Hi
My dog normally goes to my sisters whenever we have had to leave her (well...the one time, I should say!) and vice versa with their dog but I'm getting married in July and as both of us will be at the wedding, we have to find somewhere for both dogs to go, either seperately or together - the problem being that all our family and friends will also be at the wedding.

Kennels may be the only solution for both of us - not so much a problem for my Millie as she is a slut who would go anywhere with anyone ;-) but my sister's Westie is a big wuss and they've only ever left him for one evening (with me) so my sister is very reluctant to leave him in kennels, although this maybe what we both have to do.   Therefore finding the 'right' kennels is paramount - ok so finding the right kennels is always paramount but you know what I mean, a really, really nice one, where the staff are more than wonderful and dogs come away happy. 

Also, dependent on whether we have a honeymoon, we may also need to leave Millie for a week or two as she can't really go to my sisters for that long - the dogs are good together but do sometimes wind each other up so when we went away last year my sister took a week off from work to 'supervise' whereas I can't ask her to do that again so we need somewhere to leave them both for the wedding day and night, at least (priority) but possibly longer for Millie.

I know absolutely nothing about boarding kennels, I don't know where to start so both me and my sister have been in a kind of denial - but with 3 months to go I need to put the wheels in motion. 

How do you know whether you have selected a good kennel or not?  What do you look for?

If anyone has any good experiences of kennels in Kent, could you please let me know the details?  I'm in Gravesend, my sister is in Canterbury so it can be near either of those areas.  Grateful for any advice at all!

Hi ya,

Glad to hear im not the only one who leaves Stevo, my westie, with my sister.
In a few months time we're off on our hols and we're taking the big step of putting Stevo into kennels.

I take Stevo puppy training and i asked the trainer if she could recommend anywhere.
We then rang up the Kennels which she recommended, and they sent us a information pack which also included prices.
We then took a trip down to the Kennels (Buckhurst Kennels in Bigginhill, kent) and was shown around, and was told that the dogs got taken out 4 times a day, and had large pens to run around in, which we did see for ourselves.
All the dogs that we saw down there, seemed happy, and all the cages where nice and clean, as well as all the surroundings.

We were also told, that if Stevo liked company that they would put him in another cage with another dog so they could huddle up or just have another companion so it wouldnt be so stressful for them and lonely.
We were also advised by the kennels to bring a favourite toy, or his basket for Stevo, because it would keep him happy and it would also have our scent on it, which would keep him calm.

Now that we've had a good look around and asked 1000's of 'Worried about leaving your best friend' questions, i fell very happy about Stevo going into kennels.

My best advice is to ask around and get good recommendations, then take a look for yourself, i think you'll know if its the right kennel or not for your dog.

good luck, and all the best on your wedding day. :-)

We put Barney into Abbeywater Kennels near Ashford (Sellindge)! The lady there owns Briards which was a bonus for me!!!! She has a cattery also. There are 6 kennels (I think) and they are clean and roomy!!! Barney was fine despite only being 8 months old!!! I would reccommend!!!! She is an experienced owner/breeder and also judges!

Her name is Cathy Green and her number is 01303 812299

Let me know how you get on?

Julia

Hi,
    I live near Rochester and I had to find a kennels at short notice last year. I chanced upon Two Gates Kennels in Higham. The staff there are great, my boys always run in (and they are meant to be aloof!) and I have always found them happy to accomadate any foibles your dogs (or you) may have.
If you need any more info let me know.
HTH
J

Ah thank you all, three places to try - I'm really very, very grateful!

I'll let you know my progress and I may be in touch soon!

:-D

Another option which you could consider is what my friend does with her westie.  She has someone who looks after her in their own home.  You go and visit and take your dog and see if they get on, etc, and it is like a home from home.  there are a few registers of people who do this and you may find someone who will take both dogs for you.  I don't know the number, but if you like could ask her for it.  They do have people all over the country I believe.

Fiona

I do know of one NARP petsitter in my area, and I personally would prefer to take her to a proper petsitter in their home however two issues sprung to mind - it would only do one of our dogs as together they would be a nuisance.  They're no bother to us, but Millie spends the whole time trying to climb on Max, lick his face, rest her head on him - he spends the whole time growling and telling her to bugger off and leave him alone - to us this is no big deal but could be aggravating to strangers who would have to spend all day telling Millie to leave him alone and listening to the noise they make when they are 'playing' (ho ho ho). 

So I did consider this for just Millie, however I have started to observe her at other people's houses - she is lethal, she's straight in the door, and looking for mischief, things to explore, things to chew, things to climb up at - she's not like this at all at home or at my sisters, but then we both have dog-proofed houses - we don't leave our slippers and shoes on the floor, or our paperwork on low coffee table or candles on the fire hearth etc...and if we did, she would ignore them anyway as its boring, normal - but set her off in someone else's house and "wah-hey, party time!" and she will keep this up for hours, stopping only for water breaks.  I have only just noticed this in the past couple of weeks as I was hoping to book this petsitter but now think it could be very embarrasing.  I remember when I spoke to the petsitter before she said she didn't have dogs of her own, but just took in other people's dogs (one at a time unless they are dogs that live together) so although she's used to having dogs around, she may not be as conscious about things at low level as we are - oh the shame if she ate anything important!

I'm hoping this is something we can do in the future though.  Someone please tell me that terriers do grow out of terrorising shoes in their old age!