I had to have knee surgery recently, and I had to board my dogs, so I took them to the place where I have boarded my dogs for the last 25 years. I had no problems previously, but the longest I left any of them there was about a week. It's Karnik Inn in Waterville, Ohio. I brought King and Molly in in perfect shape, King was about 52 pounds and Molly was about 55. Yes, they are "older dogs", but they aren't OLD.
They were in there for a little over a month. A friend of mine picked them up on Dec 22, and when they came in the house, I couldn't believe it! King looked pretty bad, his ribs were showing, and you could easily count his vertebra. I would say he lost 5 pounds or so, a lot in a dog that has no spare "meat" on him anyway. Then I saw Molly. She lost at least 7 pounds, probably more. She looked like one of those dogs on Animal Cops where it's been starved. She normally is very thin anyway, even though they have unlimited food, but not like she was when she came home! Her ribs were sticking out even worse than King's were, and her "waist" was so small I could cup it in my hand, and my hands are average sized! The food bowl I use holds about 2 pounds, and they had it all gone about an hour after they came home. They went through a 20 pound bag of food in a couple of days, along with about 2/3rds of a 8 pound box of biscuits. Needless to say, they didn't do anything much but sleep and eat for the first week. As of Yesterday, they are on the THIRD 20 pound bag of food, and the third box of biscuits, and Molly is just beginning to look like herself. Since she eats about 3X what King eats, it's taking her a while to fill out again. King looks like he never went to "The Gulag" at all now, I figure another week or so, and Molly will be ok too.
I called a week or so after they came home, and they seemed shocked, and claimed they were fed Bil-Jac twice a day. I asked her (One of the managers) how the hell they could have not noticed their condition when they got a bath, let alone just looking at them. Her answer was "Well, they are older dogs.." She actually seemed to think I would be bringing them back again. Not a chance. I hate to think what they would have looked like if I had left them another two weeks. Next place I board them, wherever it is, I will bring my own food in, and tell them to just keep the bowl full. If they do it, that would keep it from happening again. I get upset just thinking about it.
They were in there for a little over a month. A friend of mine picked them up on Dec 22, and when they came in the house, I couldn't believe it! King looked pretty bad, his ribs were showing, and you could easily count his vertebra. I would say he lost 5 pounds or so, a lot in a dog that has no spare "meat" on him anyway. Then I saw Molly. She lost at least 7 pounds, probably more. She looked like one of those dogs on Animal Cops where it's been starved. She normally is very thin anyway, even though they have unlimited food, but not like she was when she came home! Her ribs were sticking out even worse than King's were, and her "waist" was so small I could cup it in my hand, and my hands are average sized! The food bowl I use holds about 2 pounds, and they had it all gone about an hour after they came home. They went through a 20 pound bag of food in a couple of days, along with about 2/3rds of a 8 pound box of biscuits. Needless to say, they didn't do anything much but sleep and eat for the first week. As of Yesterday, they are on the THIRD 20 pound bag of food, and the third box of biscuits, and Molly is just beginning to look like herself. Since she eats about 3X what King eats, it's taking her a while to fill out again. King looks like he never went to "The Gulag" at all now, I figure another week or so, and Molly will be ok too.
I called a week or so after they came home, and they seemed shocked, and claimed they were fed Bil-Jac twice a day. I asked her (One of the managers) how the hell they could have not noticed their condition when they got a bath, let alone just looking at them. Her answer was "Well, they are older dogs.." She actually seemed to think I would be bringing them back again. Not a chance. I hate to think what they would have looked like if I had left them another two weeks. Next place I board them, wherever it is, I will bring my own food in, and tell them to just keep the bowl full. If they do it, that would keep it from happening again. I get upset just thinking about it.