When I acquired my beloved Toby, we weren’t traveling a lot anyway.
We had two boys who the “Nanny State” told us we had to “feed, house and clothe”. We had a house to pay for and jobs that inexplicably and cruelly required us to be present at the office five days out of seven during the week and forty-nine out of fifty-two weeks in the year. After the bills were paid there wasn’t much disposable income left for that dream vacation to Maui.
The first time we had to go somewhere we couldn’t take the dog, my actions were right on track with my ‘do everything wrong’ approach to managing life with our new puppy. I had a vague recollection of hearing about something called “kennels”. So I picked up the Yellow Pages (pre-internet my friends), called the closest kennel to where we lived and made a booking. I hung up the phone, congratulated myself on having efficiently taken care of the problem and didn’t give it another thought.
Until, that is, I took my puppy to the place I had booked and was welcomed into a dark, dank, smelly dungeon.
I’m sure it couldn’t have been as bad as I remember it, but I’m telling you, the place cried out for a hunchbacked attendant holding a lantern, and inviting me in a foreign accent to ‘walk this way’.
Rows of cages under a low ceiling contained lots of barking, miserable dogs. Toby came home stinky and sick with kennel cough.
Hey, Auntie wasn’t born Awesome. It’s a process of becoming.
Yes, I learned from that experience. But the lesson I got – next time, check out the kennel before I booked a spot for Toby – didn’t really solve my problem, because I quickly realized there weren’t that many acceptable alternatives. None of the other kennels in our area were a whole lot better, and we tried them all.
One was owned by veterinarians, so I thought that must be good. When I picked Toby up I literally reeled back a step from the stink of him. When I asked what he had gotten into, the only answer I got was a defensive statement that they had bathed him.
They must have used eau de skunk shampoo. Perhaps they got a whole tanker full because no one else would buy it.
The next lesson I learned was to not judge solely by outward appearances.
After trying every kennel in the area, we finally found a place run by an old guy about an hour south of where we lived. He had put up some partitions in a small barn, forming dog runs with outdoor access through a dog door. A wood burning stove provided heat. But, his space was airy and smell free but more importantly he was the only person offering dog boarding at that time who even took the dogs for a short walk a couple of times a day. In addition, we had three dogs then, and his was also the only facility that offered spaces larger than a 4 x 4 foot cage.
Our guide dog foster puppy, Shoe, had returned to school for his higher education. We had adopted another dog, Annie, pretty much by accident.
She was about to be returned to the Shelter by the family across the street from us. Annie was a total whack job. She had almost no chance of being adopted. Everything and everyone in the world was a threat to Annie. If you moved a piece of furniture in a room, she wouldn’t go into it for a week. She barked at everyone in the family except the one person she decided to trust – in our case, me. She lived with us for eight years and was still uncertain about The General.
I could only get a photo of her with The General if she was held firmly by him, and if Mac was nearby. Mac was her security blanket.
Finding a place where at least two of our dogs could comfortably be in the same space was important enough that we were willing to make the two hour round trip.
We weren’t crazy about doing it though, so after a number of years of making the trek, I asked our vet if he knew of any good kennels that had opened up closer to home since last I checked.
He expressed great enthusiasm for a new kennel that was only about twenty minutes away. He told me it was beautiful and the latest thing in kennels. He was short on specifics, but since I had his endorsement, I called and made a booking there.
My vet was right – it was beautiful. A beautiful flower bed and manicured lawn graced the small yard on the exterior. Inside, the reception area had large windows and new furniture. Gleaming tile covered the floors and walls in the kennel area.
And that’s where my cautious optimism ended.
I don’t know exactly what I expected, but it wasn’t a huge warehouse like space filled with row upon row of cages and a noise level that would have made a Rolling Stones concert feel like being in the hush of a cathedral.
I was shown a cage and asked if I wanted my three dogs to stay together. Since the space was, at best, 4 x 6 feet, I frankly felt there was barely enough space for one of my big dogs, let alone two.
Still, our trusted vet seemed to think this was how it should be, and they did offer walks, although you had to pay extra for them. We decided to give it a try. We booked two cages. Mac would just have to suffer being crowded in with Annie. We paid for two walks per day for three dogs, which was a pretty substantial sum.
On our return, we were invited to go back and collect our dogs. As soon as the cage door opened, Toby pushed out and ran hard for the front door. Mac and Annie were huddled together in the very back corner of their cage. They didn’t seem to even recognize that we were there, which was unheard of for Mac. He never wanted to leave our sides.
I think he was more or less catatonic form the noise.
I found out much later that the ‘walk’ we had paid for, consisted of turning the dogs out to interact together in a sort of gravelled alley that had been fenced off beside the kennel building. That would have been fine for Toby who loved other dogs, and even Mac, who was okay with other dogs. But Annie would have simply found a corner and hidden there until it was time go back inside. We wanted her to be put on a lead and walked because that was the only way she would get any exercise or get a chance to do anything other than cower in her cage.
Boarding kennels have improved in the thirty or so years since those debacles, but honestly? There are still some that are frankly, terrible. I wouldn’t leave a dog there. Literally. The American Boarding Kennel Association used to tell its members that they could not make any money with less than capacity for 150 dogs. A ‘large’ kennel was defined as 500 dogs and up.
A lot of kennels follow that business model, and make their money on volume rather than tender loving care. The owners of such large kennels may never go near them, preferring instead to hire staff who may or may not know what they are doing.
This is not to say there are no good large kennels. Some are better than others and some dogs may do just fine there. But my advice is to be very careful in checking them out, and avoid them if there is a reasonable alternative.
Fortunately, in the last few decades, different models of kennels have come to town, which cater to different types of dog personalities.
Having run a pet resort for 16 years, I can tell you from personal experience that there are a lot of dogs who absolutely loved coming to us, pulled their owners in the door and hid when it was time to go home.
Boutique Kennels: There has been an uptick in luxury pet hotels in the last decade or so. They are catering to a niche market; namely people who will pay higher prices for more hands-on care for their pets.
These resorts will generally have more limited numbers of spaces available because the spaces for the individual dogs or cats will be larger, and there will be floor space devote to communal play areas or other amenities. You will likely have to book months in advance, especially for peak periods, if you are lucky enough to have one in your area.
These types of pet hotels offer more upscale amenities; maybe a pool for the dogs to swim in, or outdoor cat space.
Some of the really expensive boutiques may even offer the opportunity for you to pay more to have some staff member sleep in the same rooms as your dog or cat.
At our place, I made dog biscuits by hand, and we had a sort of tuck-in service at night, where we spent time with each dog in his or her room. We took photos of the dogs and cats and The General spent hours each evening sending out emails to each owner with photos attached. That was in addition to the two walks and three playtimes we gave all our dogs, all included in the price.
Some cater to cats only. There were two such near us, both quite nice. One was in the country and had well-secured wrap-around screened in porches that the cats could access from their individual spaces to go and watch the birds at the feeders hung in the surrounding woods. The common area boasted a pot-bellied stove. The cattery we currently use has larger rooms instead of cages, making it easy for families of cats to board together.
Still, check out the facility and services. Just because “resort” or “hotel” is in the name, doesn’t guarantee an upscale experience.
“Cage Free Boarding”: A relatively new trend in dog kennelling, “cage free” boarding may mean different things, and the differences can be critical. The cattery we currently use is cage free. The spaces where the cats live individually are all about the size of a laundry room.
That’s The General picking up our cats after their last stay at The Pussy Cat Hotel.
They are allowed out to mingle with the other cats, provided they behave.
But they also have their own room to retreat to when they decide they’ve had enough.
In other places, ‘cage free’ really just boils down to all of the dogs (or cats) being thrown together in a single large area, 24/7.
I have serious reservations about this. You will undoubtedly be told that all dogs are given a temperament test to weed out the aggressive ones, which sounds good. But a dog doesn’t have to be aggressive to be a pest to other dogs. Some are chronic humpers, for example. Some dogs who were generally good natured, became aggressive with certain other individual dogs or with a certain breed. Maybe that dog had been attacked in the past by a dog of that breed and is now aggressive around them. Sometimes, there was no discernible reason.
Some dogs, although not aggressive, are very rough players, or simply obsess over certain other dogs.
The big dog in that photo is our own. Caesar was a rescue, a cross between a Great Dane and Rottweiler who was an absolute gift to us when we had the pet resort. He had the patience of a saint. All the dogs (and cats) loved Caesar, but Teddy, the Airedale in the photo, absolutely adored him and wouldn’t leave him alone.
Although he’s showing Teddy his teeth in that photo in an effort to get her to back off, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. But how would this behaviour have been viewed if she was at a dog camp where all the dogs were together, and she developed an obsession with one of the dogs there? She wasn’t aggressive in the least,; just determined. Other, gentler dogs could find that very intimidating and even scary. How is that handled? How are they supervised at night, if the dogs are all left to sleep together?
There is the risk of your dog being sent home because he was deemed to be aggressive with another dog. We had dogs come to us after being ejected from a local ‘dog camp’ for that reason. The dogs who had been sent home from ‘camp’ weren’t aggressive. They just didn’t like being harassed by over-enthusiastic ‘play pals’ who wouldn’t back off after a warning growl had been issued.
We had no problem with these dogs. But we had four different fenced yards and we were sensible about putting them only with like-minded friends.
A generally good tempered dog can still have issues that pop up, like being aggressive around their food bowl, or with their toys. How is that handled?
What about the chewers? If you bring your dog’s cushiony bed or squeaky toy are they likely to be destroyed by some dog who decides to chew them to pieces?
These sorts of ‘Camps’ are likely to have acres of play yards, but lots of dogs, like our Annie, are not interested in playing with other dogs. But she loved her walks. In many of these places, group play is the only activity on offer.
They may be great fun for certain dogs. If you have a big goofy Lab who loves to play with other dogs, a ’cagefree’ camp with constant canine companions may be his idea of heaven.
But they could be hell for others. Much as you might like the idea of your dog running around with other dogs all the time, be sure you do a reality check. If your dog is really only interested in people, a small kennel that has a lot of one-one attention may be a better choice.
Six general things to watch for when you check out dog kennels.
1. The kennel should be reasonably clean and the air should not stink. It’s always possible that some dog may have done a big crapola on the floor just before you arrived to visit, or some cat just got out of the litter box and didn’t cover up, but in general, the place should not have an overall musty fusty atmosphere.
I say ‘reasonably clean’ because personally, I don’t trust a kennel which is so clean you could eat off the floors. Dog who have fun get dirty. They especially get dirty in wet weather.
So if there is some mud on the floor, I wouldn’t get too alarmed.
One visitor to our pet resort told me he took it as a good sign that I had muddy paw prints all over my coat, and the same were on the floor. It showed we interacted with the dogs.
Our couches in the playroom were tattered and muddy. Some of the woodwork in the playroom was chewed. Communal toys and been well used.
2. The noise level should be tolerable or at least explicable. By ‘explicable” I mean that of course dogs are going to bark when a stranger comes into their area, especially if that stranger is visiting with a dog. But if you can hear that they are all barking their heads off before the door has even opened, you have to wonder if it is ever quiet.
A small kennel, or a large one which has the dogs boarded in small groups in multiple different dormitory areas of the building, will be less noisy even when all the dogs are barking, then one where dozens f not hundreds of dogs are all kept in one large area.
3. The kennel area should be light and bright. Preferably, windows will bring in the daylight, but if it is only illuminated by electric lights, they should at least do a good job of dispelling cave-like gloom.
4. The person who will be dealing with your dog should be friendly to both you and your dog. Big kennels have a lot of staff. Smaller kennels tend to be more hands-on. If it is a large kennel, ask about the staff and what kind of training and supervision they get.
Don’t underestimate your gut feeling for both the kennel operation itself and the person who shows you around.
If, as in one kennel we visited, the owner thrusts your dog out of sight while they talk to you, and generally shows reluctance to interact with the animals, ask yourself if this is who you want overseeing your dog’s welfare when you aren’t there. Many of our clients remarked favourably on the fact that we always greeted the dog before we greeted the people.
Trust is a big issue. Your dog or cat ain’t talking about how it went once they get home. You need to feel some warmth and empathy as well as knowledge. You want to be confident in the competence and caring of the people you entrust you dog or cat to.
A word of caution though. Kennel operators are busy people who, in many cases, work 365 days per year. If you arrive after hours, or otherwise breach whatever rules and boundaries you have been asked to respect, don’t complain if you get a cold or even rude welcome. Respect goes both ways.
5. Find a kennel through word of mouth if at all possible. The personal experience of someone whose judgement you trust is worth far more than claims made on a spiffy website designed to gloss over potential concerns. Ask your vet. Ask your friends. Ask people in the dog park. Word gets around about both good and bad kennels.
6. “How much do you charge?” is the wrong question. Of course, if everything else about the kennel checks out, you will want to know what the price is. But it really the least important thing to ask. Most kennels in a geographic area are priced within a fairly limited range. So figure out the services first, then worry about price.
You may not be able to afford the absolutely most expensive luxury resort out there, but beware the low, low priced kennel. First of all, they are probably making their money on volume (see above).
Secondly, ask what the price includes. Many, many kennels charge extra for everything from administering medication to administering a dog biscuit. That low, low price may rapidly escalate all the up to the all-inclusive price charged by another, smaller kennel, if you have to pay for walks, for playtimes, for everything in fact that will enrich your dog’s experience beyond the bare provision of a cage, food and water.
So should you just forget about kennels when you travel? I would say not; at least not until you’ve made a serious effort to find one in your area that your dog might like.
As explained elsewhere, you may well find that you have to take your dog to a kennel at some point anyway. All the friends and family you usually rely on are going to the same wedding or funeral. Someone who said they would look after you dog backs out at the last minute. You can’t persuade a housesitter to come to your neighbourhood.
You don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute for a dog kennel when other arrangements don’t pan out. Even if you just use the kennel as your backup plan, it’s a good idea to know what is available and where you would go if you have to.
Who knows? You may be lucky enough to find another Auntie Awesome and The General who have decided to live their lives with dogs and cats instead of being sensible?