Kenneling

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

(Not entirely sure I've spelt that right) Anyway...

We have to leave Jasper for five days over Christmas (not my choice, but unavoidable). I loathe the thought of it. I went to view a kennel yesterday and, frankly, it was grim. Bare concrete indoor/outdoor run bits with just a water bowl and bed in them. When I enquired about routine, I was told that they 'didn't really do walks, except a few short ones maybe'. Of course, I backed away and there is no way that our dog is going to that kennel. But I need a bit of help in working out how to spot a decent kennel. So if you use a kennel, what made you happy with it? And how does your dog cope with the whole thing? The other option I have is that I've found a lady who will take Jasper in to her home for the time we're away. Obviously this is much more expensive, but we can visit her before hand with Jasper and check it out. DH is wondering though if putting him in another home will confuse him more than putting him in a kennel. So I'm not sure. Any advice?

i would choose the home environment. dog2, the nervous of everything collie x, goes to stay with a local woman who offers dog boarding and he is fine. it has never confused him and if any dog was going to be confused it would be him

when you visit i would take jasper with you to meet her dogs. also check if she has insurance and if she wants you to sign a contract and give your vet details. we then left dog2 for an hours visit a week or so before we went away

my neighbour's daughter works in a kennel and she has told me that they only walk dogs on a lead now for fear of being sued. her kennels has a few acres and is fenced but she said the risk of being sued are so high that they only walk one dog at a time on a lead so no risk of biting, running away, trying to jump fence, chasing wildlife and hurting themselves

however, i know people who are happy for their dog to go to kennels. if you want to state whereabouts you are you may get some personal recommendations of kennels and home boarders

meant to post about anal glands and poo on your other thread but rl got in the way. will go and have a look for it

Thanks for that chick :) I'm in the midlands, not too far from Burton-On-Trent. I'm swayed towards the home stay option, because I imagine he'll be happiest that way and it'll be easier for me to enjoy Christmas knowing he is being made a fuss of. The place I have contacted looks fab on the website, but yes I'd definitely want to scout it out first with Jasper.

if you are by any chance travelling down the M5 towards gloucester for your xmas visit then i can recommend a great person (think DBF in rl ) who does home boarding to help fund her rescue work. dog2 loves going there. £10 per day (inc overnight) so great price too. dog2 loves going there so much we take him once a month even if we arent going anywhere. she is very busy though so cant guarantee she has space

I went for the home option the other week. He had a great time with all the other dogs and it was with our puppy trainer so a bit like doggy boot camp. We didn't want all the training we'd done to be wasted. Quite a few people seem to do dog sitting round here.

I would choose the home enviroment as well. We've never had to leave dog with strangers, but he's stayed with the ILs and with our dog walker, and been absolutely fine apart from initial anxiety when we left. I don't think it confused him! I feel a bit bad about leaving him at all (he's a bit of a clingy type, poor thing), but I think in a home they're more likely to have human company and attention, and be less stressed.

There are kennels who look after the dogs better than the one you describe though, walking them twice a day and spending time with them. You should be able to bring his own bed/blankets/toys etc to make the kennel a bit more comfortable and homely.

Chick, that lady ain't the only one who offers a holiday home to dogs. Only this one ain't allowed to advertise (and is not near Burton On Trent anyway, that's all foreign and Northern to me! :o ).

I Chickens, FWIW I'd go with the home boarding too. The benefit with that, amongst a host of pluses AFAIAC, is that pooch might build up a bond with his host and look forward to going as and when you need him to be cared for, thus giving YOU huge peace of mind.

The lady I've found is about 10 miles from me, so not too horrendous. We do have to travel about 3 weekends a year where he won't be able to come (DH is Irish, and MIL is petrified of dogs) so some continuity would be best for him I'm sure. I suppose the other consideration is that a kennel is always likely to have space, where a home placement might be booked by someone else

dbf - yep i remember that you do home boarding. if you were werent south east and my sitter south west i would swear you were the same person

i have to gently warn anyone i recommend that sitter can be abrupt but always has the dogs best interests at heart and will tell you straight if she thinks there is something you need to know to improve dog's wellbeing

the above is partly why i completely trust her with my dog. in 14yrs she is the only person i would leave dog with

oops only person other than a few select friends and family

chickens - jasper sounds very cute. maybe he could help mil with her fear of dogs? fwiw my sitter always fits us in, she knows dog now and has fitted him in even with short notice.

MIL doesn't want to get over her fear of dogs. It garners lots and lots of attention. She has already been pestering DH about how we will keep Jasper away from her when she visits and how uncomfortable us getting a dog has made her. I wouldn't even suggest that we take him, as we're staying at her house (and fair enough that she doesn't want dogs in her house). Plus, tbh, we're driving, and it's 9 hours door to door including 3 hours on the slow boat. I don't think it would be fair to the poor chap. We had already agreed Xmas plans before we took on the pup (Before I get rightly told that we shouldn't have taken on a pup if we knew we were travelling, I completely agree. But his owner wanted shot, and I couldn't leave him there. Turns out he was probably puppy farmed anyway :()

fair enough when you visit her house but when she comes to yours she surely has to accept that dog is part of your family now. genuine fear - yes i would try to do all i could to help. attention seeking fear - tough shit. thats not much help is it?

I'll get a baby gate so that Jasper can be kept from savaging her handbag leaping all over her, but yes that's about it. The dog will be in sight, he will be playing with the DC and he will be snoozing in his bed in the living room by 8pm. I'll probably attach a house line to him just to keep him in check. He is a puppy, though, so his behaviour is far from perfect. Still, he will learn that he can't eat MIL in the same way that he isn't allowed to eat anyone. I hope.

chickchick - when I worked in kennels as a teenager a few decades ago we also walked the dogs individually, on leads.

katharine - really? i was hoping it was unusual. my collie x would be very upset if he didnt get off lead time every day and he's 6, not a youngster