I am very nervous about something. In Oct. we are leaving for 5 days and where we are staying no dogs are allowed. It really sucks because I really would love to take him but I just can't. It's a Business trip :( Anyway, we are looking for a boarding facility but I am just very hesitant. Has anyone had their dogs boarded before? I do not trust my neighbors enough to entrust them to my dog. And I do not really have anyone that can take him right now. I have found very nice boarder which we are going up to look at today(I will let you know what it is like in person) I am going to be looking for sanitaryness(is that a word?) as well as general happiness of the other dogs. Here is their website: http://www.jeannesdoggiedaycare.com/ It looks really nice and isn't too high priced, what do you think of this place and also, what else should I look for? I have never boarded a dog before.
Well, if it looks good, then we are going to put a deposit on one of the suites today. I hope Koda does okay, I am sooooo nervous about leaving him anywhere. He is my litlle, well not so little baby!
I know how you feel. I had to board Chason and you would think I was looking into Universities for my child. Do not feel bad. When I went to pick him up, he ran to me, gave me kisses, and then wanted to play with his friends again. So don't feel bad.
My co-owners take their dog to a nice place like that. Recently, there was an outbreak of kennel cough at the place. I might suggest intranasel KC vaccine 2 weeks before the dogs visit the facility. Also, I told them that the "supervised playtime" with other dogs seemed a virus and dog fight risk to me, and I told them they should opt out of that feature in the future. Such places are doing pretty good business now, and a good facility should be easy to find.
My advice based on experiance is first to make sure your dogs are up to date on shots at least two weeks before boarding, also make sure that wherever you board them has someone there at night. So many things can go wrong after hours and if no one is there how can they help the animal? Something really sad and depressing happened at our kennel last week, from now on Im gonna make sure people are there at night wherever I board.
There are some places that do just boarding and have people there overnight since thats all they do. I dont know of any by you but im sure you could do a serach for one, goodluck, i hate leaving my babies too! I cant imagine what it would be like when i have kids.
Syd has a real good point, remember that facility that the power died, the air conditioning went off, and all the animals perished this year? Good to have 24/7 watchers...
Im also gonna have to look into kennels (if my mum cant help out) when i go to south africa next year..im already geting myself upset about it. He is going to have to stay there for 2 weeks and im dreading the thought of it. Im really worried that they are not going to take proper care of him.
Harvey has a great personality but you have to understand him ..i guess they deal with all doggy personalitys so im thinking a couple of months before we go and we have chosen a kennel im gonna take him up there once a week just for a walk around and so that he is familiar with the people and surroundings also because im weary of people who i dont know looking after my dog~ i would like to know them better also..im very protective lol and want them to treat him nicely
I use a daycare. I take 4 of my dogs there during the day at least once a week just for playtime or if I'm going to be out all day doing errands. However, Hank (bulldog) will not be going there. He can't since he won't be neutered. I have left them at the daycare overnight before but there is 24 hour supervision there and the dogs stay in kennels at night from 9p.m. - 5 a.m. when daycare opens back up. I have never had any problems. If there is only a couple of dogs staying at night one of the daycare workers will call and check to see if its okay to take them home with her at night. Some I would say yes to and some I would not. I know one of the daycare workers there pretty well and I actually paid her extra to watch my dogs the week I was at my moms. I also have a pet sitter who will come and stay at my house for the night so that the dogs can stay comfortable in there own home. I guess I'll be using her more often in about 3 weeks when Hank comes home. YAAAAH!!! I personally like the idea of a pet sitter more myself. The dogs get to stay in their own home and they're not stressed out about the idea of being away from you and being uprooted from their home. My suggestion is this. Put down a deposit on the place if its nice and you think he'll be well taken care of. Than start doing your research on some pet sitters. Someone who you can trust well enough to take care of Koda and that will stay in your house to be with Koda. I even have her sleep in my room (even though I have 5 other bedrooms) that way the dogs can sleep in their own beds and they're not alone at night at in their beds when she's in a different room.
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Saving just one dog won't save the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog. -Richard C. Call
I agree with Kitty. The idea of having all those dogs running around and playing with each other is a HUGE risk!! What if one of them decided that they didn't like another one and they just started attacking each other?? Then they'd better be paying some vet bills and then some, for the heartache you'd have to deal with. Maybe you could just say that you don't want Koda playing with all the other doggies and you just want him in his own kennel run?? That's what the place I board at does. She doesn't even have a community run for everyone, all the doggies get their own little run and then she lets each of them out individually in the larger run. I really like the place that I board at. The only thing is that her kennels are really small and we had to put Mollie, Chopper, and Lexie in one kennel that was barely big enough for just Mollie and Chopper. Next time I'll have to have her keep Lexie in one kennel and Mollie and Chopper in another kennel, but keep them right next to each other.
Well, I absolutely LOVED the place, hubby is calling today to put the deposit down. All of the dogs have their own room with 24 hour animal planet playing. They all have super nice beds. The doors on the front are all made of plexiglass so they do not feel like they are in a cage. They have daycare where all the dogs can play together(two seperate areas, indoor and outdoor)The trick about the daycare is you do not have to do it. Your dog can stay boarded in his own kennel and go out and go potty periodically and never even get near the other dogs. All the dogs were REALLY happy, there was about 20 dogs there playing, there were alot of different breeds but my favorite there was 2 St. Bernards and a Blue Great Dane. They were so sweet. The place was SUPER clean and there is someone that stays there all night. The dogs are seperated into their own kennels at night though.(and throughout the day) They said that they have only had one dog fight and they said that they will just seperate the dogs into their own kennel and the owners of the "trouble maker" are charged for any damages. (You sign a contract stating that when you drop the dog off) You also get charged for any damage your dog does to the facility, i.e. destroying the beds, the t.v. etc. Not a big deal for us, Koda doesn't destroy things. You cannot bring your dog in at all without the dog first having all of its shots including bordatella. The boarding is only $20 a day and if we want him to play in the daycare area with the other dogs, it is only going to be $10 a day extra. I think we are going to go with every other day in the daycare. I think he is going to do fine.
Katz, does the daycare do a temperment test? The daycare I use, the dogs have to have 2 evaluations before they go. The first evaluation is to see if they're allowed in the daycare at all. The second evaluation is to find out which group of dogs your dog would fit best in. My daycare I use has on average about 5 groups. They are really careful about the personalities they put together.
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Saving just one dog won't save the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog. -Richard C. Call
