Pet Kennels

[Dixie]

I wasn't sure if this was the right place to put my question, but I guess if it's not, it will be moved.

Anyway, My family will be vacationing at WDW in December and will have to leave our little Shi-tzu at a local vet's kennel for 7 days. He is one year old and has never been in a cage.

Have any of you had experience with kennels? Is there anything I can do to make this stay a pleasant one for him? I can't believe that I am this worried over this, but he is like one of the family and I would hate to put him through a bad experience.

If you have been through this, I would appreciate any input.

Thanks so much!

 

[pumba]

if you cant' get a person to come to your house and care for the animal...then start looking at kennels in your area....ask for recommendations from your vet.....they always know a good place...if your baby has to go to the kennel...then bring the bed ..or some clothes from you ..some of his or her favorite toys...and we had to bring jasmines food cause she was so fussy.....hope you have good luck....

 

[Kermit]

I agree that you should look at the kennels. It does give you confidence to leave the pet with the vet for obvious reasons, but some of them use small cages, whereas some resort-style kennels use large runs. You may be able to at least find a vet who devotes more attention to their kennel program and has nice cages.

Some of the runs are indoor/outdoor runs. I don't particularly care for those. I've never left my dog in one because they have concrete on the inside and outside part, and the places that have them tend to walk the dog less times. I don't think my dog would want to potty on concrete. I was considering leaving my dog at a place like that once when my parents picked their dog up from one. Their dog ended up with a urinary tract infection, and they think that might be why, so I've never used that kind. I prefer the ones that look more like indoor cubicles. They have solid walls so your dog can't see any other dogs (my dog is afraid of dogs--he thinks he's a person, not a dog).

 

[Kallison]

Hi Dixie - When we got our lab at 11 mos. I took one entire school day and visited just about every kennel within a reasonable radius around our house. I found one excellent and two decent back-ups. What I looked for was an open door policy, a bright airy, clean kennel with a/c and heat. One that would welcome me leaving toys, treats and his bed. A kennel that has access to a vet if needed and that will give him exercise and play time. My dog needs a run, he could not go in a crate in the wall. The kennel should require certain vaccinations and check their records. Both kennels I use the most know my dog by name and his personality. At one year old your pup shouldn't mind the kennel stay too much. It's kind of like an exciting little vacation for them with all the other dogs and activity going on. As they get older they may not be as thrilled. My labbie gets very depressed when he sees the suitcases come out, but unfortunately sometimes you just gotta go away without them. Makes him that much happier when we get home. On another note - not to scare you but a local kennel around here killed two pugs that were staying with them when they washed the dogs and forgot them in the dryer!! I did not even know they used dryers for dogs, apparently they usually do for small ones. So make sure an authorized person is doing the drying. I can't imagine going to pick up your babies and having two of them gone. I visited that particular kennel, our neighbor uses it, it was atrocious!! There can be some real horror stories out there.

 

[Luv2Roam]

One thing that is suppose to help an animal is a kennel is for you to leave with the pet a piece of your clothing with your scent on it.
A few times DH wore a t-shirt around the house and then included it with all the assorted dog stuff -- blankets, toys, chewers, etc.
We just make sure it's smething we don't care if it gets chewed on. But that hasn't happened yet.
Also get a kennel recommendation from a local trainer. We use a great local kennel.

 

[lynetteSC]

Hi! Good luck choosing a place! It is hard to leave our love ones w/o us while we are gone! I usually take the favorite toys and hide them a few days before we leave. Also, we choose one old shirt/clothing to sleep in for few days before we leave. We give both the fav toys and the clothing that smells like us to the kennel. Hopefully, it makes them feel a little bit at home! Good luck!

 

[fklhou]

Pet kennels come in a large variety and not all are of the same quality. We now use a pet sitter who comes into the house twice a day to feed and walk the animals. Before that we looked as several kennels and used one that we had checked out and was copmfortable with. It is important that they let the dog out a couple of times a day for exercise and not keep the dog iin the kennel all day.

Good luck.

 

[DocRafiki]

I hate leaving my dogs in the kennel too! Here are some things I look for...

-- Use a vet's kennel. My biggest fear is that my pets get extremely ill and the staff won't even recognize it. Actually, my usual kennel (a vet friend's kennel, we don't have a kennel where I work) was booked last week, and I had to send my kids to a non-vet kennel. I had to give them a lesson on "bloat," a common fatal condition that big dogs get while kenneled. They didn't even know how to prevent it or that it was a deadly emergency!! Oh, and when I picked them up after 3 days, one was very depressed and not eating or drinking. They didn't even notice.

-- Use someone who has someone there watching them 24 hrs. If your dog bloats during the night, it could die. Other things that I fear are choking on toys, getting toes/noses caught in grates or gates, kennels catching on fire, etc. Can you tell I'm paranoid? (btw, I've only ever found one kennel with 24-hr care)

-- If the kennel is not with a vet, or is a day-only vet, make sure they have a policy that they will bring the pet to an emergency center if needed and will foot the bill until you can be reached. Some places won't transport a dog for fear of getting chewed out by the owner when they have a $2,000 bill for emergency care, and then get stuck with the bill. Oh, and be sure you sign the paper saying you will cover the bill. I stress this every time I drop off, that I will pay for ANY emergency treatment needed; I try to leave my credit card # if I think that's what it will take.

-- They should require vaccines and flea/tick preventative. Minimum for dogs: DA2PPC annually, rabies 1-3 yrs, bordetella every 6 months. Your dog won't be protected if he gets the vaccines when you drop him off, if he isn't already up-to-date. There's no good way for a kennel to get around this, but it's good for you to know.

-- Get the tour. Some kennels don't even have fenced yards; they just leash-walk the dogs. I wouldn't trust some kid leash-walking my dogs, and I want them to be able to run around a bit when they're kenneled most of the day. I also look around for cleanliness (obviously), proper temp, organization (labels on cages of when fed, etc), and fences... how difficult is it for my dogs to escape, etc. A low chain-link fence by a busy road is a no-go.

-- Bring your own food to help prevent stress colitis, as well as toys, beds, etc. as long as your dog isn't a chewer. My dogs are allowed toys during the day, but I have the staff remove them at night, just to make sure they don't swallow anything while no one is there.

-- Some pet resorts give you video access to your pet 24-7 over the internet. I would definitely go for that if I could find it and afford it. Then again, it would probably cost about the same to have someone house-sit while your'e gone, if you can find someone you trust. That's the way to go, if you ask me, but I haven't been lucky enough to set something like that up.

-- Type up a little paper for your kids... what to feed, when to feed, what toys you brought, any rules you have (2 dogs must kennel together, do not feed together, harness only/no collar), their dispositions (has separation anxiety, may bite if you try to brush, limps after exercise, gets hot spots when kenneled/please treat), and medications. Some kennels will think you're silly and ignore these, but I've found them to be a great help when we're unsure if a pet is acting sickly or if the condition is normal for the pet.

These are just some things off the top of my head. Yes, I am one of those crazy pet owners!

 

[dalepool]

Although we live is a small town we are fortunate to have a Company called the DOG ZONE. The Dog Zone is a puppy-dog day care with over night facilities. We have used the day care service and highly reocmmend it. The facility is very clean--if a dog releives themseves in the play area it is picked up right away and then sanitized and hosed down. There is a large picture window where anyone who is in the building office area can see the dogs in the play areas. There is always a trained staffed member in each of the doggie play ground areas. When we first took my daughter's puppy to day-care the staff took time getting him into the right play area. ( He is an Alaskan Malemute so even as a 4 month old his weight and size was beyond most of the other puppies in the puppy group). The staff didn't want our puppy to be intimidated by the older more established dogs, but he was so much bigger than the other puppies. The first night Shadow came home from daycare he slept all night--just what we all needed.

We know he loves the facility because as soon as he can see the building he drags us into the doggie greeting area because he know there will be some to come and take him to play with the other dogs. ( all dogs must be altered before they can attend puppy day-care).

Check your yellow pages ---maybe you will get as lucky as our community and have a caring business like the dog zone.

You might even say it could be called the "neverland club for pets"



Good luck--
PattyN