Introducing dogs to a day kennel.

Currently I take all my dogs to work with me. For the most part they spend their time in the large boot of my van. It's special adapted for this purpose. I cover all the windows with a reflective sheet and can wind down my back window fully so that it's similar to having a tailgate guard with the tailgate open. They also have access to water and toys. The car remains cooler than most of our buildings on site p whatever the weather as I am also fortunate enough to be able to park in full shade all day.

Anyway we are having staff kennels built where I work and I will soon have to put my boys in the kennel and run for the day. I personally prefer this as it means I don't need to keep checking them (even though I know they are ok at the moment I still get paranoid). My boys are happy in my van as they can see me going back and forth between tasks and generally be nosey. The reason I bring all of them to work is because I work 9 hours a day with no option of going home at lunch to let them out, I can't afford a dog walker and I have two that suffer from separation anxiety. When I originally took my SA boys on my situation was different however due to circumstances out of my control I've been left having to take 4 dogs to work everyday. My two SA boys are both perfectly happy in my truck but are originally from the rescue kennel environment. It's these two I am most concerned about as they are not happy being left anywhere other than my truck. Neither coped well in kennels which is why I took them on. I honestly believe that both would have been pts if I hadn't had them, Scooby would have bitten someone eventually and Bob would have gone mad through stress.

So as I'm sure you can understand I wish to do this right the first time. I will be putting their bedding in the inside part of the kennel and I can provide kongs to reduce the stress of me leaving them there as well as toys to keep them occupied. They will be kennelled together as well as being next to the other staff dogs whom they regularly socialise with. I have tried dap with both of them but it didn't work and Scooby has had great success when in a thundershirt, however I primarily use this during storms and fireworks and do not want him to have to wear it all day as they can become habituated to it. Unfortunately due to the fact it is a very sudden decision to build staff kennels based around the don't cook your dog campaign if we get a sunny day very quickly after the build is complete I will have to place all my boys straight in the kennels rather than doing a gradual build up. I am not at all worried about Binky and Bandit as they will happily be left anywhere but I am concerned Scooby and Bob will just feed off of one another's fears. I cannot do any separation work at home as I have very unforgiving neighbours. I can leave them in different rooms in my house no problems and they are happy to be left behind with family but this is not an option during the day.

I'm sorry this is an essay but I wanted to give all the information (forgive me if I have missed a bit). Basically I was wondering if anyone could give me any tips/pointers that may help or they found helped with their own dogs?

Thank you in advance

P.S I walk them during break time and lunch times and they get to spend some time in the staff room at lunch as well.

The short answer is, to make the kennel as much like your van cages as possible in terms of environment, enrichment etc.

Will the kennels have open sides roofs or closed?

Open side and fully roofed it's these ones (hope I'm allowed to post this, I apologise if not)

http://www.ultrakennels.co.uk/the-el...t-d-p-250.html

The thing is they seem to understand that in the van I can't leave them behind as it's my means of transport but kennels are a whole different ball game I'm hoping they'll get the hang of the fact I come back to get them each day obviously with as little excitement as possible but I whether they will actually understand this or just go back in to kennel dog mode.

I cannot open the link, well let me put it another way, what were teh kennels they came from like?

Were they open or closed and what are the ones in the van like, open or closed.

Also are all 4 dogs in separate cages now or mixed and what will be the arrangement in the kennels will they be bundled in together or 2 and 2?

You are quite correct that dogs which suffer SA when left at home can often be perfectly ok when in the car etc.

Will they eat if you are not there or are they too aroused and stressed to do so, and what do they actually DO in your absence, are they just noisy or do they do other stuff?

If they will eat, is it a problem to leave food with your 4 dogs together (it would mine).

Have you explored Zyklene or Calmex?

Stupid link!

Anyway the kennels they came from we're lovely, the insides were set up like living rooms, they had large covered outside runs and could see out easily. The kennels they are going in to now are more basic just your typical indoor shed type area with an open put sheltered outside run. A the moment the are all in together and can see out at the world.

They will all be in together in the kennel as there will be enough space. Leaving food with them isn't a problem, I've been quite lucky with them in that respect.

I've never tried zylkene with them but I have heard positive things about it.

When I leave them Scooby will eat but Bob won't. They both howl the place down, Bob tries so hard to dig through the back door he will injure his paws in the process but still keep going. Scooby will shred anything he can get his mouth around sofas, blankets, dog beds...

Will you still be able to do what you do now ie pass by whilst you are doing other jobs or can you engineer it?

Sadly not, the kennels will be round the back where the foot fall is less. I could do my best to go past as often as possible but because I need to be able to catch visitors the majority of my time is spent round the front of the main buildings.

Hmmmm, well I think as your options are limited, you may need to consider discussing with your vet the use of zyklene, exercise before kennelling, and leaving food in kongs etc, but if I were you I would start this BEFORE you have to kennel if you can so the contrast is not so great.

I would then try to zip round on the hour hopefully to PREVENT the behaviours described.

What will you do if the dogs DO object strenously?

You need to have a contingency plan.........

Thanks I'll speak to the vet next week and get the zylkene sorted so I can start it in advance. Luckily they all love kongs and things and I hope these will work. They get walked before and after work anyway as well as break times and lunch times. I try to give them as much variety as possible.

If it doesn't work I will have to arrange with my manager that I park my vehicle somewhere completely out of sight of the public and leave the 2 SA boys in it. I don't think she'll have a problem with that as she understands the work I've put in to my boys. The only thing for me in that case though is I can't keep as close an eye and I worry about leaving them in the car even with all the adjustments I've made.

I'm supposed to be moving to onside accommodation in the near future. If it doesn't work in the kennels I could try them in the back garden with access to the utilities once they are settled but that's dependent on my manager getting her backside into gear and moving out

Fingers crossed. As someone who takes her dogs everywhere I fully understand the issues re public and dogs in cars.

It can be very stressful.