My 3 yr old boy went for his first sleep over at a carefully chosen kennels last night in preperation for his 2 weeks stay in the summer, the kennels are not the closest but had the nicest attitude and feel when I visited them but when I went to collect him it was so busy I didnt get chance to ask the 100s of questions I had about how he had coped ( I also didnt want them thinking I was being over the top !) they did say  he didnt eat his dinner until overnight, I am hoping this was a little sulk but they also said he went to nip one of the staff when they put a slip lead on him to get him back in after exercise in the yard - they put this down to his nerves. Apparently he also cowered in the rear of the indoor run of his kennel when they went to try to get him out for exercise.
I feel dreadful that he tried to nip them and that he must of been frightened to cower in the kennel, would this behaviour be usual for a dogs first time in keenels?
I had never planned to use kennels when I got him as my friends all said they would look after him if the need arose but after 3 years the first time has arisen and no one is available.If I had know I would of let him have a sleep over at a kennel more often to get accustomed to it.
He is now home & not his usual boyant self , I am hoping he is just sulking a little and will cheer up after he realises life is back to normal.
any comments on the behaviour in kennels I would appreciate.
thanks

Hello, Im sorry about your boys experience in the kennels :(
Some dogs can have bad reactions to being placed in kennels, my old lab used to refuse to eat and wouldnt move from the back of her kennel, we can to collect her after one day, she didnt cope atall, some dogs just dont.

Sorry that your first experience of kennels has not been good.
I worked in kennels for 6 years and it broke my heart to see a dog which wasn't happy. We had some dogs which were quite nervous for the first couple of days, but after spending some time with them and not rushing them, most of them were ok, some even enjoyed their time with us.  There are some, however, that are just not kennel dogs and however much we tried to win them round, it just didn't happen.

Please don't feel down hearted. If your boy had a bit of a nip at the staff, he is just defending himself.  He can't say 'I don't like that', he can only express himself with his teeth.

I spent hours over a couple of days trying to get a Rottweiler to come for a walk with me just by sitting in her kennel and talking to her.  Eventually she came round and turned out to be a really lovely girl, who waited for me to take her for her walks! She had a lovely stay us.
It is an alien environment and there is lots going on and quite alot of noise that some dogs aren't used to.
It may be worth a phone call to the kennels to find out excatly how he was during his stay, and if they think the nipping was just nerves.  I hope all goes well if you decide to give it another go.

Its not uncommon for a dog to react like that.  Dogs react the way they know how and sometimes the only way of defence is attack.  I'm sure given time, if he was backing off he would of come around and been fine, if the kennels didnt say he wasnt welcome back, then he cant of been too bad.  They were honest with you, "some" kennels wouldnt of said a word, a dog on the other side of a door is no problem, the fact they were upfront meant they DID spend time with your dog.
Dawn.