Can anyone recommend Good kennels in hertfordshire

[misdee]

Need to find somewhree for my boys to spend 2 nights in jan.

Normandale Boarding Kennels near Bishops Stortford on the Herts/Essex border. Run by Pat, who also runs alongside it Mutts In Dustress, a very well respected rescue. You'll see how Pat is viewed and trusted on the BIGGSD forum.

HTH.

one of the ones just passed Baldock on way out to rpyston. Will find name later.

No no no!!!!

If the kennel you are referring to, Lisa123, is Lodge Kennels, Great North Road, on the A1 outside of Baldock DO NOT TOUCH THEM.

They are a council pound as well as a boarding kennel and they breed too (don't get me started on the cynicism of someone who sees pound dogs put to sleep weekly but yet breeds more dogs, but that's not why I am warning you not to touch them). I haven't been there for some years BUT it has been run by the same person for all this time.

When I last went there (as a rescuer) rescue dogs and boarders were not seperated as they should be in law to prevent cross-infection. Conditions were poor too (worse still for the rescue dogs but not great for boarders IMHO).

A few years back and unbeknown to me at the time my MIL bought a GSD pup from this establishment. It turned out that he was interbred with terrible problems in both health and temperament.

Even if conditions have changed at the bloody place, the owners remain the same and I really wouldn't recommend touching them with a bargepole.

Misdee, if you are stuck or would prefer a home environment rather than kennels, let me know and I will do my best to find you a reputable, referenced, checkable person through my rescue contacts. I'm not at all far from Herts so know a few around this way.

Would you mind saying what part of Herts you live in (roughly, as in North Herts, near Watford or whatever), as then I can see who else I can think of. As I said, as a boarding kennels, Pat at Normandale comes highly recommended but it depends where you are.

no I know that ones terrible there is another nearby, cant recall the name but she is always fully booked and been recommended by a few people I know.

didn't mean to give you a heart attack this early in the week LOL

Is it a weekend? Might be able to help out x

Lisa123, you bugger! I nearly passed out with horror! :o

Thank god you didn't mean that godawful hellhole particular place.

Interesting that I'm not alone in knowing it to be terrible, too.

i wonder if we might know some of the same people. Do you know dogwatch?

I would NOT reccomend Normandale. We sent our Beagle there for 6 nights last year. She also went a couple of times a week for a few months to 'day stay' to get used to it.

When we picked her up from her longer stay the girl on the desk said "oh you're here to get PRINCESS MAISIE?! hah...."

she had lost a LOT of weight and her paws were very very soft where she had not been walked. she cried the whole way home and was shaking everytime she went in the car for months after..

i've found a nice place in birchanger (by stansted airport) which is at their house, big fenced in gardens, lots of local fields and woods to be walked in, they stay in the house and only take a few dogs at a time.

Great thread! Has anybody got any recommendations for Essex kennels?? Or a home boarding person who has been used and you would recommend.

Lisa, yep I know Denise!

Nannyro, I'm shocked by what you experienced and genuinely troubled (as well as surprised). I can only say that have dealt with Pat on several occasions as a rescuer and found her exceptionally committed to dog welfare, and have also known several people who have been to her kennels and/or used her kennels without anything but praise.

Did you complain? (I bloody well would if I were concerned about my dogs' treatment in kennels so hope you did tbh, as much as my own relations with Pat are good).

I must be honest and say that it's for this reason that I don't use boarding kennels. On the occasions that I have gone away my boys have been cared for as a kind guesture by the rescue kennels I help out at - people I know personally and work alongside as a volunteer and who are now, and have been for some while, personal friends to me. (I must point out here, before anyone expresses concern about the legality of this, that they don't charge me for boarding the boys, A because it would be illegal for them to do so without a license, B because one of my boys is actually theirs, a long term foster dog who is epileptic and needs special care, and C because even if they could by law they are too damn kind to!).

PS Nannyro, have you used the Birchanger kennels yet, or just identified them as a place to approach?

I'm sending my pup to a home boarding place in wanstead if I do go away next year.
I visited her and her dog earlier this year and I'd be happy to send my baby puppy there.

A friend of mine had her three in Glendee (I think that's the name) at Welham Green near Hatfield. She was happy with it (had had a bad experience elsewhere) but obviously that's second hand information. I hope you find somewhere good, my favourite childhood dog only went in kennels once for a week, and when he came out it was "never again" - he was terrified and dirty. If you find somewhere good can you post here?

Vall, no we didn't complain. We're not really the 'complaining' sort. More of a live and learn and don't recommend to others!

I haven't personally used the Birchanger kennels but we are looking to put her in there for 2 weeks in September (unless a family member offers of course)

this is their website: www.dogholidays.co.uk/

they offer lots of cute 'extras' such as videos and photos of your pet. i like that they say it's the pets holiday

If you are near the chorleywood end of Herts, there is a good one called Green Meadows on the London Road at Chalfont. they have big enclosed areas outside where the dogs play all day long - mine loves going there as she loves other dogs.

Alouiseg I use Chalkney Mill (near me). It is on a farm and is not the prettiest 5 star grade of dog hotels, but it backs onto Chalkney Woods and they actually walk the dogs in little groups twice a day. They match them up with a little gang of other dogs they are suited to, and take them for a proper off-lead romp through the woods. Just being taken out for toilet time and put back again would not be enough for mine! Other people I know have said there dogs always seem happy to go in, and very happy (as in not depressed!) when they come out.

Fellatio, I must be honest with you, I wouldn't be in the least happy with stranger walking my dogs off-lead in woods (i.e. presumably unsecured), nor would I be happy or recommend them taking dogs out off-lead in an unestablished pack.

With all the good will in the world these two things sound like an accident waiting to happen.

Yes I must admit I did wonder about it, but mine are so energetic I couldn't bear to think of them not getting a decent run. And when I say 'gangs' it's only 2-3. Not loads. No worse than professional dog walkers, who I have seen with five or six sometimes. And the main kennel girl seems to have good authority over my two.

But are the woods secure?

I still wouldn't be happy, tbh. I can control my three (dog friendly) large breed dogs with a bellow, but I can see certain circumstances where at least 2 of the three wouldn't listen to a stranger at all.

That's aside from the concerns I'd have about someone else's dog going for mine.

A decent dog walker does things differently, building up the relationship between herself and the dog and the dogs in her care for some considerable while before mixing the dogs, and only walking off-lead when that relationship is established and secure.

Oh bugger that last bit didn't make much sense, did it!

What I meant is that it's all about building up a bond between dog walker and one dog before you let off lead or try to introduce another dog, and that the dog walker should have already built up a relationship with the second dog before introducing him to the first.

I think.... :o

Well I know the woods in question and I'm fairly confident - there are no busy roads nearby. One of mine had a tendency to bolt for deer and rabbits and goes a bit deaf when she's enjoying herself, but they have excellent recall generally. But TBH the worst places for her to bolt are the immediate fields and copses around my house, so I don't like people who are not used to walking them taking them out on their own doorstep, because of the risk of this! In woods she doesn't have such a clear view/run as she does in open fields, so she's less likley to spot a rabbit anyway. I've chatted to the staff about it - they know mine quite well now and I'm confident (as you can be) that they are in control.

They do take care to 'match up' the walking partners well. I'm usually a very neurotic control freak over things like this but I know the dogs are happier that way - esp. if they are there for two or three weeks as they often are.

Last time they were there the girl was telling me about a grumpy dog they had who she couldn't take out with any of the others because he was a pain, so I do think they take care to get it right and don't put other dogs at risk. But I appreciate what you are saying. I might ask some more pertinent questions next time.

:) Fellatio. I'm still quivering in a PFB kinda way! :o

As I said, I'm very lucky as on the rare occasion I've been away my boys have gone to the rescue I help at and so are with good, trusted friends on their farm (loads of land but all secure). I know all my fellow volunteers too, so I am aware of exactly who will be exercising and playing with them, what they are like and how spoiled they are. My dogs are particularly fond of one lady and when I go up to the rescue with them they won't leave the poor woman alone, knowing she's a soft target for a game of ball and a cuddle!

thanks for the info.

val, i am welwyn area, and tbh i am now thinking of getting a house/dog sitter for the weekend. we'd be off for a friday through to sunday, just dh me and new baby, for a friends wedding.

the boys are very boisterous still as just hitting their 'teens' and i would rather they were settled here than carted off elsehwere. especially Tom as he has some attachment issues, bless him. but has settled down a lot the last few weeks.

also wouldnt be happy with anyone else letting them off lead. especially as Ralph can have selective hearing and ignores me at times, and Tom-boy gets him back for me.

Muddy pups in baldock