Dog Boarding....

[CaptainYooh]

These people are amazing. Paul and Gale are a retired couple, they do it more for the love of dogs than for money, I think. We left our two dogs with them for two weeks and the dogs looked well-kept and happy when we picked them up. Highly recommend.

[Amethyst]

Yes, most hotels that are pet friendly do not allow you to leave the dog alone in the room.

Southbark is currently $32 a day per dog, but you get a discount if you have more than one dog. My two are small and get along, so they share a kennel and it's 20% off.

When looking for dog boarding there are three basic options.

1) Kennel / run area. South Bark does this. My dogs have their own private run and then get a bunch of play time out in the fenced yard with other dogs. I like this concept, because I think for a multi-day stay, having no private time would be too much for my guys.

2) Open concept. Basically open areas and usually divided by size. They may have an option where your dog can eat / sleep in a crate. Sleep Rover and Dogohlics do this. I used Dogoholics for daycare from time to time, but I don't like the concept for longer stays.

3) Someone's home. If you do this, be sure they are licensed and insured. Some people prefer the home atmosphere, but I have one escape artist, and I am always concerned that in someone's home, a person may open a door and he would bolt out before they could stop him.

[ken0042]

After reading this thread, we have decided to kennel our dog instead of bringing him along. I did speak to the hotel and they said that depending on the dog they could allow him to remain in the room alone and kenneled, but I have concerns about that. Not knowing how he'd behave in a strange place, and security concerns. (Somebody breaks into the room, hurts him or takes him.) So thanks for the advice offered.

I do have one question for you guys. We have narrowed it down to two places, and the biggest difference seems to be that the one place has chain link between the dogs, and the other has concrete walls between the dogs. So the advantage with the chain link is that he will have the company of the other dogs, whereas with the concrete we don't have to worry about any fighting through the fence. Not that my dog is a fighter, but he still is a dog.

For those of you who have used kennels, what do you think?

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by ken0042

After reading this thread, we have decided to kennel our dog instead of bringing him along. I did speak to the hotel and they said that depending on the dog they could allow him to remain in the room alone and kenneled, but I have concerns about that. Not knowing how he'd behave in a strange place, and security concerns. (Somebody breaks into the room, hurts him or takes him.) So thanks for the advice offered.

I do have one question for you guys. We have narrowed it down to two places, and the biggest difference seems to be that the one place has chain link between the dogs, and the other has concrete walls between the dogs. So the advantage with the chain link is that he will have the company of the other dogs, whereas with the concrete we don't have to worry about any fighting through the fence. Not that my dog is a fighter, but he still is a dog.

For those of you who have used kennels, what do you think?

Not really sure, but if you are feeling uncomfortable about leaving your dog, go and take a tour of the place. I was feeling very uneasy about leaving my dog and I setup a tour with Springbank Pet Resort to tour the facility and it made me feel a lot better about it. She's been going there for 5 years now.

I'm sure all the places would accommodate a tour, and if they don't, I would assume that's probably not a place you want to leave your dog to begin with.

[ken0042]

Yes, both places have offered tours. I went to one yesterday, and have another tour scheduled today. More than anything I wanted to get other people's thoughts on the chain link vs. concrete separation. I have a feeling that may be the tipping point between the two, and I will need to make a decision quickly.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by ken0042

After reading this thread, we have decided to kennel our dog instead of bringing him along. I did speak to the hotel and they said that depending on the dog they could allow him to remain in the room alone and kenneled, but I have concerns about that. Not knowing how he'd behave in a strange place, and security concerns. (Somebody breaks into the room, hurts him or takes him.) So thanks for the advice offered.

I do have one question for you guys. We have narrowed it down to two places, and the biggest difference seems to be that the one place has chain link between the dogs, and the other has concrete walls between the dogs. So the advantage with the chain link is that he will have the company of the other dogs, whereas with the concrete we don't have to worry about any fighting through the fence. Not that my dog is a fighter, but he still is a dog.

For those of you who have used kennels, what do you think?

The kennel I use has chain link fences. That wasn't really my deciding factor, but it works well. I think concrete makes it a little more lonely and cut off. For myself though, I would probably tour both and go with whichever one I had the better "feeling" with after.

I have two small dogs, so they share a run. I like that they can see the other dogs before they get out to play with them. My dogs aren't "fence fighters" though.