As you may remember my dogs have just been in kennels. As it is the first time I have used kennels I was wondering what care you would expect and what you would be a little annoyed about. My dogs all look fine but they were very smelly as was all of their bedding, there was urine stains on the side of the basket and I have had to wash everything to get rid of the smell and bath all 3 dogs. The kennels didn't smell when I visited before booking. Their feet and part of their legs were wet where the kennel had been hosed down. I provided enough food to last more than the length of their stay and I sent treats. I told the kennels that any change in food would cause tummy upsets particularly in my cairn. When I picked them up all their belongings were packed and carried out to the car for me. The lady said that she thought that she had over fed them at the beginning of the week but that they were fine. She then said that she had found something that they really enjoyed and showed me a pack of Hi-Life. When I got home there was none of their usual food in the bag and she had put in a packet of HiLife. I have a feeling that they ran out of food (which they should not have done, a 5kg bag for 2 yorkies and a cairn is ample) and she fed them something else. As I said they are ok and they are home now but I felt quite annoyed would you be cross or am I over reacting?
jane

It's quite normal for dogs to get smelly in kennels. Some kennels automatically bath their 'visitors' before they're collected but I'd be livid if that happened! Did you leave specific instructions about feeding quantities? If not then it's quite likely that the staff guessed the wrong quantity and overfed them.

The most important thing is that your dogs were safe and secure and well. :)

There is no need for dogs to come out of kennels smelly if they have been let out in their run enough but most kennels (it's always worth asking) shut the dogs in at 4pm and don't let them out until 8am the next day.  Most pet dogs are used to going out at 10 or 11 in the evening, which makes a big difference to their routine.  I use a kennel where they are let out at 10pm and put to bed with a biscuit, which is what my lot are used to and they don't come out smelly. :)

Even if they have access to their runs 24hrs a day it's easy to get smelly in kennels Val. All it needs is for the dog to pee then walk through it - then walk into their beds.

I've worked in kennels that work like that and it's not where I would leave my dogs. :(

Where I DO leave my dogs they put Vetbed in the dogs' own beds and this is washed daily.  They use Parvocide to disinfect the kennels and the runs which doesn't stink like Jeyes - yuk! :)  Dogs' feet are checked everyday because each dog is checked all over everyday.  If the dogs own bed is washable, then this would be washed the day before the dog is due to go home.  The kennel is cleaned and dried while the dog is in the run and the run is cleaned and dried while the dogs are in the kennel.  Their motto is that the dogs leave in better condition that they came it! :D

If a steam cleaner is used, all bugs are killed and the dogs don't get wet feet anyway. :)

There are good kennels and not such good kennels.  The problem is, like choosing a kennel, grooming parlour or breeder, you don't know what to look for and what questions to ask because most people don't realise the variables. :)

I would expect the bedding to be checked and changed as necessary.  I could understand a little bit of smelliness if the dogs had just soiled the bedding when I picked them up, but even then that shouldn't be much.

The kennels I've just left (where I would never board my dogs, incidentally) didn't use any bedding for hygiene reasons - the dogs had bare plastic beds unless their own bedding was brought, and that was washed if it was soiled.  The plastic beds were hosed and dried if any pee/poo was found in them.  The kennels were never smelly except just prior to the twice daily clean - and half the dogs only had access to runs for about 4 hours a day over lunchtime.  The rest of the time, the dogs with runs were shut in and the other half didn't have any at all, only indoor kennels (and not very big ones).

jane - I'd be absolutely livid about the food thing, especially as you gave specific instructions not to feed your dogs anything else.  Did you mention how much to give each dog?  If you did, then the staff have obviously overfed them - that implies either no-one listened to you or to the kennel manager, or whoever you saw didn't pass that information on.  Not acceptable either way IMO.  If it happened to mine I would hit the roof - I can more or less guarantee that my dogs would get diarrhoea if they were fed something else.  I tend to err on the side of caution - when they were on kibble, I left my cup with the bag and explained how much each dog got, this time around as they're on raw meat I'll be individually bagging each meal so there's no way they can get it wrong.

I don't think you should get upset about the food issue, it would appear that they overfed tham as JG has said. Next time they go measure their food out into individual bags for each dog for each meal :)

As for smelling it's difficult to say, if you're taking bedding to the kennels always make sure it's waterproof and washable. Personally my dogs always smell of jeyes fluid when I get them home. Smelling of urine doesn't always mean the kennels weren't cleaned properly - perhaps your dogs were marking more being in a strange place?

Yes, the dogs feet and legs will be wet if you collected them straight after they'd been cleaned or if it was a wet day, there's no getting round that in kennels.

I'd say if your dogs look fine, and are happy then thats all that matters :)

...and it was nice of the kennels to put a bag of hilife in your bag too :)

I didnt leave specific instructions about quantity but they would have to have been fed an awful lot to use up a 5kg bag. One of my yorkies only weighs 4lb!!  I did ask that they were only fed their normal food though but even so they are fine  (although one of them is coughing quite a lot today)and that is the main thing.  I haven't used kennels before and I wondered what was normal. I have found finding a kennel and leaving them quite traumatic!! I am a worrier by nature so I should have known :rolleyes: jane

Thanks all. As I said I am a worrier, but they are quite happy, its just me being me!!!!
jane

I would go by personal reccommendation, I have only left my male in kennels twice and that came with a reccommendation,they washed his bedding and he didnt smell I know of someone that used to work there and she said that the owner was fastidious about cleanliness in fact he was always going on at the staff to clean out the kennel,now we have two goldens but if I can help it I dont like to put them in kennels we have caravan holidays or book a cottage, we used to go abroad regularily but not now, maybe I am too soft,my cousin had a bad experince with her 2 and kennels never again she now uses "Animal Aunts" she now swears by them bit expensive but she says the peace of mind is worth it. Anyone used them??

I haven't used Animal Aunts but I've used Minders Keepers, and been very satisfied with the service. If you have multiple dogs it can actually work out cheaper than kennels, the dogs stay relaxed in their own environment and your house isn't unoccupied so is less likely to be burgled. :)

Oo never heard of Minders Keepers, have to say have thought about it her dogs now look forward to "Aunty Joan" coming to stay! and as you say JG they live in the house they even mowed her lawn for her  before she came back from her hols, and one of the dogs had been sick and she had taken him to the vet, so sounds good to me....maybe one day..?

Doggy smell is OK with me.  I figure it is due to being in closer contact than usual with more dogs.  But a urine smell, complete with staining on her white legs, was a signal for us to change kennels as it indicated something was frightening our ESS, who was nervous of men.  Our present kennel asks if we would like our Lab girl to be bathed before we are scheduled to pick her up and we always say no.  They did once groom a friend's Keeshond though, just for the fun of seeing his lovely thick coat all spruced up.  I would be very, very upset about the change in food but I always leave detailed, written instructions for feeding.  If my sister's BC had his food changed it would likely mean copious amounts of diarrhoea.

We left our boy for the first time in kennels and i was very worried about him, even kept phoning to ask if he was ok..:rolleyes:

He was very smelly when we picked him up as was his bedding and his toilet training went back to square one!!

Despite this if i think about it rationally he was happy when he came out and we didn't experience any other problems, tbh kennels are never going to be the same as when your dog is at home. They are with alot of other dogs, in a place that is cleaned down and do spend alot of time in their kennel!

I would absolutely love to find a kennel (on our island) where you could send your dog in and they came out in even better condition!

Sorry to hijack your thread BUT.....
My dad picked up my two from kennels this morning.
It isnt the same one as I used the l;ast 2 times as I had already booked them into this one months ago, and it came highly recommended.
I dont know the full story but dad told me they had to MUZZLE Ebba as she was cheing through the kennel :( :( :(
The other kennels where I took them to the last 2 times never said anything about her having a problem with staying in the kennels and was fine.
So why on earth would anyone muzzle a dog?????
I have had Ebba 8 months now and have never ever used a muzzle on her :(
And when they got back, Ebba was breaking her neck to go outside to the toilet, and Beano's eye was all gunky, something that I have been dealing with, but obviously she hadnt done anything with it, not even wiped the gunk off :( :(
I did only pay £15 for 2 nights, even though it should have been £30 so I think she messed up on the cost, but I wont be taking them back there :(
Lea :(

She shouldn't be able to chew the kennel Lea - all kennela have to be concrete and metal now - boarding kennels are no longer allowed to be made of wood for hygeine reasons. A friend of mine with kennels had to knock down all her wooden ones and rebuild.

I worked in a couple of kennels, through school and college and even in those days if dogs chewed wooden strips it was just one of those things - you can't muzzle a dog all day. I would be very very angry about that. Is it possible they just didn't trust her and muzzled her to get her lead on to bring her out the kennels?

Going back to the smelly point, I'm not talking about dogs being soaked in urine, I'm merely talking about dogs peeing then walking through it, especially as the ops dogs are small and coated - in the best run kennels they can't mop up every wee as it happens, and as the floor is concrete then it's quite likely this did happen.

The kennels we use and trust won't use the owners bedding at all. He does take it in with a nod of his head though, then when the owners go, he swops it for a plastic washable bed with a carpet sample in it for them to sleep on. These are taken from the mulitude of carpet sample books that they have stacked up in the feed room. This is a good idea I think, as the guests are given a clean one every day and the old one is collected and disposed of. The dogs certainly don't suffer and ours come home smelling of sawdust and shavings.

If you find a kennels that's nearly always fully booked and has been going for years and years on reputation alone, then you should be on the right track. it's a shame for everybody when things go wrong.

Yep, the kennels I've found was on recommendation - she doesn't advertise because people hear about it through word of mouth and she has no need to. And I was very impressed with it...

Did they not have kennels that could withstand a chewing dog? After all, that is the point of a kennel.... I'm with you, I wouldn't be happy with that and wouldn't be going back there either.

Lea, that's the not the worst I've seen - the owner of one of the kennels I've worked in was perfectly happy to put an anti-bark e-collar on a dog because he wouldn't stop barking.  Didn't matter that he was always either homesick or wanting a run - all that mattered was keeping him quiet at night so she could go to sleep.