We are considering a couple of days away next month without the dogs...so they would go into boarding kennels. We don't leave their collars on at home, for safety reasons - but I presume they would have to wear them in kennels?

Hi, when we left our pup at kennels in July (very reluctantly :-( ), we asked them to ONLY have his collar on when he was out of his kennel. They said this wasn't a problem. Like you, i never have my pups collar on in the house so i was concerened about him being at the kennels. Plus he grows out of a collar VERY quickly so i didnt want it to be left on and choke him as he got bigger over the 2 weeks!!  Maybe you could ask the kennel owners and see what they say. HTH :-)

Your dog shouldn't need to wear their collar whilst in the kennels as they normally use slip leads (you may want to check that with them), the only reason I can think for them to wear a collar would be for identification purposes, incase they were to escape, but that is highly unlikely.

If you wouldn't normally have your dog wear their collar whilst in the house, I would say you should put them into kennels without their collar on - they are no more at risk of being lost than they would be at home and from experience, less likely to get anywhere out of the 'safe' areas when being handled by the kennel maids.

We used to put the lead on in the run or kennel area before even opening the door, then walk them to the exercise area and let them off... lead back on and back into the kennel - so the dog is never roaming in unspecified areas.

When I sent my two in, they both went in without their collars on (just in case!)

hth,

Roxanne

I have worked in boarding kennels and sad to say, dogs do very occasionally escape.
I'd prefer my dog to have a collar on, for that reason :)

Lindsay
x

there have been escapee from kennels,id insist on a collar

We put our eldest in a kennel back in June and we were told that he had to have a collar with ID tag as, apparantly, it is the law ! 

Both our dogs don't wear collars at home fo safety reasons but I would put one on them if I ever had to put them in kennels again - just for piece of mind incase they do escape.

Tara x

Well, I stand corrected - though Lindsay, I worked in kennels for two years and we didn't have one escape, neither during 'working hours' or in the evening. Everything was very well run and there wasn't much chance of a dog getting loose.

did anyone here of the kennels that also did some rehoming from another section?
dog escaped ,got found put in the stray rehomeing section & was rehomed  before owners got back!!!!!

Yep, that was featured on our local TV. An 8-month sheltie dog puppy escaped from the boarding section, was brought in a day or so later as a stray, and rehomed as a (wait for it) 6 year old bitch!! Luckily the elderly owners saw him in the town and after a bit of a battle, got him back.

Forgot to add that I must be a bit naive as I didn't realise that dogs that were put in kennels were actually allowed off lead ?  The one we put our eldest in certainly didn't let him off lead as we did actually express that he has had chronic bronchitis and now suffers from a lot of allergies, specifically pollen etc that is inhaled so he was to be kept as calm as possible (springer cross = not easy LOL)  I will have to make sure that if I do put any of my dogs in kennels not only will they have a collar and ID tag but that I express that they are not to be let off lead - accidents do happen, holes in fences etc are made and can be overlooked - would hate to come home to find out that one of my babies has got out :(

Model lisencing conditions state dogs should wear a collar with identification on when in kennels.
Dawn.

Thanks - after all that it doesn't give much peace of mind about using boarding kennels......:-(

I worked in a good kennels but it was new and the owners needed to put in more security such as higher fencing... a border collie got out, went straight over the fencing and was off apparently ... I was annoyed because the fencing was one thing money should have been spent on. I wasn't there when it happened, but saw the upset owner when she came back, talking to the kennel owner.

Their own dog also got out once, and a boxer, (the boxer did come back) and that was in the space of 6 months...thing is, they were a fairly good kennel or I wouldn't have worked there, but one of the reasons i left was lack of excellent security. So I would imagine there's kennels that are not so good, as well as, hopefully, many that are much better regarding security.

Lindsay
x

I'm shocked to hear these stories, perhaps I just worked at an exceptionally good place... We used to get clients from all over the country leaving their dogs with us.

The kennels had a two-phase door system; normally you would enter the 'run' and lock the gate behind you, then enter their kennel. If for whatever reason the dog did get past you they could only get into the run, which gave you as long as you needed to get the slip onto them...

From there they are walked through several more 'locked' areas into the running field which was surrounded by fencing, easily higher than 10ft. In two years the only panic we ever had was when one of the maids went to clean a kennel only to find there was no dog in it... after 30 mins of frantic searching, we found the dog in another kennel - another maid had moved it because he had made a mess in his sleeping area and she forgot to move his name plate :D

As there are lots of these stories, I would definitely leave their collar and id tag on - just in case!

Check out the kennels first, so you know where your dogs are going, that should put your mind at ease - if you can ask when the dogs will be exercised, you could see how the kennels hands go about it and the facilities for exercising.  If any kennel owner says you can't look round, walk away - my boss knows of one woman who won't show people round, because she keeps all the boarders in cages stacked one on top of the other, and doesn't let them out as long as they are there.  Any good kennels should have nothing to hide.

As for the collars - personally, I would put them on - if nothing else, it does come in handy if a dog nips out of the kennel through your legs before you get the lead on!!  Peace of mind two of course, and with more than one dog it helps with ID - we've had a few pairs in where we don't know which dog is which - either no collar, or no tag if there is a collar.  It's a pain.

QUOTE :Thanks - after all that it doesn't give much peace of mind about using boarding kennels

It would be best you checked kennels out rather than speculate without doing so.
Dawn.

Actually the dogs did go into the kennels for the day when we moved house last year - and they were excellent. However, it's just reading about what can go wrong which tends to raise one's anxiety levels. Also, when adding up the cost of B&B + kennel fees...p'raps we'll stay at home instead. :-)

I would always want my dogs to wear collars, be it in kennels or in the house. I didnt used to, but a friend of mine had a house fire and in the furore of everything the dogs got out...and hey presto, no collar, dog lost. My bitch got out when my house was burgled, but was returned immediately due to wearing her collar.
i would never take a chance on losing my dogs. regardless of how careful one is there is always a chance of escape. I would feel terrible if one escaped with no collar on. 

We have just had our dogs tattooed so that they can still be identified even if collarless. I appreciate, though, that return is likely to be quicker with a collar and identity tag. As so often, it's a balance of risks, isn't it?

Can I ask if the stories mentioned were reported to the appropriate authorities, and what course of action was taken? 
Dawn.