Dogs that cannot be boarded

I meet many people that cannot go on holidays unless they take their dog or just can’t go at all due to some of their dogs behaviours, these dogs that cannot be boarded are a huge strain on a family or person’s life.

Clients say to me that they have tried taking their dog to a boarding kennel and the kennel had refused to take them or called the owner soon after dropping the dog off to request the dog be collected right away.

I have also had kennels call me because dogs they were boarding were not coping and were either aggressive or shut down and not eating.

This resolves many people to just giving up on any time away unless their dog can come too.

Of course, it does not help if you get sick and need to go to hospital or something similar.

A client’s daughter was getting married in Hawaii where she lived and the client was stuck between attending his only daughter’s wedding and putting his very aggressive Rottweiler to sleep, or simply not going.

So yes, this is a big problem.

So here are FIVE tips that will help overcome or even better, avoid these issues with dogs that cannot be boarded.

The number 1 thing you should do when you have a dog under 1 year old is have this pup spend a couple of nights in a boarding kennel that caters for young dogs like yours.

This allows us to observe the pups behaviour and make sure he or she is coping. It also teaches the pup that you will come back.

We recommend ALL our puppy buyers to do this before the pup gets to a year old, especially if the dog lives or spends time inside your home.

In my experience, if your pup settles in the kennel and finds out you will come back, they are easily boarded in the future.

Some sensitive, nervous, fearful pups may need to have this visit repeated a couple of times, but it will be a benefit throughout yours and the dogs life as you wont have one of those dogs that cannot be boarded.

Number 2 is, if you have a dog that has not been boarded before, test them in a kennel well before you go away. If your dog has not been boarded before, you don’t know how your dog will go in a kennel environment. Adult dogs may find it harder to adjust to this change in scenery more than a young dog or puppy.

So, before heading off on an eight week adventure, board your dog for a couple of nights well before your trip. If it all goes well, the eight weeks will be a breeze, if it doesn’t, you will have the chance to have your dog do some short stays before the bigger trip.

Kennels have had to request owners return from holidays because their dog had not eaten in weeks.

Number 3 is, choose a kennel that will suit your dog. If you are say, a light sleeper, you would not book accommodation next to a busy highway, so, if your dog is stimulated, reactive or fearful of other dogs, he or she would do better in a kennel that has privacy for you dog.

All our kennels are designed this way as we board and rehab some very seriously aggressive dogs, so it is essential for their mental health they get down time.

Number 4, if your dog is an escape artist, or very well able to scale tall fences in a single bound, make sure the kennel you choose is highly secure and they know your dog is an escape artist.

I have heard so many stories in which people returned from their holidays to find their dog had escaped a week ago and kennel staff could not find it.

Designing our kennel meant having fences that are 3 metres tall with mesh that is designed to be very, very difficult to climb and impossible to chew through.

Chain mesh fencing can be torn open by a dog in a minute, and many kennels use it.

 

 

Our kennel runs are 2.4 metres tall with the same unclimbable unchewable mesh and they are mesh right to the insulated roof.

I can’t think of any dog that could ever get out of our kennels.

Number 5, numbers, kennels with hundreds of dogs are noisy, active and unsettling for many dogs.

Your high drive, uneasy, nervous, anxious, reactive, aggressive dog may not do well in a kennel with high numbers of dogs and low numbers of staff.

We have a very low dog to staff member ratio here, I will go as far to say the lowest you will find, meaning, more skilled people per dog.

This is because we are a specialised facility that can easily cater for dogs that are outside of the normal bracket.

We cater for all dogs, happy little wagging tail dogs that have no issues at all, but we also cater for the opposite end of the spectrum too.

Why are there dogs that cannot be boarded?

Many years ago, this was not such a big problem, but now a days dogs are in closer relationships with their owners.

Sleeping indoors, maybe even in the owner’s bed, relaxing on the couch and not going outside much at all.

They are also in our company many more hours a day and this will not happen when your away.

So, you can imagine being moved into a noisy, small kennel run with dogs visibly each side barking most of every day.

This can be devastating to some dogs and they become dogs that cannot be boarded.

There are many dogs out there that have behaviour problems, I have written many blog posts with thoughts on why this is the case, such as http://blog.k9pro.com.au/dog-problems-why/ and http://blog.k9pro.com.au/is-your-dog-your-best-friend/ and these dogs can be dangerous in a normal kennel environment being handled by staff that are not trained to work with aggressive dogs.

Again, for us, we specialise in aggressive dog rehabilitation so are more than qualified and experienced with the full spectrum range.

The message here is to condition your young dog to being kennelled before they are a year old if you can, if you didn’t the next best time is now.

When we have the option of a short stay or two, we can get the majority of dogs settled quickly and they enjoy their stay immensely.

We can add training to any dog, regardless of their existing problems, and this too helps them settle and enjoy the enrichment of training, with the security of routine, rules and boundaries.

A large percentage of our clients come from interstate, this is very possible now with transport options becoming easier and more affordable.

We are a small kennel so of course we are booked out in advance, but with good planning we may be the solution to your dogs that can’t be boarded.

If you have a dog that needs some extra help being boarded, give us a call on 02 45 789 789 or email us on info@k9pro.com.au and we can help you!