Dog boarding - AIBU?

[devildeepbluesea]

DSis and I put our dogs into a home boarding place over the weekend due to a family party away from home. We usually cover each other’s trips away etc so this is a relatively rare occurrence. However the owner of the business knows both dogs well having walked them for many years. They have also boarded with them previously with no issues - quite the opposite, the service has always been amazing.

But this time the following things happened:

1. kept us waiting 15 mins in the rain before they opened the door. We had to call to be let in. This was 10am, so not early for dog people.
2. when they answered the phone they said they were too ill to come down (hungover, this was admitted) and their partner would let us in.
3. partner came down, took delivery of dogs at the door so we didn’t see inside where the dogs would be at all.
4. assured us they would have their own space, and their own cage - this is marketed as home from home boarding. Think saying cage out loud was unintentional.
5. no updates at all in over 24 hours. Whilst not a deal breaker this is a massive departure from usual, when dogs were walked by this company we’d receive up to 3 videos on a 1-hour walk.
6. we messaged to say that we’d be able to collect earlier we were told no, and to collect at 2.30 as planned (not planned collection time)
7. on collection dogs were again handed over at the gate by the partner
8. when home both dogs were DESPERATE for a wee, a poo and a drink
9. were told by the partner that one dog is “getting old” because she did a few wees indoors. This dog has never, ever done this.
10. one dog went for a walk straight away due to suspicion they’d not been exercised. Dog ran and ran and ran for well over an hour, chasing a ball. Dog usually is done after 30mins. Strengthens my view they were probably caged the whole time.
11. didn’t actually see the business owner at all - all face to face done by the partner.

There is more circumstantial evidence for us to now suspect something is really wrong in that place, but I can’t really share because it’s just that - circumstantial. It’s related to both the owner and another dog that boards there.

We were charged nearly £70 per dog for little more than 24hours and were told that pick ups needed to be before 7.30am or a further daily charge would be incurred. Now personally, if I need to board my dog it’s because I’m away and therefore any pick up before noon is impossible. Not to mention, the subsequent inflexibility over pick up time.

DSis and I are absolutely livid, but AWBU?

Also, leave a review on Google/ trust pilot.

Whereas in my area I reported a big shed in a secluded area with constant wailing of multiple dogs as a probable puppy farm and it stopped a month later. It may have been a coincidence of course.

It's always worth reporting, it would form part of the evidence of there was a subsequent investigation.

How do people square it to themselves if animals are later killed and they didn't report stuff at the time it happened to their own animal?

Thank you, it’s nice to know we’re not BU.

For clarification, the dog walking side ended some months ago, so that would no longer be an option even if we wanted it.

They received a licence from the council, so presumably that is still current.

Very depressing to hear that reporting will do nothing. Google reviews are all excellent - but it’s telling that the last one was 3 months ago. Suggests more recent reviews have been deleted. I’d be more awkward about that than reporting tbh but I may still do it. In the meantime we will spread the word to all dog walkers, it’s a fairly small community so word will get about.

I’d be livid too.

It may have been a one off where the partner was in charge and he usually isn’t involved- but that’s no excuse.

Your poor dogs! It really does sound an appalling standard of care when you paid a lot of money believing your dogs would be well looked after.
I would report because even if the council are crap; others might also report and it all builds a picture.
Yes to telling other dog owners, at least their dogs won’t suffer such a horrible experience.
I would be furious and sad too.

What an awful experience OP. I hope your dogs are okay. Please report these awful people.

I used to board my dog with a wonderful home boarder and he had a whale of a time. When she moved, we used a former colleague of my ex-DH who had set up in business.

Despite explaining that ours had to be the only dog, he took in another two during our holiday and we arrived home to find our dog had been sent 10 miles away to stay with someone we’d never met due to him being so territorial. Something we explained at great length and why he needed to be the only boarder.

The woman he was with was perfectly pleasant but she wasn’t licensed and had a young child. Not a good combination for a resource guarding spaniel. I was bloody livid.

This is why we put our dog into excellent kennels when we go away. She has a big inside kennels with even bigger outside run. Her kennel area is heated, with a raised bed. She can go outside whenever she wishes. She's exercised - walked, given free rein in a huge paddock and played with by staff - twice a day. It costs £30 per day. You can rock up.at any time and be shown round the entire complex and all areas are very clean.

Home boarding sounds great. We don't trust it.

That’s all very well, but this was someone we know well and have previously had excellent service from. As a PP has said, even the best kennels can go sour at the drop of a hat.

I'm with Landsharks. No harm in reporting it but the idea that reporting stuff has a positive effect is for the birds. 99 times out of 100 anyway.
As anyone who has ever spoken to the RSPCA knows.
The ability to report stuff is there to make people feel they are helping put something right but in reality it usually makes no difference whatsoever.

Yes, they do.

Most people on Rover are operating illegally.

Do it, if theres is nothing to worry about they wont need to worry

Never ever ever would I put my dog in a kennel. Don’t care how good they are. No one knows how to care for my dog better than me. Just the thought that he might be put in a cage terrifies me

I really don’t know if there are any decent dog boarding place. I had to board my two over Christmas for a family emergency. They came back absolutely stinking, I also wasn’t allowed to see where they were kept and the only picture I got was of them looking rather sheepish on a lead. I suspect they weren’t walked - maybe ran about in an exercise area. They were also knackered I think the other barking dogs kept them up. It’s advertised as “luxury”. I have an arrangement like you and I do my best never to board mine.

Please report. Even if they just get checked it would give you piece of mind.

how are your dogs doing now OP

Please don't forget everything that happened and the fact that you knew and trusted them in good faith to really look after your dogs.

Whoever is s running the business now is just a piss taker and may have a drink problem by the sounds of it. Trading on goodwill of former customers and taking good money from them.

Can't see them lasting much longer.

Good Luck

I’d report to your local council. It’s so difficult to find good care when you have to leave your pets. Don’t let this happen to anyone else. I’m so sorry this happened to you.

Oh yikes that sounds awful I’d definitely report it - you never know, they might not do anything on the first report, but you could be number 2 or even number 10 in a long line of complaints that makes them act.
Absolutely nothing wrong with home borders per se - we have the most amazing lady who has two doodles and treats ours like her own. I trust her implicitly and for me this is far better than an impersonal kennel situation where I know my velcro dog would be really miserable.

I used a border once who had listed their location as one place (a town) but was several miles outside of that. They were ferrying the dogs to this new place .

The fact they were so funny about letting you in/ collection time makes me wonder if it’s the same sort of thing.

I don’t mean this as a criticism but please reconsider. I have a dog, I got her during Covid and she is the single most important thing in the world to me, but as was pointed out by a kindly but gruff trainer when she was about a year old it would be a disservice to her not to teach her to be ok in different circumstances and with different people without me. If the first time she slept away from me was when I was taken away in an ambulance, or someone else had to go to my house and pick her up due to a delayed train, or she had an accident and had to be in a crate overnight at the vet that would be much, much more difficult for her. We miss an opportunity by not training for resilience.

And crate training can be very useful if done properly. Mine still uses hers when she wants to be left alone even though she mostly now sleeps on my bed.

Even the best of us hit emergencies and disasters without notice. My dog would be hysterical in a kennel, but if my husband is deployed and I end up in hospital, or we are both in an accident, there's never a guarantee that my friends and family can drop everything to manage a 30kg mutt for an extended period.

So you might want to remember that modern dog kennels are hardly cages, they are large enclosed runs and bedrooms. Maybe not the sofa of his dreams, but adequate for him to be cared for.

Would your first port of call to be to pick up the phone and speak to her, ask her what happened?

My boy is 11 years old. I honestly don’t think he could handle being in a stressful environment

I run a home boarding service and this situation sounds horrific. Not being let in at the door was a big red flag. My customers come in and do a proper handover with the dogs and they say goodbyes and I let them out.

You're not allowed to crate a dog unless permission is given and this is only at night if necessary. During the day they have to have door left open.

If you report, the inspector will do an ad hoc inspection but as there is only one or two inspectors per area it may take a while.

I'm sorry you've had this experience. There are a lot of good home boarders out there. Dogs are precious to you and so should be loved and cared for as such.

If you're incapacitated, you may not have the luxury of choices.

Always plan for the worst case scenario and work backwards.

we have always had a friend house sit for our dog, but recently that was no longer possible and we put him into a kennel.

It was a trial and then for 10 days.
He was not only fine, he came out relaxed and happy, not a mean feat for a reative rescue who is pretty attached to us and our house.
He went in again over christmas and was happy going in.

We visited about 3 kennels, and despite the fatc that they were run by very nice people and seemed lovely, this was the only one that I felt happy about. It is hard to even say why, although the fact that it is in the middle of nowhere, and so walks the dogs 1;1 every day in the fields did help.