Boarding kennel facilities

[painted_ponies]

I'm leaving Faith and Violet (and my two toy-sized dogs) at a boarding kennel for a week. DH has requested an animal-free vacation, which I suppose is only fair since every other time I've travelled this year I've taken the BCs and left him at home.

 

As some of y'all know, both Faith and Violet spent some time in the county animal shelter before coming to live with me, so I needed a place that wouldn't cause them to have flashbacks.

 

I visited a place this weekend that looks fabulous. The small and large dogs occupy separate wings of the facility. There are no cages - the dog has a small room with three solid sides and a sturdy storm door, with a cot made of canvas and PVC pipe. Three times a day they go out, in groups determined by the kennel manager, into one of three large play yards fenced with six foot solid vinyl walls. A human playground monitor is assigned to each play yard to toss balls and keep an eye on things. There are even small in-ground pools with little fountains to splash around in.

 

Here's the only thing I'm worried about - the rooms for the large dogs are about four foot square. The kennel owner says Violet and Faith should share a room. Do y'all think that's enough space, or do you suppose Faith and Violet will get into a hair-pulling match? If they don't share a room, they wouldn't be able to see one another, which would probably stress them out. And of course it would be much more expensive to house them separately. They get along just fine, but Faith is only nine months old, so Violet has to tell her off occasionally. The kennel owner says they'll get enough exercise that Faith won't be all over Violet while they're in their room.

 

What do y'all think? Would it be safe for them to share a room?

[RaisingRiver]

Go with your gut feeling. If they get enough exercise then they should be ok. Then their tiny room will just be a resting place.

[kelpiegirl]

Not to scare you, but...

 

Long time ago when I worked at a vet's office, we had a family board three dogs. Two shepherd mixes and a Beagle. I came in the day after they had left them and found the Beagle torn up. We didn't know which one or if both did this, but the Beagle required extensive stitching etc. Boarding can be extremely stressful, until they settle in, so I would suggest having your dogs together by day when someone is there, and in separate (but where they can see eachother) pens at night. Just to be safe. Perhaps a crate put in the room at night to put the youngster in?

 

I'm leaving Faith and Violet (and my two toy-sized dogs) at a boarding kennel for a week. DH has requested an animal-free vacation, which I suppose is only fair since every other time I've travelled this year I've taken the BCs and left him at home.

 

As some of y'all know, both Faith and Violet spent some time in the county animal shelter before coming to live with me, so I needed a place that wouldn't cause them to have flashbacks.

 

I visited a place this weekend that looks fabulous. The small and large dogs occupy separate wings of the facility. There are no cages - the dog has a small room with three solid sides and a sturdy storm door, with a cot made of canvas and PVC pipe. Three times a day they go out, in groups determined by the kennel manager, into one of three large play yards fenced with six foot solid vinyl walls. A human playground monitor is assigned to each play yard to toss balls and keep an eye on things. There are even small in-ground pools with little fountains to splash around in.

 

Here's the only thing I'm worried about - the rooms for the large dogs are about four foot square. The kennel owner says Violet and Faith should share a room. Do y'all think that's enough space, or do you suppose Faith and Violet will get into a hair-pulling match? If they don't share a room, they wouldn't be able to see one another, which would probably stress them out. And of course it would be much more expensive to house them separately. They get along just fine, but Faith is only nine months old, so Violet has to tell her off occasionally. The kennel owner says they'll get enough exercise that Faith won't be all over Violet while they're in their room.

 

What do y'all think? Would it be safe for them to share a room?

[Liz P]

You know your dogs better than anyone, so it's hard for us to say. I just left my dogs at a similar place, they were in 4 ft x 4 ft rooms at night but were outside in play yards all day. My dogs got their own yard with kiddie pool because they are intact. The monsters basically blew me off when I went to pick them up, they ran right back to the kennel staff begging to play. I guess that means they had a good time Anyway, my 2 teenage males (littermates) shared a room and did just fine. They scuffle quite a bit but never draw blood, so I thought they would be fine together. If they had ever gotten into a serious fight I would not have let them share a room. Another consideration is feeding time. I know my dogs are ok eating with their dishes just feet apart, but many will fight if put in that situation, especially in a confined space.

[painted_ponies]

Boarding can be extremely stressful, until they settle in, so I would suggest having your dogs together by day when someone is there, and in separate (but where they can see eachother) pens at night. Just to be safe. Perhaps a crate put in the room at night to put the youngster in?

 

Unfortunately, there aren't any pens with see-through sides. The little rooms have solid walls in between. And they're too small to fit both a crate and a BC into.

 

Of course, the two small dogs will be elsewhere - they will have their own room in the small dog wing.

[painted_ponies]

Liz - thanks, yes, that's exactly how Vi and Faith act with each other. They play-scuffle, which on occasion ruffles feathers, but they've never put a tooth on one another in anger. That place sounds very similar to this one. I thought I would ask the staff to feed them separately - I inquired about that at the interview and they said it was do-able.

[OurBoys]

Sally,

Some of these places have video cams so they can keep an eye on the dogs. Did they mention anything about that? But like the others have said, you know them better than anyone.