Dog boarding prices

[worm761]

This is the first time I will ever have to board my dogs. They went with us when we went up north and my Sister watched them while we went to Disney the last time. Sister has since moved away and won't be able to watch them. My question is how much does it usually cost to board a dog? and what should I look for in a boarder?

We have two dogs. One is an old Pekingese. The other is a 3 year old Bull Mastiff/ Rottweiler mix. He is 92 pounds and still growing. Big dog. Very friendly though and very playful. My only problem is he likes to chew socks. Not his toys. They are both very well behaved dogs. The big one can be a handful when he is excited though. But only because of his size. If he chases a squirrel you are going for a ride. I know from experience. Or better, last week he was chasing birds. I am sure I make the neighbors laugh because I am only five feet tall. So little ole me walks this huge dog. LOL Anyway, any advice is welcome.

 

[Telcogirl]

Have you considered a pet sitter to come to your home rather than boarding them?

We used to board our Boston Terrier, and that averaged us around $26 a day. But, his behavoir when we all got home was out of control. He would chew pillows when we left for work. Plus, it always made me sad on the day we had to leave him.

We now use a pet sitter at a cost of $40 a day. She comes to our home three times a day. She spends about a half hour to forty minutes with him. He gets a daily walk and the best part for us is that he is in his home in familiar surroundings and we get no bad behavoir after our vacations!

Our pet sitter also takes in the mail daily and waters the plants and switches lights on and off for us. So, this gives our house the lived in look, rather than the "we are on vacation" look.

It's just a thought and everyone has their own preferences. Good luck with your decision.

 

[All American]

I boarded my dog for 10 days for our trip, and it cost $25.00/day for a standard room for a large dog ($35/day for a "cabin"). This was at my vet's office, so I knew she would be in great care. One of the vet techs has a super-friendly mastiff that comes and plays with the dogs; he's great for the ones that are more shy. There is a large play area and large kennels on the perimeter for dogs that don't play so well with others. The small dogs have a room, couch, and T.V. and are put in crates during the evening. During the day, they have a doggie-door and access to a separate playyard.

The office provides blankets, bowls, baths, and a report card. I was relieved and happy to see that she did so well. Everyone loves her there, and it was nice going to bed every night knowing she was in good hands.

So, there ya go. My experience. HTH. Oh, and the best part is the day they come home and a day or two after, the dog was EXHAUSTED. So, we all just lounged around and recovered together.

P.S. This was the first time I boarded our dog and would have no problem doing it again.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

We pay $35/day for two dogs (one is 85# the other 55#). They are in a run together. That does not include blankets or food. We bring our own. They do get walks and play time. The kennel had dog runs inside that they can sleep in one area and run and potty in the other. I would ask your vet where they recommend.

My dogs are also super sleepy when they come home. They always want to eat when they get home too.

 

[design_mom]

We have boarded our dogs several places, but our favorite place (and the only one we use now) has indoor/outdoor runs. There is a small, indoor area (ranging from 2'x3' to 4'x5' depending on the size of your dogs) and then an indoor/outdoor run (ranging from 2'x8' to 5'x8'). It's connected with a doggie door to the indoor part, but the dogs have free access. It's in a big pole-barn structure. On nice days they roll up big garage doors and the sun can shine in. On not-nice days, they keep the doors down. It's also nice that they don't have to potty where they sleep. They can go "outside" to do their business.

They only have kennels on one side of the hall, so the dogs don't have to look at each other. To me, this is very important. It is *much* quieter there (and IMHO less stressful on the dog) than at most kennels I've been to. We bring our own blankets and food as well (also, IMHO less stressful for our dog), but if the blanket gets soiled, the staff at the kennel washes/dries them.

The prices depend on the size of dog you have and how many dogs you have in a kennel.
Small run (2'x3' indoor + 2'x8' outdoor), 1 dog: $13/day; 2 dogs: $19
Regular run (3'x4' indoor, 3'x8' outdoor), 1 dog: $16, 2 dogs: $24
Large run (4'x5' indoor, 4'x8' outdoor), 1 dog: $18, 2 dogs: $27; 3 dogs: $36
Extra large run (3'x5' indoor; 5'x8' outdoor), 1 dog: $20; 2 dogs: $30; 3 dogs: $40

They also have "TLC" sessions where they'll take your dog out on a leash walk, or play fetch in a fenced area with him (one-on-one attention). That's an additional $3 per 15 minutes.

 

[happygirl]

Our vet charges 10.00 dollars a day. 8.00 if you bring your own food

 

[robb01]

Our place charges 20/night bring your own food. They have an indoor/outdoor run. She is an onaly child, so she is usually worn out from all the playing w/ other dogs when she gets gome

 

[EpcotSweetHrts0512]

Our yorkie is crated when we are at work (we let her out and about at lunch though) so she has no problem being boarded. We board her at our vet and they charge $18 per night. This does not include food. They do take her out 3-4 times a day though. HTH!

 

[Skatermom23]

I have used two kennels. The first is at our Vet where he charges $30 per run or $40 with two dogs in same run. However, they charge you extra for play time or if the dogs need anything extra. My guys would come home from there a little over excited and it would take days to get them back to normal. My new place is a private kennel and she charges $35 per kennel (a large space) and $55 for two sharing the same space. She does not charge anything extra for play time etc. The dogs come home "normal" after a stay with her. She is so worth every penny!

 

[goofyboyzmom]

I boarded my dog for 10 days for our trip, and it cost $25.00/day for a standard room for a large dog ($35/day for a "cabin"). This was at my vet's office, so I knew she would be in great care. One of the vet techs has a super-friendly mastiff that comes and plays with the dogs; he's great for the ones that are more shy. There is a large play area and large kennels on the perimeter for dogs that don't play so well with others. The small dogs have a room, couch, and T.V. and are put in crates during the evening. During the day, they have a doggie-door and access to a separate playyard.

The office provides blankets, bowls, baths, and a report card. I was relieved and happy to see that she did so well. Everyone loves her there, and it was nice going to bed every night knowing she was in good hands.

So, there ya go. My experience. HTH. Oh, and the best part is the day they come home and a day or two after, the dog was EXHAUSTED. So, we all just lounged around and recovered together.

P.S. This was the first time I boarded our dog and would have no problem doing it again.

I would love to know where this place is!! You are very lucky! I checked out our vet for our last trip and they keep them in crates in the area where they keep dogs that stay after surgery! They stay in the crate all day except for being let out to go potty and go in the run three times a day! I was horrified! (he never goes in a crate) We are so lucky, we asked our neighbor if she thought her son was up to the responsibility of coming over a few times a day to let our puppy out and play with him and she refused! LOL No, actually she offered to have him go stay at their house the week we were gone, so that he was not in an empty house at night (we were upset about this too, but better then any boarding places we found). I think he loved them more then us!

 

[pooh98378]

If you decide to put your dogs in a kennel, just make sure that you go there beforehand and request to be taken on a tour of the kennel. Some places will not let you do this and, IMO, I would not want my dog staying somewhere where they will not let the owner view where their dog will stay.

 

[Jennifer823]

We board our pomeranian at the vet's office. They charge $13/day and that includes food. They are great there, they always send her home with a bandana and "report card" that tells us how she was while we were gone. She's only 7 lbs - my mom boards her chesepeake bay retriever there too - she's a big dog - and they charge $18/day for her.

 

[Karalea]

I board my mini dachshunds at the same place they occasionally go for doggie day care and where they both have attended obedience training.

They share a garden suite for $58 a night. Economy boarding for 2 is $42.
My older dachshund is a barker and the garden suite is more private and less stressful for her. It's pricy but I know my dogs are in great hands there.

Otherwise, I try to schedule overnight travel when my brother is home and they can stay with him. They love him

 

[Lmichele]

If you decide to put your dogs in a kennel, just make sure that you go there beforehand and request to be taken on a tour of the kennel. Some places will not let you do this and, IMO, I would not want my dog staying somewhere where they will not let the owner view where their dog will stay.

I second this! I toured three kennels before I choose one. The only other advice I can give is:

- Ask family, friends, coworkers where they take their four legged kids.
- Don't pick a place based on price (meaning they're the cheapest)...their cheap for a reason is my opinion.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

In the past we've always boarded with our vet. We have 2 shih tzu's. When we got our first dog 3 yrs ago it was 12 a night. It's a nice place with indoor/outdoor runs, plus they take them to run in a grassy fenced area 3 times a day. Now they've gone up to $20 a night and they don't give a multiple dog discount. $40 a night if your going to be gone to Disney for 10 days is outrageous!!

I checked some cheaper places in our area, but they either were going to crate them all day or didn't require flea treatment- that's a deal breaker! One place even expected them to go to the bathroom on the concrete floor. Now I ask you, why does it make sense to train my dogs to pee ( or worse ) only in grass just to make them go on a surface that is very much like the tile in my kitchen? Poor babies would probably hold it until they both had urinary tract infections!

Luckily, my nephew is 17 and I now trust him enough to stay at home with our dogs when we're away. He's a very good kid- and I know he's afraid of me!! The neighbors reported no suspicious activity and we gave him a little cash for his trouble. I'm very sad that he's going to be in basic training next year when we're away to Disney again!!

 

[janni518]

Our dog was boarded at the same kennel until they closed about a year ago. That was so traumatic. (He'll be 10 in August) He is over 100 lbs and we haven't crated him since he was housebroken as a puppy. Luckily I got a great recommendation from our old kennel and some friends with large dogs like ours and we found him a new home away from home. Indoor/outdoor runs, report cards etc. He seemed great when we got home and didn't act out at all which is the best indication. We supply his food and meds and treats. Our bill from our last vacation (9 days) was $422, and we had him groomed while he was there.

 

[jonestavern]

If you decide to put your dogs in a kennel, just make sure that you go there beforehand and request to be taken on a tour of the kennel. Some places will not let you do this and, IMO, I would not want my dog staying somewhere where they will not let the owner view where their dog will stay.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

We board our Boston Terrier (22 lbs & 7 yo) for $23 per day. We bring our own food. This price includes administering daily (oral) meds. Also includes 3 daily walks & 2 play times & a bath on pick up day.
Each dog has an indoor run about 5' by 7' & an outdoor section (seperated by a door the dogs operate) of about 15' long.
We bring our dog's own bed & toys & we find the staff always washes these no matter how clean we think they are

RE: older dogs: So you may want to give yr older dog a test kennel stay to see how he reacts.
There did come a time when our elderly mixed breed (the late lovely Sydney) at age 13, began to feel too much stress in going to the kennel, so we paid DH's aunt to care for him at ther home. He knew Eleanor well & we had him visit her house frequently before our trip. I also stewed & froze special foods for him.
Our kennel operator let us know her opinion far in advance, as she interacts a great deal with her charges (never more than 15 dogs in residence).

Jean

 

[iwannbindisnee]

We take our loving mutt to what we fondly call the "puppy spa" (although she is not a puppy) It is at a home of person who has made their home a wonderful place for dogs. the entire basement is set up with old chairs, doggie beds, toy chests & a little exercise place. Their backyard is fully fenced & there are two play areas. (including a baby pool in the summer.) At night, there are 3 different bedrooms the dogs share (she has room for 8 dogs at a time) & they can either sleep in their own bed or crate, one of their crates or one of their beds. Our dog has been going so long she gets to sleep on an acutal bed that is in the spare room! Our dog runs over us to get out at this place & she starts whinig about 3 miles away b/c she knows that is the route tkaing her there! THEY provide home cooked meals & all treats! We are grand fathered in & pay $30/day. I have heard that her prices are up to $40 for new customers. I know my dog would never be happy in a kennel with just a run. she's used to the big 'ole back yard! she too comes home exhausted from playing with the other guys. (she's also an only "child" at home-now that the kids are at college) I love it! As you can see it varys greatly depending on where in teh country you are & what type of set up! (We are in mid MD) How did we find this place? Asked friends! Also, asked for recommendations of colleagues. Good luck! debbie

 

[design_mom]

We take our loving mutt to what we fondly call the "puppy spa"

Our dog goes to a "posh doggie hotel" -- although I haven't let the kids go with me to drop her off yet. I posted earlier in the thread about our kennel. It is old but very clean, and I believe the dogs are very well cared for, but I don't think the kids would agree with the description of "posh."

 

[LovinPooh]

I am trying a new kennel this time around. The lady comes highly recommended and is $20 a night and will provide everything. I of course will provide all of my dog things so she feels more comfy.
The last kennel we used.. ugh! nightmare!! I thought she was so nice. When we picked her up the woman told me my dog barked too much, but it wasnt anything a squirt to the nose with the hose wouldnt stop!!! And then she yelled at me for not telling her that my dog would have diarhea! Really??!?!??! She told me that next time to tell her that my dog would get diarhea so she could charge me $3 more... I was like.. 'she will never be back here' Now that was one crazy lady!!!
So I did some homework with this place. And she said as far as diarhea goes... 'it happens'