hi i am looking into opening up a boarding kennel & cattery  business just wanting some views when looking for a kennels for your dog what do you look for, would you prfer a standard cage looking kennel or a bright pvc alround kennel with air con & central heating  music tv real luxury, what about price what you pay for would you pay alittle bit exta for the luxury for our dog tpo enjoy a holiday as well or do people just want some where that will walk & feed their dog while they are way

Hi, don't use kennels but know what I would want from you if I were bringing my dog to stay.  Would want to know they were safe, comfortable (temperature, own bedding, own food, etc), they were exercised in a safe area, the kennels are thoroughly cleaned, wee/poo is removed/moped up on a regular basis.  Probably that they were not exercised with other dogs I had no knowledge of (I have 3 so they entertain themselves!), that you would take account of any medical conditions and that you would not undertake any training of my dogs.  The latter may be something that some owners may appreciate, but not me.  Couldn't care less if you played TV/radio - we have a quite life at home.  Finally I wouldn't want them to be in a big block with lots of other dogs, some of whom might be quite stressed in a kennel environment which may rub off on my dogs.  I don't like the clinical feel of kennels, though I understand they have to be to a certain extend for ease of cleaning.
Hope this has been a little use ... only time I've had to leave my dogs I've left them either with my breeder, or they've gone to a host home in order to maintain their normal routine.  I have finally found someone with a kennel who I would be willing to leave them with only to find she's selling up!!!

We are extremely happy with our current kennels because:

- the owners live on site
- it is at the back of a small town, well away from busy roads (in case of any catatrosphic events eg fire where the dogs would be let out of their kennels)
- the blocks are small and heated
- you enter a gate which is then shut.  And to gain access to the kennel blocks there is another door and then the door to the individual kennels so security is good if a dog gets loose
- the owners are flexible and accommodating to our needs eg they close at 5pm but say if we are delayed in collecting we can always ring if we are going to be a little late
- the kennels are always scrupulously clean whatever time fo day you go
- reasonable exercise area, again very secure

I would also like to see kennels that do day care and have a later pick up time for that. It would be great to have somewhere you could leave your dogs in safety if you have to go out for a whole day but be able to collect them say up to 8.30pm so they don't have to stay in overnight. Our kennels do not charge for an extra day if you collect before 11am  but it would be nice to be able to collect our dogs the night before so they didn't have to stay the night as well.

In addition to some of the things already said:

I don't trust many people to look after my dogs but as my preferred dog care is with family, and a 200 mile round trip, I do have to use kennels from time to time but for short stays only.  The biggest concerns are their health and wellbeing so it's more about the quality of care than the quality of their environment.  A basic kennel is fine as long as it is safe, offers protection from the weather indoors and out, and is kept clean.  I want someone on site 24hrs and making regular tours to check on the dogs.  As it's for short stays only I don't need the dogs walked but the opportunity for them to get out into a safe paddock for a leg stretch.  As someone else has said I do not want them out with other dogs or for someone to attempt training.

I want to be able to leave instructions and to believe they are being followed.  For instance I like my boys to be kenneled together but fed separately as one will be off his food and the other can't resist!!

The overall environment really makes a difference.  One kennels I viewed after we moved house was a huge barn that stank of cleaning fluid and wet dogs, and was staffed by chain smoking 15 yr olds. The floors were soaking wet and and poo cleaning seemed be managed by high pressure hose - I can only hope they moved the dogs first.  The kennels I use is at the back of some woods, surrounded by grass, with well maintained paddocks with post and rail fencing.  The office is a snazzy log cabin with hanging baskets.  The owners live on site, there are two secure gates creating a buffer from the road and the kennels are in small blocks all facing different directions so that the dogs are not all looking at each other.

Some flexibility about dropping off and pick up times can be helpful particularly for day boarders.  I would always rather have my boys home at night but I know it can be disturbing for other dogs.  Perhaps a seperate block - a bit further away from the other dogs  - for later collections.  If it were me I'd be happy to park further away and pay in advance just to be able to tiptoe quietly in and collect!

The price is not my major consideration but I'd hope for a reduction in dogs housed together and if I bring my own food?  I don't want to pay for real luxury but I'm happy to pay for excellent care.

When looking for a kennels for my dogs I wanted one that had some large family kennels so my 4 dogs could stay together. A good size run and a separate very well fenced large exercise area. A kennels where security is a top priority - double doors everywhere. Clean and as dry as possible. I want to see vet bed and water in every kennel (believe me some don't leave water down or bedding!). I wanted a kennels with solid partitions between dogs, in the kennel and run. I didn't want a kennel that walked the dogs, as that is an unacceptable risk for me - they could slip their leads and run off. I went round every boarding kennel in Central Scotland, and found the best (for me) actually quite close to me.

These are the reason I chose the kennels I now use, and I'm very happy with them. It would be good, as others have said, to have some more flexibility about collecting dogs outwith standard hours. However, having worked in kennels at weekends and holidays during school and college I know that kennel owners do need time to themselves - and often don't like the rest of the kennel block upset in the evening by visitors so I don't mind that this isn't possible.

Four things I look for:

1) Knowledgeable staff.  I have worked in kennels with staff that haven't the foggiest; cannot read dogs; cannot recognise stress (even when it's pouring off the dogs in waves :-(; feed terrible food)

2) Heating.  My dobe boy has alopecia and as such feels the cold badly - caring for him is similar to a hairless dog (tho not *quite* as bad).  So somewhere that heats the kennels well (or as in one case, will put the heating on more to cater just for him - very impressed!) and provides lots of bedding.

3) Exercise areas/sufficient exercise.  I don't expect a full two hours a day of course, but the last two kennels I have worked in were atrocious - one walked the dogs on lead twice a day for 5 minutes maximum (and the kennels weren't big, and no access to a run for most of the day if not all), and the other didn't exercise them at all that I was aware of.

4) Checking the dogs early and late.  Again the last two kennels were rubbish - the first didn't check after 6pm ish, and the second after 4pm (they were worried about the neighbours objecting to the barking - never mind the dogs!).  What if one of my dogs fell ill, or needed surgery (such as for bloat)?  They wouldn't be found until the next morning.

The best I've seen so far was the second place I worked - the dogs were let out first at 7am, into four large, secure paddocks and allowed to run and play for 10 minutes; then throughout the day they were let out every hour or two for 10-20 minutes (depending on weather) until the last time at 10pm.  So checked all day, kennels cleaned as soon as mess was made (which it rarely was, because they were out often enough not to need to go in their kennels).  And the owner - much as we had our differences regarding training - did know about dogs and first aid.

I would echo most of what everyone else has said :-)

Security for us is a big thing as is the space for them to exercise safely (for me I am happier with a heated run as opposed to walking), I think a radio on is a nice touch as it distracts from any dogs that are stressed and barking constantly. I would prefer to use bedding supplied by the kennels as ours always gets wrecked in kennels!
Cleanliness is also really important and just somewhere that is warm and sheltered for the dogs and has people living on site. Word of mouth is really powerful and if you impress your first few clients you will have plenty more to follow:-)

Good Luck

Have you checked out reeves kennels. They look very professional

www.reeveskennels.co.uk

the kennels we use sound very similar to the one described by Dachsie Lad. Run by a retired couple, who genuinely love our dog.

Nikita - my dobe is also experiencing hair loss, Vet said this was to be expected in big dogs. Very bald in places, especially in the light.

The kennels I use have fairly basic kennels & runs...although modern, bright and clean with underfloor heating.  Any time I have visited there has been a radio playing but that is not important to me. 

My main concern is for security and for knowledgeable, caring staff with someone on site 24 hours a day.  A bonus is for us to be able to provide our own BARF food.  Luckily we have found all of this & more :-)  What really impressed me about the kennel we use is the owner (who lives on site).  I also know that the last checks are done as late as 10pm or after as my brother works shifts and passes the kennels on his way to & from work.  One of the exercise areas can be clearly seen from the road and he often sees the owner still out playing with dogs late in the evening :-)  Not every evening maybe, but certainly in fair weather.

I knew we had found the right place for our dogs when, after their first stay of only 2 nights, the owner was able to describe exactly how our boy plays with people. He is an aloof character who only plays with immediate family so she must have been able to win him round very quickly...this impressed us greatly as he is not an easy dog to get to know :-)  Mind you, she admits that she has a soft spot for him because he is so 'interesting' to her and he always comes back to us is a few pounds heavier than he went in due to all the extra treats...he must be one of the few dogs that put on weight in kennels!

I don't use kennels (because my family can usually have him or he goes to his groomer) but I do use catteries. For me a cattery has to be sufficiently apart from the dogs. I looked at one cattery that was housed right next to the dogs and the cats all looked nervous and distressed at being in close proximity to barking dogs. They also had opened tins of cat food around which was not good to see. The cattery I chose was just a cattery, so no dogs to worry about, it had big outside runs, and the owners lived on site and would try to spend some time with each cat everyday. It was also very secure so I wasn't worried about my cats escaping into the countryside.

HTH :-)

I dont use a kennels as such, we have a K9 company Kelly! that has the dogs at home. I take their crates to her she has a smallish house but the whole of the back garden is astro turf for the dogs. She has a cople of springers and the 4 of them are exercised at least twice a day and they love her to bits plus she has two kids that they also love. Nearly get my arms pulled out when they go and stay and in really good nick when I collect them £10 a dog each day and I provide their own food. I hope she stays for ever. If I did kennel I would be looking for both dogs kept together a large "field" area for play times and I do like music for them plus warm, not hot (as we have a border) but warm enough for them. I would pay a bit more if its a good place, about £40 for the pair a day or it gets a bit pricey for dogs and holiday. I think home based is better as they dont feel "shut away" Id pay extra for a home setting. We get cheaper with Kelly as her OH and my OH are Scout Leaders in the same troop.

My dog has been in kennels twice now and stupidly I admit I didn't view the second one before sending her there, I had just gone off a neighbours recommendation.   But one thing that I didn't like about it was that the kennel sheds were huge, I'm not saying that Bess wasn't well cared for, she was it's just that I didn't enjoy walking through the kennel shed to put her in there, as it was really big with lots of dogs barking.  I know is to be expected but it was unsettling for Bess to be surrounded by so many barking dogs as she likes her own company.  So in other words get more smaller kennel sheds than one big one.

I use kennels for my Rotties and the latest one is fab. We always insist on visiting first and being shown exactly where they'll be sleeping what foods are provided, what happens re exercise.

The first kennel we went to view was a nightmare. Visits were only allowed in a 1 hour window on a sunday, well you would've thought that if this is their showcase time they would've made sure it was clean! Dog mess everywhere, water bowls empty etc. The woman looked like Cruella de Ville, needless to say we didn't use them.  There have been others where we had to pay extra to get them walked, as we liked the set up of the kennel and run, but they only got 2  x 15 minute sessions in the grass "pens" for exercise, so willingly paid the extra for lead walks.

We moved in Dec and have been really lucky with our latest kennels. We were able to just turn up to visit, and were shown through immaculate kennels. It's set in 3 acres, each kennel block leads out onto it's own v large secure paddock and the beasties get a 20-30 minute session in this every couple of hours. There are heated kennels for those that need it, I've not had to ask for them yet as we've only put them in during the more reasonable weather, but we would have need for this in unseasonable times due to 2 of my girls having HD. All bedding is provided (Vetbed). We can provide our own food (although there's no discount for it), but have found out they feed Arden Grange, so last time they went in they ate what was provided. The owners live on site, it's a real family affair with the son also showing his dog, so they do know and understand about dogs. They went into this business because of a love of dogs rather than due to monetary reasons. They happily follow all my instructions re making the dogs sit and wait for their dinners, and give any medications or in my case supplements free of charge.

All 3 are kenneled together, and don't need bathing when they come home (unlike some kennels we've used). I think what really did it for me was the first time we went to pick them up, they'd been in for 5 days. I went through into the paddock, then the kennel girl went to let them out. They came tearing across the field and straight up to the other kennel maid that I was talking to, I got a cursory "Oh hello mum", and then they were off running and playing. Shows they didn't miss me eh! We pay £10 per dog per day.

The not charging extra days of collected by a certain time is a nice touch, as would be out of hours drop off/pick ups. This kennels makes no concessions for this, we pay for number of days in, rather than nights, so usually end up paying £30 more than we would with other kennels. But the attitude of the staff, and the happiness of my dogs balances it out.

My perfect kennel:
- large covered run including outdoor.
- a radiator for them to snuggle up to if they wish (comfort with my two not warmth, underfloor heating would not be ideal)
- Not too close to other guests
- a good view of humans going about their business
- a barf menu or if not, I provide the grub
- a large husky proof dog run
- excellent cleanliness
- a period of playtime with humans
- only locked up at fall of darkness and unlocked a day break
- exercise at minimum 2 hours a day
- and this one really is wishful thinking : someone to put them in harness and take them out for a run
- a bath and grooming on departure included in the price
- no extra payment if late on departure date to collect them

That's about it!

> Nikita - my dobe is also experiencing hair loss, Vet said this was to be expected in big dogs. Very bald in places, especially in the light.

Well that's a new one on me.  Why should it be expected in big dogs?

My boy has alopecia because of his colouring - he is a fawn, and like the blues they are very prone to colour dilute alopecia and skin problems.  He is also badly bred (fawn X blue, when neither colour should ever be bred from, let alone to each other).

If your boy is losing hair I would get his thyroid tested straight away - my other dobe (a red) started losing hair earlier this year, and she has major hypothyroidism.  Really, really low values and is on medication for it.  The hair loss was my first major tip off (she'd put on weight too and it wouldn't shift, but I wasn't walking them as much as normal so it didn't twig).