disappinted with boarding kennel visit

[jollymollie]

I booked our little dog into a boarding kennel next weekend as we are going away. He had a 'taster' session today and to be honest I wasn't impressed. He was in an outside kennel, he had pooed in there and his bed (which we provided) was soaking wet with wee. He looked so miserable and was so pleased to see us. When I went to pick him up there was someone different there who didn't even know which dog he was. When we got him home he went straight to his water and drank loads. They didn't ask to see his vaccination records either. I don't know what to do now. I can't take him back there, is this normal for boarding kennels?? I am thinking we will have to take him with us but it's an 8 hour car journey and haven't a clue how well he travels as we have only had him a month and he's not even 2 years old yet. Do you think he'd be okay in the car all that way??

Don't leave him if you are not happy. No it does not sound normal to me for a kennels. I would not leave my dogs in a kennel unless I was truly happy and would demand to know that all the other dogs are vaccinated or titre tested.

8 hours is not too bad stop regularly for a wee and poo and a stretch of the legs. To be honest even if he hates it - it will only be 8 hours as opposed to the whole length of time he will be miserable in a kennels.

Do look at other kennels though some are great and the dogs do enjoy them. Or look at house sitters more money but at least your dog will be happier.

Doesn's sound at all like what you should expect. All good boarding kennels will INSIST on seeing your dog's Vax certificates.

All dog boarding kennels (and home boarders) should be licensed by the local Council. Usually, you can look at the licence application form on the Council website, and this goes through the conditions they require. This will usually include the issue of vax, and that the premises should prominently display an up to date copy of the licence (which are renewed annually). As a member of the public, you have the right to see previous inspection reports via FOI requests to the Council, and to inspect the register of approved boarding kennels/home boarders. I would give your Council a call, and give them a heads up on yr concerns.

I would also be very clear with the kennel WHY you are not returning. It might also be worth googling them to see if any other issues/complaints come up - this can often be very revealing.

Good boarding kennels do an excellent job but bad ones like this sound lethal. The confusion over dogs also doesn't instil confidence in their fire evacuation procedures.

good luck!

I've heard that ginger in the form of biscuits or otherwise can be good for travel sickness. Take binbags to put in sicked up on stuff.

We took our dogs from the south coast right up to the Outer Hebrides this summer and they were fine.

Our younger dog goes pretty much everywhere in the car with us anyway and was so relaxed!

Our elder dog dislikes the car and generally refuses to go in it. He was sick a couple of times at first. Put puppy pads down in case of this (£1 for 5 in Poundland) as they are so easy to throw away and leave behind no mess. After an hour or so he settled fine.

We made lots of stops, every time one of us needed the toilet or drink we also walked/ drunk/ toileted the dogs. Allow plenty of extra time.

You won't enjoy yourself if you leave him at this place as it doesn't sound at all good.

What about home boarding, as in he goes to stay in someone's actual house?Wouldn't that be a better option?

I'd expect he'll be fine in the car.

Try him out on a journey this weekend and see how he goes. Take him somewhere fun - a walk further afield than normal - so he associates the journey with a fun ending. My only tip is to put him in the car, give him a treat and completely ignore him for the whole journey - not a word. Carry on completely as normal.

Take a vomit cleaning up kit - but I doubt you'll need it. Many dogs travel really well.