Tell memy dog will be ok in kennels

[steppemum]

So we have a big rescue, who is lovely but has quirks.
When we go on holiday a friends stays in our house and a dog walker walks him.
In October we are going away, but dd (18) will be at home, but out at college 8am - 5pm.
dd is autistic and while she is good with the dog, she doesn't like looking after him and find it stressful. Even with dog walker and pop in, the dog is going to be desparate for attention in the evenings.
We had a great solution. Dog walker and then a close friend was going to pop in for a couple of hours a day, give the dog attention and sometimes overlap with dd to check in on her and also to drop off meals a few times. Dd loves this person and it would work well. Dd doesn't want anyone else styaing at the house which I understand.

Something has happened with my friend which means she will no longer be able to do it. So this week we have been looking at home boarding and kennels. Home boarders are all booked, or have small kids (not a good match for our dog) or they are very expensive (£850 for 10 days). So we have booked kennels. They are recommended, and the people are very nice, and they do 2 walks and 2 garden plays per day, but I am not at all sure it is going to work.

Please reassure me about kennels. That it is going to be OK.
The travel is not optional, and I need a good solution so dd is ok for 10 days as well.
thanks

Honestly we were like this with our rescue springer. We used to move heaven & earth ensuring she stayed with trusted relatives while we were away. We got a GR puppy after our springer passed away, and figured she had no trauma so we would try kennels and it was so eye opening. She loves them, obviously some are better than others but the staff are such hands on dog people. It’s much better than I ever expected!

I know people moan about kennels but I have always used them i have had 6 dogs my adult life. dogs are resilient and routine driven and kennels are routine based. Mine always came home and slotted back into home life fine, Ask about for recommendations. My newest dog i had a .home boarder for him for a weekend away the dog was really unsettled so we went back to kennels after that.

I have a service dog but very occasionally I have to kennel him. I use a trusted kennels - he loves it! In fact despite the fact that he is almost always glued to me, he runs straight into his kennels like he has never been away - I am sure he thinks it's a relaxing holiday for him. You dog will be fine once he has settled in.

Our newest dog is my "empty nest" dog he is so.spoilled but happily trots into kennels,we did a visit before hand so he got a sniff of the place.

Thank you for your reassurance.
He is reactive to other dogs, but once he gets to know them, he settles. So I am a bit worried about him being on edge with the noises of the other dogs. But he is very cute and people friendly, so I think he will quickly make human friends.

The place came recommended and we visited 2 places and defintiely preferred this one.

Our dog has separation anxiety and for the first three years we had DS as our “Trusted House Sitter”. This year he wasn’t available so kennels it had to be.

We did half day-full day-overnight buildup before we left the dog at kennels for a week. Quite frankly there was no need. He was well looked after and lost no weight. Out all day with other compatible dogs, an individual closed run at night or in bad weather and a daily lead walk/grooming etc.

When we picked him up he was excited for 5 minutes then wanted to go home. Spent the rest of the day in bed (glad to be away from the barking?) then back to normal. He’s been a bit squeamish about dirty drinking water since then so we change it more (Schnauzer so beard grot is a risk).
IMO They soon adapt to the routine and expectations rather than being spoilt by the family. It knocks their corners off and you might get a more respectful dog back at the end of the experience! We’d certainly do it again.

Can he go for a night just to check (before you go away?)

not sure if that would help put your mind at ease?

If you are happy with your choice of Kennel trust them with him,

I live near a dog kennel. Every night during the summer I am woken up by the sound of crying dogs. There doesn’t seem to be any effort made to stop the crying and barking and once one goes, the lot join in. My own dogs no longer react but look sad when it happens.

Perhaps you could visit the area and see what you can see/hear for yourself. See what is ‘normal’ for them. Sadly the reality is that even if your dog is okay they will still be surrounded by scared and anxious dogs.

Thanks all.
We are going to do a tester overnight.
One thing we did like about this place is that there is someone on duty at night, and they do a late night rounds to see if the dogs are settled.

When we visited there were dogs barking with excitement, but not crying/distressed.
The other kennels we visited had similar number of dogs but the noise level was much higher.

That sounds positive @steppemum especially if they have someone actively around at night to calm them. Hope your tester goes well 🤞

Dogs will bark all dogs will react to each other so maybe they wont have the settled night as they do at home this is the reason kennels are usually out of the way.

Usually… unless you’ve got a mate in planning and get it approved by stealth!

My dog cried the last time I picked her up from the kennels, she’d had a great time playing with the other dogs.
There's no barking allowed, they want the dogs to be happy and settled. It’s run by an ex vet nurse.
Pick the right kennels and your dog should be ok.

My 12 yr old dog thinks she likes other dogs but much prefers humans. The kennel owners tell me she follows them about the office all day waiting to sit on one of their laps.
My DD has 2 slightly younger dogs and they run in happy as Larry, and love playing in the enclosed field with the other dogs.
My dog also runs in happily and has never been unsettled when we fetch her home.

I'd love to know how they stop all the dogs barking!

My dog is absolutely fine in kennels, he settles in quickly and likes the routine. We tried him with a home boarder but he found that so much more stressful!

I’d try them there for a night or two to check they get on ok and so it isn’t totally unfamiliar when they go for a longer stay.

Don't tempt fate. A few years ago mine came from the kennels and for about a week proceeded to not bother following me upstairs / downstairs. He would sit and howl at meto let me know he wanted something. Having never been a howler I mentioned this to the owner of the kennels - he'd spent the time playing / chatting with his two new best friends, who happened to be huskies. Huskies are howlers. Fortunately he packed it in before I had to kill him it drove me insane.

This reminds me of our old dog.
Springer Spaniel, not a barker at all, very quiet dog. When someone knocked on the dog he would wiggle himself to death waiting for them to open it.

We had my cousins Golden retriever to stay for the weekend. Lovely, both dogs adored each other. GR is a barker. Barks at the door, barks at the window, barks to say good morning.

He taught my spaniel to bark. I was not best pleased!

We prefer kennels for our people nervous dog.
Its much less disruptive for her, dog sitters etc all seem much more intense for her and she struggles more with the routine change and close proximity to non trusted adults

My dog is great in kennels. Its noisy when i drop off or collect but its dogs, excitement etc not a bad sign. I love the flexibility of it (except during summer hols). Dog sitters you need to know forever in advance what your plans are