Kennels and their treatment of your dog, do you REALLY know?
Discussion
Recently had to return to the UK for a friends wedding so put the dogs into kennels for a few days.
Spent weeks researching various within the area to ensure the dogs would have a nice place to stay as this was the first time they had ever been left.
Went to view a lovely place, their own kennel with small a garden each, lovely farm setting, dogs would be walked / played with, provide whatever food you wanted, etc.
Decided on this location, arrived, leaving the dogs, their bed / toys etc and the specifics of their dietary requirement (agreed on the initial visit).
Now we live in Germany and our German is not the best, so we specifically checked and rechecked (and confirmed in German and English) that all the requirements we had asked for / specified were noted and would be regarded ... Now I know this sounds pedantic, but our Blue Frenchie (I assume as a result of his breeding) can be quite sensitive to changes in food and seems to be allergic to certain types of grain which causes him to be come ill.
So we left on the Friday and returned on the Monday, no problems no calls from the kennel ...
Upon picking up the Dogs;
Dog 1;
Looked thin, like he had not been eating
3 cuts on his head, questioned and told to be as a result of 'playing' with our other dog. (Now, nothing like this had happened before). Upon further inspection, the 3 points resembled a dogs bite mark (front two and 1 bottom).
Dog 2;
Fat! I assume he had been eating dogs 1 food .... or they had been over feeding them.
Now, I gave the kennel the benefit of the doubt as I just wanted to leave and get home and obviously had no evidence to suggest anything contrary to what they had told me.
Driving home the Dog1 was sick, solid dry biscuits, now this was a direct contradiction to what we had specifically told them to feed the dogs, wet food only (chicken and rice), which on multiple occasions they told us this is no problem, OK, yes we can support, we cook the dogs specifically what you ask for etc. (confirmed in English and German).
We returned home and he was struggling to eat and to drink, so we decided to keep an eye on him, feed him small amounts of plan chicken / water / ice cube to try and keep his hydration up (Bulldogs overheat / dehydrate relatively quickly).
The next morning he started passing blood, and vomiting anything at all we fed him, even water, obviously at this point we took him to the vets who performed umber of tests but couldn't find anything wrong, he was given a anti-vomit injection and told to watch him / return in 24 hours ....
Anyway his condition continued to deteriorate appx 12 hours later (I assume after the injection wore off), he was literally s***ing blood and blood only ...
Rushed back to the vests for additional testing and X-Rays etc, as a result of the Kennel not following our instruction he had suffered a reaction to the food and his lower stomach had become massively inflamed and swollen and he was passing the lining (my German / English translation, at least this is what I understood!) ... It didn't look very good at all, so the vet prescribed a number of anti-inflammatory, anti-vomit and anti-biotic.
We took the day off to spend with Gizmo (just in case), but thankfully his situation started to improve and he eventually made a full recovery (although now he has something wrong with his paw ...)
The point of this post is the fact that surely a Kennel, should know that a fundamental rule is you never change a dogs food suddenly, you should always ask the owner of any allergies (!) before taking such a decision!!!
Anyway the whole saga cost us around 1,000 and we decided to go and see a lawyer about the Kennels actions being the cause of the dogs illness.
Long story short, we now have a no-contact order, threatened with further Legal action if we leave any review (we said we would leave bad reviews) and the saga continues.
The Kennel accused us of lying, injuring our own dog (we have our normal vet confirm the dogs health on the day of being dropped off at the kennel, due to having their boosters), inventing the story with respect to the vets (even after lists of treatments were provided), saying we did not tell them what to feed them (even though it was in the checking in sheet, which they conveniently lost) and to top it off the bag with their bed / blankets / toys / food bowls in hadn't even been opened ....
So long story short, be careful with whom and where you leave your dogs!
(Bearing in mind, the three days in Kennels cost around 300 euro), which the Kennel offered to refund originally ...
Has anyone else had an bad experiences? I now this will be the minority, but I was really shocked at the treatment and attitude towards caring for the dogs, I assumed people in this business would also have a care about the animals they looked after .... Or is everything really only about money these days!
What an essay ....
Spent weeks researching various within the area to ensure the dogs would have a nice place to stay as this was the first time they had ever been left.
Went to view a lovely place, their own kennel with small a garden each, lovely farm setting, dogs would be walked / played with, provide whatever food you wanted, etc.
Decided on this location, arrived, leaving the dogs, their bed / toys etc and the specifics of their dietary requirement (agreed on the initial visit).
Now we live in Germany and our German is not the best, so we specifically checked and rechecked (and confirmed in German and English) that all the requirements we had asked for / specified were noted and would be regarded ... Now I know this sounds pedantic, but our Blue Frenchie (I assume as a result of his breeding) can be quite sensitive to changes in food and seems to be allergic to certain types of grain which causes him to be come ill.
So we left on the Friday and returned on the Monday, no problems no calls from the kennel ...
Upon picking up the Dogs;
Dog 1;
Looked thin, like he had not been eating
3 cuts on his head, questioned and told to be as a result of 'playing' with our other dog. (Now, nothing like this had happened before). Upon further inspection, the 3 points resembled a dogs bite mark (front two and 1 bottom).
Dog 2;
Fat! I assume he had been eating dogs 1 food .... or they had been over feeding them.
Now, I gave the kennel the benefit of the doubt as I just wanted to leave and get home and obviously had no evidence to suggest anything contrary to what they had told me.
Driving home the Dog1 was sick, solid dry biscuits, now this was a direct contradiction to what we had specifically told them to feed the dogs, wet food only (chicken and rice), which on multiple occasions they told us this is no problem, OK, yes we can support, we cook the dogs specifically what you ask for etc. (confirmed in English and German).
We returned home and he was struggling to eat and to drink, so we decided to keep an eye on him, feed him small amounts of plan chicken / water / ice cube to try and keep his hydration up (Bulldogs overheat / dehydrate relatively quickly).
The next morning he started passing blood, and vomiting anything at all we fed him, even water, obviously at this point we took him to the vets who performed umber of tests but couldn't find anything wrong, he was given a anti-vomit injection and told to watch him / return in 24 hours ....
Anyway his condition continued to deteriorate appx 12 hours later (I assume after the injection wore off), he was literally s***ing blood and blood only ...
Rushed back to the vests for additional testing and X-Rays etc, as a result of the Kennel not following our instruction he had suffered a reaction to the food and his lower stomach had become massively inflamed and swollen and he was passing the lining (my German / English translation, at least this is what I understood!) ... It didn't look very good at all, so the vet prescribed a number of anti-inflammatory, anti-vomit and anti-biotic.
We took the day off to spend with Gizmo (just in case), but thankfully his situation started to improve and he eventually made a full recovery (although now he has something wrong with his paw ...)
The point of this post is the fact that surely a Kennel, should know that a fundamental rule is you never change a dogs food suddenly, you should always ask the owner of any allergies (!) before taking such a decision!!!
Anyway the whole saga cost us around 1,000 and we decided to go and see a lawyer about the Kennels actions being the cause of the dogs illness.
Long story short, we now have a no-contact order, threatened with further Legal action if we leave any review (we said we would leave bad reviews) and the saga continues.
The Kennel accused us of lying, injuring our own dog (we have our normal vet confirm the dogs health on the day of being dropped off at the kennel, due to having their boosters), inventing the story with respect to the vets (even after lists of treatments were provided), saying we did not tell them what to feed them (even though it was in the checking in sheet, which they conveniently lost) and to top it off the bag with their bed / blankets / toys / food bowls in hadn't even been opened ....
So long story short, be careful with whom and where you leave your dogs!
(Bearing in mind, the three days in Kennels cost around 300 euro), which the Kennel offered to refund originally ...
Has anyone else had an bad experiences? I now this will be the minority, but I was really shocked at the treatment and attitude towards caring for the dogs, I assumed people in this business would also have a care about the animals they looked after .... Or is everything really only about money these days!
What an essay ....
Wow, what a nightmare! Your poor dog 
It is a long time since any of my dogs were put in kennels but no, I didn't have any negative experiences, fortunately. It's a job to see what more you could have done.
As you say, you would hope that people running kennels would be a bit more dog-savvy. OH and I thought about doing this at one stage but one of the things that put me off was the sense of responsibility for people's pets - I'm bad enough about my own!
I hope your dog continues to recover and doesn't have any lasting problems. I'd be pursuing it legally too, in your position.
It is a long time since any of my dogs were put in kennels but no, I didn't have any negative experiences, fortunately. It's a job to see what more you could have done.
As you say, you would hope that people running kennels would be a bit more dog-savvy. OH and I thought about doing this at one stage but one of the things that put me off was the sense of responsibility for people's pets - I'm bad enough about my own!
I hope your dog continues to recover and doesn't have any lasting problems. I'd be pursuing it legally too, in your position.
Absolutely appalling for your poor dog.
Very intrigued which area of Germany you are in. My fiancée is Bavarian and I'm routinely staggered at how insanely aggressive companies there are when they are at fault.
It seems that they all keep the lawyers on speed dial and make no attempt ever, to reconcile with the customer, preferring to lose in court than admit a mistake.
I would add that this seems to be a symptom of the 'rank and file', where some bossy old sow on the front desk utterly refuses to acknowledge any error and a swift phone call to the business owner can often rectify things but I've had experiences where I've gone over someone's head and the boss has made them issue a refund or whatever and they have done so silently, refusing to acknowledge me, because they are in such a huff at being overruled.
Insane quirk of nature but weirdly common there.
Very intrigued which area of Germany you are in. My fiancée is Bavarian and I'm routinely staggered at how insanely aggressive companies there are when they are at fault.
It seems that they all keep the lawyers on speed dial and make no attempt ever, to reconcile with the customer, preferring to lose in court than admit a mistake.
I would add that this seems to be a symptom of the 'rank and file', where some bossy old sow on the front desk utterly refuses to acknowledge any error and a swift phone call to the business owner can often rectify things but I've had experiences where I've gone over someone's head and the boss has made them issue a refund or whatever and they have done so silently, refusing to acknowledge me, because they are in such a huff at being overruled.
Insane quirk of nature but weirdly common there.
Our German Shepherd went to kennels 3 times.
Twice when she was young, then we swore "never again", but unfortunately had no choice one more time when she was old.
1) Called to check up on her. "Everything's great, she's having a lovely time, eating well"... We found that really strange because she was a difficult/anxious dog at the best of times.
Sure enough, when we picked her up she was skeletal and stressed out.
2) Different kennel, run by an experienced vet (who we later found out would often turn up to his practice drunk and botched a few surgeries). Called to check up on her. "Everything's great, she's having a lovely time, eating well"... VERY suspicious, but what could we do...
Picked her up, once again skeletal. Drove home - then noticed the boot was covered in blood.
They had trimmed her claws, but god knows what they used - every single one of her pads was deeply sliced in quite large areas, with very clean/sharp edges to the cuts.
3) When she was old, about 12, we had to leave her for a week. We found a vet practice that runs a kennel, but also takes sick dogs in their recovery ward - constant supervision. Very expensive but we thought it would be worth it. We told them she will not want to eat or drink, and they need to watch her carefully - they said they understood.
As usual - called to check up. As usual "Everything's great, she's having a lovely time, eating well". We knew this was total BS, told them we'd like an honest answer, they repeated the same... Once again, nothing we could do.
Got back at the end of the week, she hadn't eaten anything, hadn't drunk enough, had an ulcer, was vomiting and peeing blood...
The trouble is (in Scotland at least) I haven't found a single "luxury" kennel. Some say they are luxury, but they're not. I'm willing to pay for it, but apparently not enough other people are.
I want my dogs to have a fully personalised experience. The kennel should follow my routine, not their own. I want 24/7 web access to CCTV of each kennel and each public area. I want a text message/email twice per day to give me an honest report of what my dogs are up to. 1 member of staff should look after 5 dogs, not 50.
I've seen kennels in other countries that do all of that and a huge amount more. I don't feel it's asking too much.
Twice when she was young, then we swore "never again", but unfortunately had no choice one more time when she was old.
1) Called to check up on her. "Everything's great, she's having a lovely time, eating well"... We found that really strange because she was a difficult/anxious dog at the best of times.
Sure enough, when we picked her up she was skeletal and stressed out.
2) Different kennel, run by an experienced vet (who we later found out would often turn up to his practice drunk and botched a few surgeries). Called to check up on her. "Everything's great, she's having a lovely time, eating well"... VERY suspicious, but what could we do...
Picked her up, once again skeletal. Drove home - then noticed the boot was covered in blood.
They had trimmed her claws, but god knows what they used - every single one of her pads was deeply sliced in quite large areas, with very clean/sharp edges to the cuts.
3) When she was old, about 12, we had to leave her for a week. We found a vet practice that runs a kennel, but also takes sick dogs in their recovery ward - constant supervision. Very expensive but we thought it would be worth it. We told them she will not want to eat or drink, and they need to watch her carefully - they said they understood.
As usual - called to check up. As usual "Everything's great, she's having a lovely time, eating well". We knew this was total BS, told them we'd like an honest answer, they repeated the same... Once again, nothing we could do.
Got back at the end of the week, she hadn't eaten anything, hadn't drunk enough, had an ulcer, was vomiting and peeing blood...
The trouble is (in Scotland at least) I haven't found a single "luxury" kennel. Some say they are luxury, but they're not. I'm willing to pay for it, but apparently not enough other people are.
I want my dogs to have a fully personalised experience. The kennel should follow my routine, not their own. I want 24/7 web access to CCTV of each kennel and each public area. I want a text message/email twice per day to give me an honest report of what my dogs are up to. 1 member of staff should look after 5 dogs, not 50.
I've seen kennels in other countries that do all of that and a huge amount more. I don't feel it's asking too much.
Edited by R E S T E C P on Tuesday 30th August 15:19
Surely you all have friends who like your dogs who would look after them for a short time period? EG a week or two weeks.
Stuff the Fridge full of food and leave them £200 for their inconvenience and most people would have mates who know their dogs fairly well and would look after them far better than any of these kennels?
I would want our dogs (or any dog I care about!) in Kennels. I appreciate this is not always possible with short notice or if you live in a random place or whatever but surely home-care with a trusted friend is much better?
Stuff the Fridge full of food and leave them £200 for their inconvenience and most people would have mates who know their dogs fairly well and would look after them far better than any of these kennels?
I would want our dogs (or any dog I care about!) in Kennels. I appreciate this is not always possible with short notice or if you live in a random place or whatever but surely home-care with a trusted friend is much better?
I am lucky that my parents have always had our dogs if we've needed, though may be seeking a sitter for October for overnight.
We never used a kennels for Jimmy it was just never needed but our family dog went into kennels a few times and we never had problems. Actually in one place the owner (who I knew) brought her out and as he left she went pulling after him, jumping up him wagging her tail, not bad for a dog that was wary of men!(though once she knew someone she was friends for life)
What an awful experience for your poor dog and you. I hope a full recovery is made and you get the kennels to pay.
I do remember one kennel local to where I used to live had a great reputation, lovely dedicated owners and team. They sold up due to ill health, got taken over by an obnoxious t
t who would feed the dogs his own chicken based preparation, dogs kept coming in to us with dodgy tummies, we tried to advise him not to, he just shouted us down (which he did on several occasions because he knew best) his poor staff who he kept on from the other owners couldn't stand him and were forever apologising for his behaviour. It didn't take long for the kennels reputation to drop (we certainly never suggested the as we had previously!) like everything there's good and bad.
We never used a kennels for Jimmy it was just never needed but our family dog went into kennels a few times and we never had problems. Actually in one place the owner (who I knew) brought her out and as he left she went pulling after him, jumping up him wagging her tail, not bad for a dog that was wary of men!(though once she knew someone she was friends for life)
What an awful experience for your poor dog and you. I hope a full recovery is made and you get the kennels to pay.
I do remember one kennel local to where I used to live had a great reputation, lovely dedicated owners and team. They sold up due to ill health, got taken over by an obnoxious t
t who would feed the dogs his own chicken based preparation, dogs kept coming in to us with dodgy tummies, we tried to advise him not to, he just shouted us down (which he did on several occasions because he knew best) his poor staff who he kept on from the other owners couldn't stand him and were forever apologising for his behaviour. It didn't take long for the kennels reputation to drop (we certainly never suggested the as we had previously!) like everything there's good and bad.Disastrous said:
Absolutely appalling for your poor dog.
Very intrigued which area of Germany you are in. My fiancée is Bavarian and I'm routinely staggered at how insanely aggressive companies there are when they are at fault.
It seems that they all keep the lawyers on speed dial and make no attempt ever, to reconcile with the customer, preferring to lose in court than admit a mistake.
I would add that this seems to be a symptom of the 'rank and file', where some bossy old sow on the front desk utterly refuses to acknowledge any error and a swift phone call to the business owner can often rectify things but I've had experiences where I've gone over someone's head and the boss has made them issue a refund or whatever and they have done so silently, refusing to acknowledge me, because they are in such a huff at being overruled.
Insane quirk of nature but weirdly common there.
North West, rather than trying to resolve between us the lawyer was involved in less than 5 days.Very intrigued which area of Germany you are in. My fiancée is Bavarian and I'm routinely staggered at how insanely aggressive companies there are when they are at fault.
It seems that they all keep the lawyers on speed dial and make no attempt ever, to reconcile with the customer, preferring to lose in court than admit a mistake.
I would add that this seems to be a symptom of the 'rank and file', where some bossy old sow on the front desk utterly refuses to acknowledge any error and a swift phone call to the business owner can often rectify things but I've had experiences where I've gone over someone's head and the boss has made them issue a refund or whatever and they have done so silently, refusing to acknowledge me, because they are in such a huff at being overruled.
Insane quirk of nature but weirdly common there.
Seems to be the norm with the older Germans (50+), I find the younger ones much more pleasant and European to deal with.
xjay1337 said:
Surely you all have friends who like your dogs who would look after them for a short time period? EG a week or two weeks.
Stuff the Fridge full of food and leave them £200 for their inconvenience and most people would have mates who know their dogs fairly well and would look after them far better than any of these kennels?
I would want our dogs (or any dog I care about!) in Kennels. I appreciate this is not always possible with short notice or if you live in a random place or whatever but surely home-care with a trusted friend is much better?
We do not know that many people here, my boss is the only colleague with a dog (most are young / apartment / city living), he agreed to look after our two dogs for our summer holiday so I didn't want to push my luck and ask for the wedding, plus our dogs are, quite honestly, spoilt and his is an actual dog!Stuff the Fridge full of food and leave them £200 for their inconvenience and most people would have mates who know their dogs fairly well and would look after them far better than any of these kennels?
I would want our dogs (or any dog I care about!) in Kennels. I appreciate this is not always possible with short notice or if you live in a random place or whatever but surely home-care with a trusted friend is much better?
As R E S said earlier, I would happily pay whatever the cost for them to ensure they are safe, comfortable, well fed, walked and looked after, it is not exactly difficult; we hardly have two Great Danes, they spend 60% of the day napping!
it is never good when we are let down by any supplier of services or goods and when it affects an animal it is even worse. Personal recommendation is always great and using a friend or family ideal for looking after your pets. There are great kennels out there and plenty of bad. Many dogs don't mix well in kennels so even the best are not ideal. I run Barking Mad Ashford in Kent, I represent a franchised business with National coverage. We try to be the best home to home dog holiday business and have affiliated with Trustpilot to get feedback on our holidays and to give customer reassurance. Trustpilot is like Tripadvisor for businesses and we currently rank number 1 for pet services.I was delighted recently when I visited a regular customer because their Visla Rocky saw me and went straight for his dog bed which he dragged to me ready to go on his Barking Mad holiday. It told me he was happy to go to my hosts and that he was pleased to see me. I was not even there to collect him but to discuss his next trip. No business of our size is perfect and our business model will not be to everyones budget and needs but if you are considering a holiday for your dog take a look at us www.barkingmad.uk.com
I have had nightmares with kennels in the past, and even came back to a dead dog after 1 holiday.
Since then (20 years) my parents have had the dog/dogs, so all good.
However, they are now getting older so the problem arose again.
I looked at "house and pet sitter" companies, but they are not cheap-average £35-40 a night. That's a lot for a 15 day holiday.
Like a miracle, I found a company that has registered people, with police checks, animal care certs etc, that are looking for "holiday" homes for various lengths of times and are pet lovers. They all seem retired so far, but they profiles, loads of feedback from previous users, references available.
So I now post my holiday dates up and people apply to stay in my house and pet sit.
Just last week I put up a week at the start of December and 2 weeks over X Mas and New Year. Thought the X mas one would be tough, but 30 mins later and a very nice retired policeman and his wife who live in France replied, had a chat and now they are all booked! He has family local to me he visits over X mas and NY and prefers his own space, rather than fitting into a house with everyone else, or spending a fortune on a hotel.
Oh and by the way, this costs nothing!
Since then (20 years) my parents have had the dog/dogs, so all good.
However, they are now getting older so the problem arose again.
I looked at "house and pet sitter" companies, but they are not cheap-average £35-40 a night. That's a lot for a 15 day holiday.
Like a miracle, I found a company that has registered people, with police checks, animal care certs etc, that are looking for "holiday" homes for various lengths of times and are pet lovers. They all seem retired so far, but they profiles, loads of feedback from previous users, references available.
So I now post my holiday dates up and people apply to stay in my house and pet sit.
Just last week I put up a week at the start of December and 2 weeks over X Mas and New Year. Thought the X mas one would be tough, but 30 mins later and a very nice retired policeman and his wife who live in France replied, had a chat and now they are all booked! He has family local to me he visits over X mas and NY and prefers his own space, rather than fitting into a house with everyone else, or spending a fortune on a hotel.
Oh and by the way, this costs nothing!
xjay1337 said:
Surely you all have friends who like your dogs who would look after them for a short time period? EG a week or two weeks.
Stuff the Fridge full of food and leave them £200 for their inconvenience and most people would have mates who know their dogs fairly well and would look after them far better than any of these kennels?
I would want our dogs (or any dog I care about!) in Kennels. I appreciate this is not always possible with short notice or if you live in a random place or whatever but surely home-care with a trusted friend is much better?
I'm only 29, with my friends all of a similar age, so pretty much all work full time, I actually only have 1 friend that has a dog and his missus doesn't work, but they live the opposite end of the country.Stuff the Fridge full of food and leave them £200 for their inconvenience and most people would have mates who know their dogs fairly well and would look after them far better than any of these kennels?
I would want our dogs (or any dog I care about!) in Kennels. I appreciate this is not always possible with short notice or if you live in a random place or whatever but surely home-care with a trusted friend is much better?
However I wouldn't even like to ask my friends to take care of my dog(s), I wouldn't like to impose, and even short term keeping a barking mad super active collie entertained would be hard work for someone not used to it.
I decided when I took on a dog that I wouldn't Kennel them for me to go on holiday, partly because of the cost, partly because I'm over protective, partly because I got a dog as a companion to share my life with me. My holidays now revolve around camping (which I did anyway before I got a dog) or dog friendly cottages. I don't at all resent not going away to different continents.
Obviously there'll be times where I'll be going away and I can't take the dog, probably work related, so my girlfriend can do a bit more. Luckily both my parents and the missus' mother are dog lovers and have the facilities to cope with mine in case of any emergency.
my 2 are going into kennels soon for 4 days - off to a "boutique" pet hotel.
id love to have a house sitter but we have tried it once and Lou absolutely ruled my colleague when he stayed with her. she is a very stubborn dog and wont do anything she doesn't want to - and has no issue letting you know if she wants something. in the end he was walking her 5 times a day just to keep her happy.
my sister is in the veterinary industry and i wouldn't dream of sending my dogs somewhere that she didn't recommend. Lou has stayed there for 10 days previously (and didn't want to come home when i went to pick her up), Duncan is only just a year old so hasn't been to kennels before but he's a proper "people" dog so i dont think he'll have any problems.
its not cheap (i think its £300 for 4 days) but we have been there numerous times for drop in visits and done our due diligence and although im not keen on kennels as a whole, i have no problem sending them there - we also have webcams in their runs so we can keep an eye on them.
our biggest issue is that we need 2 runs - one for each dog as they have their own rooms at home and dont sleep together so the cost is increased by a lot.
there are loads of horror stories about kennels out there - my friend left his 2 fluffy white Cava-chons in a "kennels" that cost £15 per day for BOTH dogs and he came back after 3 days to find them both covered in poo, lost weight and with eye infections. i asked him why he let them stay there and he said it looked ok when they dropped them off. turns out they'd been kept in a garden shed with no walks through the day. i wouldn't dream of doing that to mine but lots of people do.
id love to have a house sitter but we have tried it once and Lou absolutely ruled my colleague when he stayed with her. she is a very stubborn dog and wont do anything she doesn't want to - and has no issue letting you know if she wants something. in the end he was walking her 5 times a day just to keep her happy.
my sister is in the veterinary industry and i wouldn't dream of sending my dogs somewhere that she didn't recommend. Lou has stayed there for 10 days previously (and didn't want to come home when i went to pick her up), Duncan is only just a year old so hasn't been to kennels before but he's a proper "people" dog so i dont think he'll have any problems.
its not cheap (i think its £300 for 4 days) but we have been there numerous times for drop in visits and done our due diligence and although im not keen on kennels as a whole, i have no problem sending them there - we also have webcams in their runs so we can keep an eye on them.
our biggest issue is that we need 2 runs - one for each dog as they have their own rooms at home and dont sleep together so the cost is increased by a lot.
there are loads of horror stories about kennels out there - my friend left his 2 fluffy white Cava-chons in a "kennels" that cost £15 per day for BOTH dogs and he came back after 3 days to find them both covered in poo, lost weight and with eye infections. i asked him why he let them stay there and he said it looked ok when they dropped them off. turns out they'd been kept in a garden shed with no walks through the day. i wouldn't dream of doing that to mine but lots of people do.
We used a great kennel just north of Newcastle for our Chow Chow, they are also an RSPCA rehoming site and look after all sorts or dogs, cats, horses, sheep, pigs, poultry etc...
Our Chow loved it there and was always super excited to arrive and had to be dragged to leave
If he hadn't contracted peritonitis and subsequently passed away a couple of months ago we'd still have him booked to go in a further 3times this year.
I'll be using them again when we get our new Chow
Our Chow loved it there and was always super excited to arrive and had to be dragged to leave
If he hadn't contracted peritonitis and subsequently passed away a couple of months ago we'd still have him booked to go in a further 3times this year.
I'll be using them again when we get our new Chow
I feel for you, many years ago 1 of my dogs suffered a stroke or something like due to her not being looked after properly, she was brought to us from the kennel and soon after showed the signs
The kennel owners didnt even mention there being a problem with her
I have and never will take animals to the kennels in the future, the majority of them are the scum of the earth
The kennel owners didnt even mention there being a problem with her
I have and never will take animals to the kennels in the future, the majority of them are the scum of the earth
small comment, but if you do use one of these per sitter companies, check the small print !
We were packed, ready to fly out the following morning and had dickens ready to go to the sitter (who we had done a test night with a cpl of weeks before). We got a call from the sitter management to say don't bring Dickens as your sitter has had bad news and can no longer have dog. I asked if there was a substitute, and told that their wasn't and that it clearly stated in the small print that had the right to cancel at any time.
As you can imagine, having to find a sitter at the 11th hour was a massive stress to us and the dog !
We were packed, ready to fly out the following morning and had dickens ready to go to the sitter (who we had done a test night with a cpl of weeks before). We got a call from the sitter management to say don't bring Dickens as your sitter has had bad news and can no longer have dog. I asked if there was a substitute, and told that their wasn't and that it clearly stated in the small print that had the right to cancel at any time.
As you can imagine, having to find a sitter at the 11th hour was a massive stress to us and the dog !
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