What is your experience of leaving dog in Kennels for holidays

[DesperatelySeekingHelp]

We rehomed a dog about a year ago when he was 7 months

we have to go away in September for 12 days (not a holiday) and have no choice but to leave our dog in Kennels.

he is a lap dog who sleeps on our bed and we are panicking that he will be really scared. We have checked the kennels out and they are lovely but it will be so different for him

Can you get a house sitter?
I've used trusted house sitters & paid a local sitter

We don’t use a kennels as such our girls would hate it but ours go to a doggy hotel and are treated like family members I would fully consider this as an option think we pay £35 per night per pooch. Expensive but peace of mind.

Just to give another view, mine is an utter lap dog who sleeps in my bed. I use home boarders but have also put him in kennels when I have had to. He’s not crazy keen on it but he’s coped fine, and the kennels staff are really nice and make a lot of fuss of him. At mine you can pay for extra walks as well. I’d check out a few kennels, they can vary a lot, and pick one you feel most comfortable with. A good kennels is better than a bad or unreliable boarder, and if you can do a couple of trial nights and know them better you and the dog will be happier

Sorry just saw you had one picked- still do a few trial nights so he can see you come back and it’s not totally unfamiliar for your pup x

The kennels we use get your dog in for a day visit, then an overnight, if your main stay is going to be more than a few days, so they get to know the staff and they also know you're going to come back for them.
Send the dog's bed and a toy with them so they've got home smells etc. If you need to, send their usual food.

Why does it have to be kennels? We have used a dog sitter at our house and at the sitters home before. If you can’t pay someone there are websites for home stays.

I'd never put my dog in kennels after a bad experience many years ago. I'd probably get a house sitter or find someone who'd care in their home. I'm thinking of trying rover.com for next year, but id have to be very happy with the person. Hope it goes well for you.

We have used both kennels and home borders for ours. He was a rescue who sleeps in son’s bed so we were quite worried about him and didn’t want him to think he’d been abandoned again, we did what others have said shorter visits first so that he knew we would come back for him and he’s been fine. Definitely prefers the home boarders but is absolutely fine in kennels too.

I have used a home boarding place and kennels for my dog. I don't think he likes either of them much as he goes mental when I collect him from either.

Interestingly, I also board dogs on a home stay basis. None of the dogs that stay with me go mental when they see their owners, often to the surprise of said owners. I take this as a compliment that I have done my job well and made them feel comfortable. It has given me a different perspective on where my dog stays when I'm away.

That said, I have no doubts that he is well looked after.

Mine do this too. I'd suggest you try the day visit sooner rather than later as my rescue was too distressed in his trial afternoon to be able to stay - so I had to find another solution for when I went away. But before I panic you, my rescue was much much older when I rehomed him (7 years not 7 months) and had, had separation issues in the past (which we'd resolved at home, but obviously kennels were a step too far).

We have kennelled our dogs when we go away for a long time. They go in without issue, greet us with delight when we get home, and settle straight back into their usual routine.

We never used kennels, we used a couple who looked after dogs in their own home. The dogs had the run of the place and slept where they wanted. Even on the couples bed. Pixie loved it as there were always other dogs staying too and she loved the company.

I have used three different kennels. With each I tried him a day in the run up and all seemed fine (went in bouncy, came out bouncy!)

1. My favourite was a farm and one guy looking after a number of dogs. Our dog adored him. I was worried how rough and ready the place was but the guy said he gave two long walks a day and the dog seemed fine being left. Came home glossy coat, happy out, the guy raved about how great he was on walks and made a few jokes about him which told me he’d gotten to know him
2. short/ no walks but let out for two hours a day an hour morning and another evening with other dogs if he was receptive to it. Again rough and ready looking place but owners were both groomers and had the same breed and he made friends! Again got on great, home with glossy coat, happy dog
3. aka the nightmare. Recommended after we found out place one had sold up place two was booked out. Recommended by people we trusted and online, loads of reviews, very posh, grand place with all the furnishings and trimmings. Came back to get him and he’d lost a HUGE amount of weight, like almost seems insane that in nine days an animal could lose that. He obviously didn’t eat anything. The mad thing was they’d had our cat and texted day 3 to say she wasn’t eating then rang the following day to say they were relieved she was. Dog came home like a hyper crazy dog. Awful.

I said it to the vet and she said as a teen she helped run a kennels and it’s down to each individual dog what they’ll like, he obviously clicked properly with the owner of kennel 1 and liked the set up in the first 2. Dh also said maybe people we know had only left in place three for a night.

I don’t know if any of that helps or not op but in the future we will pay mil to stay in the house with him or book place 2 well in advance. I will never again be fooled by grand, posh kennels!

It has to be kennels because none of the home boarders or dog sitters have capacity at short notice.

I'd really recommend you get them in for a trial day/afternoon as soon as possible then, because if there are issues you have time to do some more trial days to try and get your dog used to it. If there aren't any, then it'll put your mind at rest.

mine Hated it, really hated it and the kennels were lovely. Current dog goes to a dog sitter in their home and he bloody loves it, practically have to drag him out.

if you need this summer you need to get something booked asap. We book our holidays around dog sitter availability. He mostly comes with us - France or UK but we tend to do one plane holiday a year too.