BOARDING KENNELS

Do you put your buddy into kennels when you are away?

This weekend saw my son get married down in Berwick Upon Tweed. We had to stay over in the hotel Friday and Saturday night. As the whole family were going to be there it gave me a dilemma as to who was going to look after my five dogs. There was nothing for it but to put them into commercial kennels for a couple of days. For some of you, you may already put your buddies into kennels on a yearly basis as you head off to sunnier climes, and who could blame you what with the great British weather and everything. But I take my holidays in the UK, mostly because I couldn't take to put my dogs into kennels every year. But it is also expensive. for me, it was £150 for three days for five dogs. That's not cheap. But then I wouldn't take a chance on putting them somewhere I thought might be a bit dodgy. This is the second time they have been in these particular kennels. The last time was 2010, when we went to Crufts and couldn't get anybody to watch them. Prior to putting them in the first time I had checked the kennels out and spoke at length with the Kennel Manager. To be fair she was very competent and knowledgeable about dogs and dog behavior so I felt fairly comfortable that they would be in good hands. As it turned out they were perfectly fine and there were no outward signs of the effects of being put into the boarding kennels. However, for Miya the big Northern Inuit, I had only rescued her from kennels the year before and so she had experience of the kennels recently. The two labs were aged seven and very calm and sociable and seemed OK. When we put them in this weekend, Miya had not been in kennels for two years and had really started to settle down in the house. When we got her back from the kennels on Sunday she acted really tired and lethargic. Like she had had a pretty stressful time of it. Was it possibly a set back for her? Time will tell over the coming months. I'll keep you posted. What must they think when you take them for a run in the car and then leave them with a stranger surrounded by strange barking dogs only feet from them and they cant run or hide? What if their neighbors bark all night, because their feeling lonely and abandoned? How would you cope? Logistically though for me there was no options. I would not presume to ask anyone to dog sit five dogs. One maybe, two probably not, but five?????? Their back home now and we took them for a five hour hike up Eagle Falls yesterday to make it up to them. They came back home last night and slept all night. Then it was back to work for me this morning and the old routine for them. Sent away my application to the Animal Care College to study the Intermediate level of Canine Psychology. In it the prospectus says a new section on the Dog's brain will be discussed. So I'll let you know soon what I think they think about being put into kennels.




..........see you soon 

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