Hi just doing some background work on ideas about boarding or day care for dogs.

If you and your dog were being vetted by somebody who was going to look after your dog ( small not large scale). To include what other services might be good to have eg grooming , hydrotherapy , one to one training ,agility course etc
1. What questions would you expect them to ask you ?
2. What questions would you ask them and what would you expect the answers to be ? (Expectations that the service you would be getting is 5*

Basing that the questions and answers might vary if you are looking at one or multiple dogs and could you rate the questions from :

1. Must have
2. Nice to have
3. A bonus if it was provided

Thanks
Lucy

Will answer fully later but the agility would be a definite no for my dogs - who compete in agility. My handling system varies for each dog and I wouldn't want anyone else running them who didn't know them well or the handling I use with each particular dog. I think that one could be a minefield as you would need an experienced trainer who knew the dogs well.

I was thinking more about the services they could also use rather than whilst they were staying whilst he owners were at work or on holiday as assuming they will live near by as understand the different handling needs for each dog.

I'll add in general training as well. I would not want my dogs trained without being there myself (it would worry me a lot unless I knew the person really well) -and as we all know it is perfectly possible for a dog to be well trained and to obey the person who has trained it, but not others -which is why residential training is a bad idea. Some easy breeds may well obey anyone even if not trained by them, but far from all. Very simple example: Last night at training club my husband worked my 9 month old youngster (out of necessity as I now have my unplanned for pup to train and can't do two together) and even though she knows him as well as me and has done all her life, she would not do for him what she does for me -as I have done the training.

With old Ripley I used to love asking other people, such as my kids and stepkids, to give her commands, and then watch her obey them but for ME. Eg. stepson told her "heel" and she ran to MY left side, not his. :)

One service that I am sure would be used a lot is to have a secure fenced area that could be hired for exclusive use for exercising dogs that aren't happy to be around other offlead dogs. There is a new fb page where people can post about places such as this and in just a few weeks has reached over 9,000 members.

There is a huge need for areas such as these and judging by all the comments I have seen on that thread it would be very well used.

I'm glad it's not just me - my hubby is always coming back from walks complaining that my dogs won't sit and wait for him to take photos - and yet they all sit and wait beautifully for me! Mind you even when we take them together I find it much harder to get the whole group to sit still, they're not used to being asked to stay in one place on walks haha!

Have you got a link to that page or could you pm me how to find it, would love to know if there is anywhere near me to take Zuma.
He is great with other dogs as long as there is fence between but take the fence away and he panics that everything is going to eat him - even a very laid back little Cavalier girl (he was attacked 4 times in 3 months at about 18/20 months old!)
He is a lot better now but I still don't risk letting him off where there are other dogs :-( as it would guarantee to end up as 'his fault - savage alsatian!!!')

Questions I would expect them to ask? Everything

Exercise time and length

Dietry needs

Any medical conditions or injuries

What is her normal routine

Any fears or phobias general temperament.

Must haves

Not too many dogs walked together and size and age should be taken into consideration. I would also want some who understands the intolerance flat faced breeds have to heat. In fact what moved us to a particular dog walker was this very fact. (Mucky Paws- tooting ). To date we havent needed them but wanted something in place.

For me this is more important and 5* than all the luxury beds and fancy schmancy hype a certain programme has been showing.

dogs have a supervised outdoor play / exercise area rather than being kennelled all day

I think grooming for me is a must have

TBH I have never used a service so wouldn't know what to expect.

I would've expect to be asked about favourite toys and games so they can engage with her straight away.  I think the USP should be your commitment to the dogs and wouldn't worry about the high end stuff - for me it's all about how long you would spend with them and their being happy in your environment.

As mum used to say money doesn't buy happiness (but you can be miserable in comfort😜)

Will pm you the site details

Could I also have details of the fb site, please?

It's a facebook community called "Dog Walking Fields - securely fenced, private, off lead dog walking areas" - search for that whole title on fb and it should come up.

Found it, thanks!

Thanks you tor your responses so far keep them coming !

A must have for boarding kennels would be to have someone on site 24/7 and a regular checkup being carried out until late in the evening. The kennels I have used do several checks on the dogs throughout the evening and a final check just before 11pm. A friend who used the kennels was very relieved to have this when a problem with her dog was noticed at the 9pm check - resulting in her dog being rushed to the vet suffering from bloat and thankfully made a full recovery due to the vigilance of the resident owner.

Would like the option of raw feeding for those who follow that diet - my kennels will feed the raw food I supply but do not discount the price even though I supply my  own food all packaged up and clearly labelled for each meal so all they have to do is open the container and put it in the correct bowl for each dog.

I would like to be able to collect my dog later than 5pm - would use them more often so I could have the odd day out if I could collect them in the evening rather than having to leave them overnight and pay for two days stay when I could drop them off and collect them on the same day if that facility was available -  extended day care rather than overnight boarding.

Lucy this is the kennels that I use http://petlodge.co.uk/. As well as the boarding kennels there is a hydrotherapy centre with qualified staff and a purpose built indoor arena where agiity and obedience lessons take place. The owners have competed in agility for many many years and their teenage son has represented England on several occasions and competes at Championship level - and even with all that experience I wouldn't want them to run any of my dogs in their facilities if I wasn't present.