Hi everyone, My puppy will be four months when I will be boarding her at a place for dogs to stay overnight etc. It's in about three weeks time. I took along my puppy Pearl along for the visit. We looked through the glass at the dogs in there crates and the barking was quiet loud. I felt my puppy was a bit taken back...not badly but I knew she was a wee bit. Does anyone know if this will be bad for her socialisation to dogs....and make her scared? Her only main experiences has been four puppy preschool classes.. Should I let her visit with me when the dogs are outside for their playtime before I leave her there...
I should say her only interactions were a puppy preschool and through the fence at the neighbour's dog...
I wouldn't take a dog let alone a pup to a kennel where there is a lot of barking, it can be very stressful. Can you find a quiet one? Could you find some one who minds dogs in their own home, that would be better.
My dog does homeboarding if I go away and no family members can look after him. I think it depends on the individual dog - I know mine wouldn't cope in kennels at all. But he tolerates home boarding. Loves Doggy day care though. It's on a night when it's quiet that Stanley gets stressed which is why I know he wouldn't cope with kennels.
Four months feels very young to be boarding at a kennels... I don't have issues with kennels per se, I've used them myself in the past and know that there are some good ones. But I think at 4 months this is very young- this will possibly disturb your toilet training routine, and I would worry about exercise being appropriate for her age. I agree with other that if you can find a home boarding option, this would be a much better option at 4 months
We had to board Jess for a night when she was around that age, when we were going to a wedding. I felt really awful leaving her, and though the kennels was fine, it was still quite noisy and chaotic for such a small pup. She looked so tiny sitting there as we left her- I worried about her all day and eventually left the wedding early to break her out of jail. She was very pleased to see us! (So pleased that she bit a hole in my husband's suit and my dress, but it was worth it ) It didn't seem to cause any lasting issues for her but I agree with those suggesting that home boarding would be less stressful for a young puppy.
I don't use kennels as I know Harley would hate it. She goes to my dog walker who also does day care and boarding in the own house (husband & wife combo). I do know some dogs who are fine in kennels and haven't ever had an issue. I think you should go with your gut feeling.
When we had to go on a trip without the dogs the first time (Cooper was about 3 months) we hired a house sitter to stay at our house with the dogs. We were gone for 4 days and she spent the night and her time off work at our house. It wasn't perfect, but it worked out OK. We started boarding both dogs together when Cooper was about 7 months (one night) and then for a week when she was 9 months. It worked out fine, especially with both dogs in one run. The kennel we use has individual runs that are about 4' x 20 ft, and they take groups of dogs out twice a day to run loose on 70 acres with a pond. Only well behaved, socialized dogs get to go out and play. It is noisy and caters to gun dogs. The trainers looks like the Pied Piper when they take the dogs out to the field or bring them back. A whole pack of excited friendly dogs. Our dogs seem to be happy there but are always glad to see us when we pick them up. If we had to board Cooper at 3 months, I would have looked for a smaller quieter kennel. At 7 months she was a big confident pup, and I did not have any real worries about her. Also she was with her "Aunt" Tilly, so she did not feel abandoned.
4 months does seem very young to be leaving a pup in a kennels. All the kennels I've used wouldn't accept a pup until at least 6 months old. Personally I wouldn't want my puppy to be exercised or put out to play with a group of older dogs that I did not know and had not assessed for friendliness and appropriate play.
We had to board Coco for a couple of nights a month or so after we got him- we took him to the ManxSPCA, where he was from. It is a noisy kennel environment, but he knew the kennel staff. But one of the ladies said "He cried when you left him" - we did NOT need to know that I think, if we had to leave him again, we would use a home-stay environment - Our trainer boards dogs he knows, and my boss's wife does doggy home-stay on their farm. Spoiled for choice now. How long will you have to leave Pearl for?
Sometimes "needs musts" in this situation. If you have no one else you can trust and you absolutely have to leave your puppy somewhere then a kennel is at least safe. I know Lilly didn't like her stay at kennels and we knew the owners as it was somewhere my daughter used to work. We know she was unsettled as we sent her with a rawhide chew and she brought it back untouched. We also know she was perfectly safe ànd cared for. It's a difficult situation. In the long term she is unlikely to be damaged from the experience. Getting vernal recommendations from existing users of the kennels is really important though. Hope this works out for you.
If you can do this, then I would. I am boarding my 8 month old puppy next month for 2 nights and she will have 2 day visits before then. I am extremely anxious about it all but that's my problem. I have to trust and hope she will be ok. I was like it with our older dog when we used to board her when we went on holiday. I made the horrible mistake one time - I was asked if I wanted to see where she would be and I stupidly said yes. The barking was horrendous and she rarely barks. I couldn't stop thinking about her the whole time we were away - she was fine. I don't like boarding but I know she will be safe.
