathroom was taking them down to this room with kennel runs on concrete, and the dogs would just go on the concrete. Then that batch of dogs was moved up, the poop picked up and put in what basically was a huge toilet and flushed, and the floor hosed with soap and bleach. The next batch would then be brought down, made to stand on a still soapy concrete floor (because it was never thoroughly rinsed off until after the last batch) and go pee and poo in soap suds. If your dog was one of the few that would not go on the concrete, he was taken outside to the fenced yard. However most dogs had no problem going there, and so most dogs never got outside at all during their stay. We used that boarding kennel when it was at its old facility, and once at the new facility. After that we moved farther away, and found a different kennel, run by nuns.

The nuns' kennel I liked, it always smelled of fresh, clean laundry. Then one year we couldn't board at the nuns' kennel, and we found a nice woman who boards dogs in her home, and we use her now.

I guess in a kennel I want to see people who are nice to the dogs, who follow proper sanitation procedures, and who actually seem to care about the job.

We try not to board the dogs if we can help it. It's just WAY too stressful for Beezer. he has abandonment issues and he's a wreck for weeks after having to be at any boarding facility.

We have a dog sitter come in and stay with the dogs in our home. This is just much less stressful on us and the dogs so it's a win win.

Rosey has been boarded once. Never again. Despite having double fences/gates, she managed to run through the gate when somebody was coming in. She managed to run to the other side of town before she was caught. At that point, my cousin just pulled her from the boarding place and kept her there. She is an intact dog, my cousin wasn't gonna let her run around town and get pregnant. Also, it was a big worry that she would be let out with other dogs, end up attacking them, and being blamed for the kennel's mistake.

We just don't go far, there is always somebody home now. My grandmother used to come stay here and watch her when we had to go away.

ETA: Once, I was watching a friends dog for her. He was in boarding for a day when we were both busy, and she had made sure they had my name as an ok to pick him up. She had dropped him off, I go the next day to pick him up... they hand him over to me. Did not ask my name or for ID or anything, paid cash so there was no paper trail. ANYBODY could have walked up, seen his name on the paper (cause I could read the names clearly on it) and left with him. That made me even more uneasy about boarding kennels.

I've worked in several boarding kennels. And my beloved bullydogs are currently being kenneled for the very first time right now.

I chose the place I did based on the consistently happy clients at work (vet's hospital) that have boarded their dogs there, and the fact that I know absolutely and without question that if my dogs would need medical care, they would get it sooner rather than later.

They require all dogs and clients to come for an "interview" and kennel tour before you're allowed to book your dogs' stay. I was kind of irritated by the inconvenience of this at first, but they were very accommodating with my tricky schedule, and I was glad to see the kennels because it changed which section I chose for my dogs.

It is a huge concern for me that my dogs not have access to other dogs ever because Mushroom *will* fence fight and he has a history of biting other dogs and not letting go of them. (He plays great with suitable dogs, but that's not for them to decide.) They helped me pick suitable kenneling for my guys, and they get playtime together several times daily. They were not at all perturbed by my (overstated so that they got how important it was) concerns about dog-dog aggression. They were appropriately adoring and gushing about my dogs when they met them

I feel comfortable with my choice. Hopefully they will meet all my expectations and my hounds will come home healthy, happy, and tired.

1. Not feeding the right food. I almost wouldn't board at a kennel that automatically feeds Hills or Purina or some other crap because it's WAY too easy to jsut throw them "kennel food" instead of their own food an call it good. I've caught people doing this where I work and it really pisses me off, therefore I won't board my own dogs where I work.

2. Not getting the appropriate medications. My dogs have supplements that the get, but Gavroche is also on thyroid meds that he needs every day twice a day for the rest of his life. I've also seen dogs not get proper meds where I work, so again, not about to board there.

3. Not keeping dogs separated. Gavroche is DR and he DOES NOT get along with every dog. If some idiot let him out with a dog he didn't like, he would be the one that would suffer because someone else was irresponsible

4. Improper handling. I work hard to train my dogs, and I don't want it ruined because someone is incapable of giving commands, jerks dogs around, yells at them, hits them, or whatever else.

5. Possibility of my dog escaping because someone is careless. Gavroche looks like a pit bull to so many people, I am certain animal control would euthanize him after 3 days if they picked him up - if I were on vacation the odds I'd be back in 3 days are slim. Plus either one of my dogs getting loose would be absolutely devastating. Again, I've seen it happen - fortunately where I work we always caught the escapees, but you only get lucky so often.

Given the option, I'd much rather leave them with someone I trust, like my parents. Someone I know care as much about my dogs as I do, and understands why I feed/supplement/medicate/exercise/etc the way I do and will respect that.

Wait.

Do you have a problem with dogs wearing thongs, or staff wearing thongs? opcorn:


Anyway, the organization where I work does have a kennel, so I take care of kennel dogs all day long. The biggest problems we have fall under the umbrella of kennel stress. So if I were looking for a boarding kennel, I'd want:

1. Staff who recognizes the symptoms of kennel stress to notice if a dog has it;
2. Effective plans outlined to actively reduce the kennel stress; and
3. Staff who are caring enough to actually impliment the stress reduction plans.

Obviously safety of the dog and following owners' instructions are the most important, but I would not even consider a kennel that didn't do this bare minimum. So to me, dealing effectively with kennel stress would be what sets apart decent kennels from great kennels.

What kind of a facility are they running over there?! :rofl1:

I agree with pretty much what everyone else has said. Basically, that the kennel treats the dogs like dogs and not little furry humans. They are animals that can and do try to escape, fight with others, etc. etc.

This:
#3 The dog human interactions are positive and not training sessions.
I wouldn't have thought of that one, but that's important! My dog will be stressed enough being in a strange place without me, she doesn't need a stranger 'training' her.

I don't think I would trust a dog walker or pet sitter either, though, to keep her safe from other dogs and make sure she doesn't escape my house when I'm gone. I usually bring her with me, and I don't travel much, but if I had to I would leave her with family or board her at the vet's. I trust the vet not to have a "doggy daycare" environment, and if she gets sick or injured she's in good hands.

A good boarding kennel IMO, should have a vet on the premises or on call 24/7.

It would have to be trust, like not lying to me!

Well, I had been using a place for over 25 years, without any apparent problems, but I had never left my dog there for more than a week or so. When I got hurt in '07, they were in there for about a month, while I was in rehab after knee surgery. I called them every couple of days, to check on them, and always got the same answer, "Oh, they're fine!". So I got home and a friend of mine went to pick them up, and on the way home, he calls me and said, "Hey, they really don't look too good!". I ask in what way, and he says, "Well, they are really skinny!". So they get home and King was about 10 pounds underweight, and Molly was even worse! They looked like they didn't eat for the whole time they were there!

I was pretty angry, and after I put down two bowls of food, and they started scarfing it down, I called the kennel, and asked them what the hell is "fine", if they weren't eating! They said, "Well, they are older dogs (They were 9 and in great shape), and they sometimes are skinny!". I talked to the owners and they knocked off about 25% on the bill, but I will never, ever take a dog of mine there again. If I can't even trust them to tell me if they are eating or not, how can I leave them there again? Soon after they got back to normal weight (Molly has never regained the last five pouns she lost), I began looking for a day care place that I could board them at, and after King getting tossed out of the first place after a disaster of a "audition", I've found a place that they like (well, Molly tolerates it), and they definitely will eat at, and I can trust them to tell me if/when there is something wrong. They called me to tell me that Molly had been bitten on her left ear pretty badly when she got in between two dogs that were not getting along. King wasn't one of them, so that was a relief. They both really like the people that work there, and that helps with me not having to worry when I leave them there. At almost 13, they are about the oldest dogs in the regular sections, and they watch Molly (King needs no help as he's one of the "bosses", and isn't frail in any way) to make sure she isn't getting pushed around or too stressed. She's stressed just going out of the house, so this is important. They have taken her and put her in with little dogs, as she has no stress problems with tiny dogs at all. With bigger dogs, especially barking ones she gets pretty strung out after a few hours.

1. Safety and Staff
There should be absolutely no way my dogs should ever be able to get out.
The staff should be excited to see my dogs, and LISTEN to my concerns. You are NOT putting any of my dogs with any dogs they don't know at any time. You are also not putting them in a run where they can see dogs they don't know.
2. Level of care
I'd expect my dogs to receive a good amount of exercise and interaction. They should eat their food, receive their supplements, and keep their blankets and toys. Someone should also be able to recognize stress and work to minimize it.

Basically, I'd want my dogs to get the same care they get at home.

We don't board our dogs - we always have a family member come stay at our house. I've found that's the easiest way to reduce the stress of my husband and I being gone for an extended period of time.

I do a 6 hour round trip the day before and drop mine at my breeder's place. i like it much better than boarding. Or I get a pet sitter if it's a shorter amount of time.

Standard of care/trust is my biggest thing before all else. Who are the people who will be caring for my dogs? Will there be someone there 24/7? Are they dog savvy, knowledgeable, kind, do they have a genuine love for dogs? Is play time included? Are the kennels inside, soundproof, and have a TV so my dogs don't have to hear dogs howling/barking when they sleep? Are the dogs walked at least 3 times a day? Are they are OK with show dogs being intact? Do they have a good reputation? Does everything look secure? Does the staff look happy and capable? Is the place extremely clean? Does the place understand and accept titers as proof of vaccines? (this is pretty important to a dog's health IMO)

To be honest I would not choose to board my dogs unless I absolutely had no choice. And I would research very carefully and take a tour of a facility and want a room that is soundproof with a TV and I would want to make sure they had walks, attention, and exercise daily. I have had to kennel in the past due to me being out of state and then my SO's relative died out of state. The dogs had to spend a short time in a kennel, it was very highly reviewed. A staff member let it slip they "forgot" to give my dogs the play time/extra walks we paid a premium for.

Truthfully, I can't imagine boarding my Fila, APBT or GSD mix. Just not a good idea. The Fila -- well, neither one of us do well away from the other, lol, and she is, after all, a FILA. The APBT has very bad memories of being kenneled when she was stuck at the vet's for months after her people couldn't pay the bill and even a short stay in a kennel leaves her with a torn up face from crying and tearing at the cage. The GSD mix . . . well, he might be okay, but I suspect he would pine badly and he does NOT need to be around other male dogs. Truthfully, I'd rather stay home with the dogs than go anywhere, but if I have to, my parents look after them.

I don't have a problem with a good boarding facility, one where the staff is not only friendly with the dogs but competent to deal with any potential problems without panicking and where my dogs would absolutely get the food I brought and nothing else. After that, basic safety and common sense! Oh, and don't hire that employee who says, "all dogs love me." That's the one who's going to get careless.

Despite what people see when they go for a walk-through, most kennels actually aren't very noisy at all. Or at least, most well-run ones aren't. When you have a strange person (dogs pick up very quickly who is "staff") walking around, there's going to be a lot of barking caused by that. However, it quiets down very quickly.

Soundproof rooms though? Seriously, I can't think of a single place that could take on that level of construction cost and have a hope of pricing their rates at such a level as to recoup their cost AND get people in the door.

My biggest concerns:
1) how are the rooms constructed? I don't want to see chainlink and cinderblock. I don't want my dog to have to worry about the dog next door being able to get to him at anytime. He's not a jumper or a climber, so I don't have to worry about height or anything, but I do prefer to see at least 6 foot tall walls, again, to protect against other dogs coming in.

2) How well do they accommodate diets? One place I worked would definitely feed your own food but they also had Purina EN, the bland diet, for those that were ok with that. But we always stuck to the owner's instructions, to a T. If they ran out of food and couldn't be fed the house stuff, we'd go out and buy a new bag and just add the cost onto their account when they came to pick up.

The place I work now also accommodates raw feeders without blinking an eye and they use California Naturals as their "house" diet. But again, we stick to owner instructions religiously.

3) Cleaning. I don't want the place to smell like a kennel. Both of the good places I've worked have had a fresh-air system, so that there was constant new air being brought in, which kept the place smelling fresh and knocked down the chances of airborne diseases quite a lot.

4) Play time. How long do the sessions last, how are they supervised and what sort of training does the staff member have to be comfortable and effective in a group setting? I don't care about indoor/outdoor runs, because honestly, that presents a huge hazard to my mind. Dogs can escape overnight if they have constant access, I've heard of dogs locking themselves out because they couldn't figure out the door system and the staff interaction in places that have those indoor/outdoor runs seems to be less attentive and hands-on versus the places that make the staff handle each dog for their outside time. Also, I don't want my dog to be taken for walks outside the property. Too great a hazard for sh*t to happen. I'm perfectly fine with a well laid out play yard that has dog grass, good fencing, toys and supervision.

5) The owners/managers. What are their philosophies regarding dogs? Do they participate in rescue work at all? How did they decide to open this place and how did they decide to make their policies? If they just opened up the place because they "love dogs" and "it's easy to do", then I'm outta there. There is SO MUCH that goes on into the running of a good, safe facility that it really does take insider, background knowledge to do properly.

I am going to assume you are addressing my post. The place we boarded did have those rooms and we didn't pay outrageous fees. I really appreciated a sound proof room with beds and TV's as dog kennels are loud that are packed with large numbers of all breed and types of dogs during the day and night.

And I'm going to assume you didn't really read my post. I've worked in a variety of boarding kennels and they're really rather quiet most of the time. Feeding times, going out to their respective play areas, those are the loud times. Night time and the better part the day, things are quiet. At one place, even at our busiest over the holidays--where we had about 175 dogs there--I didn't have to wear my ear plugs after the loud times.

We had some rooms with beds and TV's, nothing was soundproofed though. And the dogs seemed to be just fine with it. The place I'm at now, the place is broken up into three areas, with actual walls and doors inbetween each area, then each area has it's own set up of dog rooms. It's also a smaller place, so not as many clients to begin with, but it's even quieter, though still not soundproofed.

Might I ask, where was this soundproofed place? Because it's honestly the first I've heard of.

I responded to a post for the OP with my recommendations and my experience. Then you take my post and talk about how it is a unrealistic idea, and say seriously. I had been gone for a long time and forgot why I left this forum. But I remember now.

Yeah. Seriously, I can't think of a single place. Obviously though, since you say you've utilized one, they are out there. But since I didn't' know that, I couldn't very well think of it, now could I?

However, since I'm already pissing you off, I'll just go one step further.

As nice and fuzzy as soundproof sounds (HA, see what I did there?), I also posit that is a safety hazard. If you can't hear what is going on inside the room, neither can you hear outside. So if I can't hear a dog that is thrashing, coughing, choking or vomiting, I can't very well get to them very quickly, now can I?

I think my only concern is that I want competent staff who aren't going to screw up (mistakes happens but please feed my dog the correct food, give her the correct meds etc).

I had a bad experience with a daycare (it was not our regular daycare place) and I am SO glad it was not a boarding situation. I asked them if they could please feed Juno lunch. I brought it in a ziploc baggie that said "JUNO'S LUNCH" on it. Guy at the front desk said sure, absolutely! I go to pick her up that evening and they hand the bag of kibble back to me, not a single piece had been touched. I ask what happened? Guy at front desk says "oh, sometimes dogs are too excited or nervous about eating in a strange setting." He did not tell me this was what happened with JUNO. This was just an explanation of why SOME DOGS might not eat. My brain knows that they forgot to feed her. It super pissed me off. What if she needed an afternoon medication with that meal?

What I like about our daycare/boarding facility:
1. Cage-free environment. Dogs are only kenneled to be fed and are only kenneled/crated at night if requested.

2. Someone is there 24/7

3. Webcams!

4. Friendly and knowledgeable staff, each shift has a person with a veterinary technology degree. They recognize Juno as soon as we walk through the door (maybe that's bad :rofl1 and when I pick her up, the staff chats me up and lets me know what Juno did that day, if they noticed any scratches on her, etc.

5. "Extra" services do not have an extra fee attached. They bathe and groom the dogs so they go home smelling like pina colada, not a kennel. Boarding dogs get a stuffed Kong at bedtime (unless otherwise noted).

6. Everything is organized so that my dog is getting the right food/medication at the right time. Their on-hand food, if needed, is some sort of Natural Balance.

7. Boarders go home with report cards noting what your dog's favorite activities were and which dogs they played with most.

8. Multiple indoor playrooms and access to an outdoor play yard; lots of toys and play-things including a big pirate ship to climb on and in, and a hippo they can crawl through.

9. Dogs are required to go through an 8-hour orientation day to make sure they fit in. My sister's dog is actually not allowed to go there because she was getting snarky during her orientation.

It is the right environment for JUNO. Lucy does not go there. The one time we were out of town--Juno got boarded there and I had a friend stay at the house with Lucy (at the time, Juno was a little too high-maintenance for that).

One last thing to make this longer lol: I worked at a boarding for 2 days a few years ago. That place sucked and I would never bring my dogs there. I don't like the idea of dogs getting individual playtime ONLY if you pay extra for it and ONLY for 10-15 minutes. Otherwise they were just in a kennel all day and only got a couple short walks up and down a strip of grass. They were also keeping a lab in a cage that was too small (he could not stand up) and the justification was "that's what the owners paid for." PUH-LEEZE!!