Boarding kennels/Home boarding … questions to ask?

[tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz]

Afternoon all

so starting to research these as hoping (😀) to maybe go on an actual abroad holiday next year or very end of this one. Pup is now 14 months and loves being around other dogs.

Ive got a list of places 20 miles radius to us and hoping to start to shortlist so we can go and look at some places soon.

What do I need to look for and/or ask? For example , some mention they have certification … specifically what should this be?

Thanks in advance!

All kennels and home boarders must be registered with the council by law and should have their license number on their business page, website and any adverts they have.

Ask to see their insurance as well.

Thanks 99! Exactly the kind of thing I’m after … appreciate your reply.

No worries, I work in an adjacent industry (dog walking) and very briefly looked into home boarding - there are a lot of hoops to jump through and they're incredibly thorough when they do their checks.

It's also worth being aware that anyone who isn't licensed won't be insured (no matter what they claim).

With kennels, I'd ask to see the exercise space, and ask how much time the dogs get to run around.
But then, mine are maniacs and used to a lot of free running.

Ask them what their procedure is in the event of a medical emergency with your dog.

I read a thread on here this year where they didnt take a dog to the vet because they woukd have been understaffed ratio wise to the ither dogs if that staff member made the trip to the vets and the dog ended up seriously poorly due to the delay.

They should be able to tell you what their plan is plan is for this.

Kennels - what exercise do they get? On or off lead? Alone or with other dogs?

Home boarding -
How many dogs do they have at any one time? If more than one, do they have strategies in place for keeping the dogs separated if needed? Do they have separate feeding areas?
Exercise - how often? For how long? On or off lead?
Is the dog allowed free roam of the house or are they restricted to the kitchen? Are they allowed on the furniture? Where will they sleep?

In both cases, I'd also want to know that their training beliefs and treatment of animals aligned with mine - force free, reward based, positive. I wouldn't leave them with someone who used negative punishments.

This is really helpful folks, thank you.

Id not considered to ask regards training beliefs but that’s actually really important and could be key to him having a positive experience.

Yes, I also recall this thread. It was very upsetting.

Our dog stayed in a kennels that had heated lamps in every kennel because it was out in a shed and the temperature was -1.

Also I think a huge thing is to try your dog overnight in the kennels and see what kennels he comes out of happy. Ours had stayed in a lot of different kennels, he came out of one quiet and one really upset. They never went back to them. Other two happy to see me, happy afterwards. Don’t be taken in by fancy looking kennels either, the poshest one that had so many recommendations just wasn’t his type of place.

Also make sure you ask for photos and videos of your dog