Boarding Kennels

Just a matter of interest. Who uses boarding kennels when you go on holiday?

Jules X

Me - usually go out of the country, so not poss to take the "kids" with me.

We will have to but not looking forward to it, there is a scheme where dogs can stay in home environments unfortunately it has no one in Kent who does it, so it looks like we have no choice but to use kennels, and this won't be for some time as Fern is still a baby.

Whereabouts in Kent are you Ingrid. I may be able to recommend a good boarding kennel

We used to use a boarding kennel, but after a bad experience, we now have a house sitter for the terriers and the gundogs go to a friend who has stables.

I have used them but I will do anything I can to avoid it. If I'm going away my mum always takes Meg and on the very rare occasions she can't then my brother will have her. The only time we've all been away at the same time was for a family wedding a couple of years ago and I put the dogs (I had two back then) in kennels and I hated it. I spent the whole weekend worrying about whether they were cold, or worrying that the kennel workers would make some drastic mistake like allow one of them near a dog that would try to fight, or let them off their leads etc. As it happened Meg did come back with kennel cough (but I suppose that could happen anywhere).

When I came to pick the dogs up they let Lucas run back to me without his lead all the way from his kennel (even though I kept asking to make sure they would never be off their leads while they were there) and I was petrified. He could easily have escaped through the open gate or got one of the several cats that was loose in the yard. It was just lucky he was so pleased to see me he didn't notice these distractions and I managed to grab him before he noticed the cat that was near me. But I wouldn't go back there again and that little incident has made me paranoid about leaving them anywhere. I'd much prefer my babies to be with someone who understands their individual needs. It must be very confusing for dogs to be in kennels for any length of time without their owners and I will always do anything I can to avoid kennels in the future.

When I lived in Carlisle we used the same boarding kennels and never had a problem they were great and the dogs used to come out bouncing.

However, when we moved back to this area and Ozzy needed kennelled as we were going on holiday and there wasn't anyone else who could look after him, we booked him into a local kennels. It was one which other members of my family had used and had heard good reports about it.

Despite this on our return it was very clear that all wasn't well, Ozzy was listless and I thought too quiet (he is generally a bouncy idiot!) - it took only 15 mins to get home and when we got him out of the car and into the house his nose was streaming with thick mucus and he had a hacking cough. It was clear he was very ill - the next day we took him to the vets and he diagnosed severe kennel cough which because he hadn't had any treatment had turned to pneumonia, Ozzy had lost a stone in weight and refused all food and even water for a few days. He had very strong meds - the vet said it was the worst case of kennel cough he'd ever seen and there was no way the kennels couldn't have seen it. Not only had they made his condition worse through neglect and lost weight, he also came out hand-shy so they'd obviously hit him. Before going into kennels he was very well socialized and went to dog shows and never showed an ounce of aggression, however ever since being in there he became a fear-aggressor with other dogs. Basically those kennels ruined him.

To cut a long story short, I went to the bank and cancelled their kennel fee cheque and rang her to tell her exactly why I wasn't paying, she swore at me and call me everything, never once taking blame for neglecting him (I know kennel cough cannot be helped getting caught sometimes it wasn't the arguement I was making it was the fact that he'd been neglected and never given meds that led to his pneumonia and severe weight loss. The vet said it would have taken several days at least for him to have got that bad and it would have been blatently obvious he needed help ) - she sent two solicitors letters, but after me sending a three A4 page letter to her saying I would sue her and tell the local papers and stating which sections of the boarding kennel act she'd broken that she dropped the issue.

We now use another kennels altogether where the lady has Rotts of her own and she if fantastic, he bounces in on day one and back out again on the last day, always with a waggy tail for her. Joy to see, only wish I'd known her sooner

Moral of the tale? Well if you have to go to boarding kennels please, please make sure you do your research - I would hate to hear of any of your dogs going through what Ozzy did and to this very day the damage still affects him as he isn't good with dogs any longer and he used to be fab.

If you are in any doubt about whether to just take someones recommendation here is a very graphic reason why you shouldn't .... this is Ozzy when he came home that day (sorry gross I know, but I thought if it helps stop someone making the same mistake it is worth showing)

does anyone know of a good boarding kennel near Farnham Surrey. I will have to put my ickle Otis in them when i go on honeymoon in July. Am already dreading the prospect.

thanks
Jx

Oh no, poor Ozzy! He looks so miserable in the picture. I've never seen anything like that come out of a dog's nose before. That woman should have been paying your vet's bills, not trying to get money from you. How could she possibly not notice something like that?! She should be banned from running a kennels. It must be awful to have to imagine what your poor dog went through in there. I can't bear to think of them being mistreated away from home (or at home for that matter but you know what I mean!). They must think they're being punished for something.

I know if I ever need a kennels again I'll be doing some very serious research before choosing.

I work in Boarding Kennels, and will be using them for Teagan, and using the cattery for my cat when I go away in 2 weeks.
I obviously know hw they are run, and I know I have nothing to worry about.

The kennels I work at has lots of 'regulars', who keep coming back.
If people come often enough, the boss sometimes doesn't even charge them! lol
If people come back - they must think it's ok!

Before you choose a kennels, go and visit without a phonecall, and if they don't let you walk around - something must be wrong!
Ask them all the questions you can think of.

Of course, even if you do this, things can still go wrong - just the same as when you choose your hotel for your holiday - it's not always like it is in the brochure!