When you are considering a kennel or "dog hotel" for your dogs when you go out of town what do you look for?
Asked by
Darwin (
21867
)
September 30th, 2008
Our dogs really seem to like the place we use. Everything is open so you can see where our dogs will be staying and so the dogs have plenty of stimulation. Each run has a dog house in it, a large water bowl, a concrete floor, and a partial roof to provide shade. During weather extremes they get to go into the main house where they go into their own crates from home.
Whenever we turn to the right out of the neighborhood the dogs get very excited because they know that is the way to the kennel, so apparently they like it. Besides going left means we are going to the vet and I know the dogs don’t like that.
What do you feel a kennel should definitely have? What should a kennel NOT have? How do you judge the attitude of the staff? What do you look for that makes you feel it is a good place for the dogs to stay? What are red flag warnings that steer you away from a prospective kennel?
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2 Answers
The kennel we take our dogs to is concrete on the inside, but has a door connecting it to a grassy, fenced in area. It was a family run kennel, recently and might I add beautifully renovated. It was on the kennel owners property (which was like 5 acres) which I liked, knowing that my dogs were supervised almost 24/7. I really liked how they had webcams over all the separate kennels, which meant I could watch my dogs (and the staff for that matter) from anywhere I had internet access and the webcam password, which was given to me upon signing in my dogs.
1. I won’t leave my dog in a place that smells.
2. I look to see how staff interact with my dog on the inspection visit. Do they speak to the dog first? (Great sign—they are dog people.) Do they pet the dog or comment on his/her coat, eyes, something?
3. I like to leave my dogs in smaller places where they get more personal attention. If it is a larger place, do they have a web cam so I can check in while out of town?
4. After a test leaving of the dog, when I drive there again and I’m getting close how does my dog react? (When I take my dog to his place, he is standing up wagging his tail looking very eager as we get close.)
5. If the dogs are turned out to exercise together (Which I think is important—I don’t want my dog on concrete the whole time.) then I want a place that requires harnesses and does not allow nylon collars (to prevent injuries) and that monitors the dogs closely.
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