Boarding kennel prices

[twinone]

I am on process of opening a dog boarding kennels at home.
My dh and I are at loggerheads with what to charge.
So, what would you pay for what size dog?
Prices round us range from £7/night at the local puppy farm to £25/night for a facility that is a similar standard to ours. The more expensive one forever seems to have offers on though, which suggests he isn't attracting new customers at the higher price.
We have 10 kennels, 4 large and 6 smaller with outside runs. The runs overlook the beautiful moors. The indoor is centrally heated and each kennel has a high wall mounted radiator. The dogs have raised beds with soft bedding on.
If the owner would like the dog lead walked, that will be done within the cost - It seems the local kennels charge extra for that. All dogs will have one to one (or a family of dogs) play in the outside run.

Any indication on what you think this would be worth would be appreciated.

Not the same, but I pay a dog sitter to stay in our house @ £30 per night. Two dogs, walked once a day 45mins to 1 hour. It's a long time since I used a kennel as one dog is dog aggressive, so a nightmare for everyone.

Good luck. I think there's a high demand for it.

Kennels are around £15 per night in my area. I pay for dog home boarding which is £25 per night.

For the higher price I would definitely choose home boarding instead as I would view it as my dog getting 1-1 attention in a home environment.

I used to put my dog in kennels hes a lab x staffy so classed as a large size so was charged 12.90 a night. He hates being left on his own and detested the kennels. I got a dog walker at the end of last year and she does home boarding for £20 a night. The difference in ddog going and coming home is like night and day compared to the whining going to the kennels and clingyness coming home, he goes with the dog walker no problems and i greet him at home and he settles back in straight away instead of being stuck to me

I pay £20 a night for 1 dog or £30 per night if I send both in the same kennel.

They get a heated kennel with a radio/tv, bedding provided and washed daily, food provided (dried kibble, extra for wet and no discount for sending your own). A large fully enclosed field where they get 1 hour free play (with staff) in the afternoon around 1pm and another hour in the evening around 7pm as group play in an inside play barn (paddling pool, toys, other friendly dogs too).

They will hose down and towel dry for free and have a full washing service with blow dry for £10 per dog if you prefer.

I find that the cheaper kennels around £10 per night are permanently fully booked. Its nicer where my dogs go and they usually have space because of the price. I managed to get a week in the cheaper place and my dog wasnt walked at all, he just stayed in his kennel and wasnt groomed at all despite them saying they would brush him daily (English setter). I had to cut matts out of his fur when we got him home and he refused to talk to me for weeks.

I pay £25-30 a night for homeboarding

But even in kennels I would expect my dog to be walked at least twice and or played with outside their run area

I think £15-20 a night is reasonable, maybe with a small extra charge of £2.50 for very large breeds. If two family dogs can stay in one kennel, I would offer a slightly discounted price (e.g. if you were charging £15 each, then both together would be £25, or similar)- don't just charge the same as one dog, as they will still create more work. In general, I would go in a little lower than you would like, with a view to increasing prices in a year or two as you build up a good reputation.

However, I do think you are coming at this slightly the wrong way- have you worked out what your daily costs will be for each dog? Are you providing food? What will your costs be for utilities and staff? How much will you spend on things like cleaning products? You need to work out how much you would need to earn each day to break even, and then how much you want to add on to cover low earning periods and make a profit.

Having previously worked in a dog kennels, I would say that you should not assume you will always be full- there will be quite periods (like now) and busier periods, like the summer holidays. Unfortunately, as you have a limited capacity, your earnings will be limited even in the busy periods- in the summer you will probably end up turning people away. If you have regular customers, I would worry about turning them away in the summer, in favour of people who might only use you once a year or never again.

You want to be letting each dog out as often as possible in the day ime, as this will reduce the need for cleaning kennels and may reduce destructive behaviour (people won't be keen to come back if their dog has destroyed their bed/toys). I would imagine that everyone will request walking if you are not charging extra! This does increase staffing needs/costs so do be aware of this!

I pay £20 a day (including VAT) for kennels for a medium size dog. That is for a heated kennel, food included. They are exercised twice a day in one of the 2 large enclosed exercise fields, and have the choice of running free, mooching and sniffing or playing with balls/toys. Only one dog at a time in each field which suits ours because although she’s happy with most dogs she can sometimes randomly take a dislike to some and get a bit anxious and snappy.
We have tried home boarding but feel safer with the set up in the kennels where she doesn’t meet other dogs face to face without us there. We are also lucky that the kennels is only 10 minutes away, and because it’s so local we know it has a good reputation.
She really seems to enjoy going there and slots right back in at home as though she’d never been away.

Thank you all for your input. We are currently haggling between £15-£20 per day.

lance we deliberately limited ourselves to 10 kennels, the idea being that we will provide a personal service, not be so big that dogs will be known by kennel number not name.

A few have mentioned walking. From what I can see, many kennels don't bother walking. We have 5 acres we can make use of but it will definitely be lead walks, free time will be in the three quarter of an acre exercise area.

The only thing I want is for happy dogs and happy owners.

I have used the same kennels for nearly 30 years. It's around £15 a day, and this includes one walk, extra walks are charged, as is giving medication. The kennels are heated/air conditioned, and the ones i used are double glazed rather than mesh fronted so they get a good view.They groom the dogs daily, and also have a grooming parlour if you want the whole hog. My dog (and if has been quite a few dogs of mine over the years) always seem happy and settled there.

I can see what you're trying to do, and some customers may like this. However, I would say in good larger kennels, staff members will work with the same group of dogs each day, so they will still get to know them and their needs. I worked in a kennel with a capacity for over 30 dogs and about 10 cats- we definitely knew all the animals by name, not number, and they all got individual attention several times a day. Customers were obviously happy as there were lots of repeat customers.

Although the Kennel had this capacity, it was only ever full in school holidays, bank holiday weekends etc. There were much quieter times, when the kennels were less than 50% full. Whatever you business plan is, I think you have to plan for periods when you are not full to capacity- at least for the first year. At busy times, you will be turning lots of people away, and losing them as potential future customers. I would also say if you turn a regular customer away, you risk losing their business permanently as well.

Our policy was always that dogs would be walked on lead and have free play several times a day in a fenced area, so I think on lead walks only are fine/standard!

If you can truly afford to go in at £15 a day, then I would go in at this level, with a view to increasing your prices a small amount in 18 months when you have built up some regular customers etc.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

I know one kennel around us has started to advertise daycare options as well. Would this be something to consider? I pay almost as much in day care as I do home boarding.

lance we will be licensed for 30 dogs, enough to be give us a good return.

Doggy day care is something we have considered as we have a big barn that currently is used for storage.
I don't want to over face myself though, so it may be something for the future.

you’re right in that lots of kennels don’t offer walks. It’s one of the reasons I don’t kennel my dogs - they need exercise!

Lead only is fine but just spending 24 hours a day in a kennel with an outside run is not remotely interesting or providing exercise

I understand not wanting to overface yourself, but it's good you have the option to take more dogs if you feel the need. Daycare could be a good option in order to fill kennels year round.

If you have a large barn, have you considered renting it out for training classes and/or as an exercise area for dogs that can't be let off lead elsewhere?

Let us know how you get on!

We pay £15 a day for our jack russell, food included. That includes two off lead walk in a big run on her own. They provide the bedding, I just turn up with my dog and treats.

I pay £30 per dog for each overnight stay (£10 extra for bank hols) and £20 extra if I pick up after 9.30am.

They also charge £20/ day for day care.

You sound very affordable.

We take food too.