hello I'm visiting a well recommended kennel tomorrow in preparation for our summer holiday in August when I will need Hugo to be kennelled for 1 week ( he will be 8 months). Any tips/questions to ask etc? X
I'd ask about excessive/walks, probably on your list anyway Vetenary care if it should be required. Write a list of questions and take it with you too.
Check what vaccinations they expect Do they provide food If you supply chews/toys will the dogs be supervised while they have them How are the dogs exercised Do you need to provide beds or can you if you/they think it will help settle Hugo It may be worth considering having Hugo stay a single night while you're at home so if there are any problems you're easily contacted. Then he'll be more familiar with the kennels when you drop him off for a week.
I guess you've considered dog sitters? We have a sitter in Chepstow who will take dogs in as a family pet. We've used her for Holly and our previous dog, Cocoa. We prefer sitters to kennels as the atmosphere is more relaxed and dogs get one-to-one attention. The price is about the same.
I looked into sitters for Juno for our holiday in June/July but it was half as much again and I would still have to organise the cats else where. Now have a cattery/kennels for all of them and really pleased with the care so far.
I would also check the all dogs are kennelled individually unless requested otherwise . Many moon ago , I left my Springer Spaniel in trusted kennels , only to discover that he had been put in with another dog due to overcrowding , he had a nasty bite on him which gave the game away .
@kateincornwall That is truly awful. The thought that my dog wouldn't be kenneled separately would never cross my mind. Just as well I've had a good look into the kennels/cattery for my lot although the cats share anyway. I'm not sure they would cope separated as they have never spent more than a couple of hours apart. @Hollysdad I was surprised at the cost myself taking that there are no wages to pay out or overheads for buildings/water/electric etc. They wouldn't even have to provide her food as I do that as standard anyway.
vaccinations where he/she will be sleeping , personally i wouldnt kennel mine ours go to a dog daycare type of thing where they live in the persons house so they get walked 3/4 times a day and they send pictures of them to me it is reassuring first time i left tilly for 2 week i cried it is difficult but with texts/pics from them it was brilliant and kept me sane lol
A tip from one of our trainers, she says to avoid kennels which completely enclose the dog in his own room where he cannot see any other dogs, or people approaching, only hear. She says it's like putting them into solitary confinement. That's exactly what the kennel we used for two dogs was like. It kills me we used that kennel, our Vet at the time had recommended it. Of course the opposite is true too, kennels where there is only wire and the dogs can bite at each other through it, harass and intimidate aren't good either. We now use one that has half walls on the sides and full wire mesh fronts.
Before we kenneled Tilly and Cooper for a week, we kenneled them for a weekend, just so we knew they would be OK with it, and maybe knew we were coming back. We had used this kennel for our previous Lab, Ginger, but Tilly had never been boarded, since we had a neighbor that took care of her when we were gone (and visa versa) We have an unusual kennel that we really like. They cater to gun dogs and have 150 fenced acres with a large pond. The dogs have their own runs that are about 5'x20'. Concrete floors with chain link fence between runs and a doghouse kind of structure at one end, which is actually inside of the building. We put both dogs in one run, which works better for the dogs and slightly reduces the cost. The thing we like about the kennel is that twice a day they take all dogs out together to run and swim. As long as the dogs are well behaved, get along and will come back, they get to go play. Otherwise they get minimal exercise out of the run. Since most of the dogs are gun dogs, they tend to get along fine and are pretty well behaved. when we see the dog wrangler come back to the kennel with a whole herd of Labs and Goldens, it looks like the dogs are having a good time. Our dogs have always been in good shape, but properly tired when we picked them up. Maybe a little wet and muddy, but that's typical Oregon and Labrador Retrievers anyway. Most kennels in the US don't let the dogs play together like this, but most dogie day cares do. I'm sure our dogs prefer going to "Dogie Camp" rather than sitting around in a small run all day. This kennel also boards and trains gun dogs. I would let them train Cooper, except that they want the dog for 2 months, and I don't want to give her up that long.
