As above we're having a couple of issues with our current dogsitter (the missus' nan!) so we're looking at alternatives for when we are on holiday in June.

Has anyone had any bad experiences with putting their dogs in kennels? I've heard that their personalities can change etc etc or is that crap? He'll be put in there for 2 weeks, trying to look for someone to look after him but not much luck so far!

Can anyone recommend a dog kennel in Essex / Chelmsford / Wickford / Billericay area?

Cheers
Chris

 

I passed a big cat/dog kennal on the Epping road from the M11 jct 7, dunno wot its called though but always loadsa people there, its opposite a petrol station, cant be more help as im a geordie lost in essex!

personalitys can be altered if they have bad experiences in there matey, just take note of other dogs in there

 

Cheers . There are loads of kennels around this way but its knowing which one!! He's only 10 months old and quite a friendly little chap so dont want him getting bullied etc (he's a Lhasa Apso). Not sure whether it is better to go for a smaller family run kennel or a larger well known one?

 

http://www.champdogs.co.uk/breeder/1872.html

That's the kennel I got my dog Vin in Wickford, great lot and he still goes back if I need kennels, wouldn't trust anyone else...

 

Thats a breeder isnt it? Not a boarding kennel?

 

They have kennels too, sorry thats just a link off a breeder website...

 

place on th A5 (dont want to name them just yet)
But they looked after a mates 2 dogs,from what we can work out he shut one of the tails of the dogs in the gate and must off not notice the dog squealing and dog pulled away losing its tail in the process.

The kennal owner said he knew nothing at all about what had happened and blamed the other dog for chewing at the tail! WTF???

The two dogs have lived with each other for about 8 years and never ever fight and it took an emergency opp to sort the tail out on the dog,where the kennel owner did nothing to it just left it as an open wound for nearly a week, till my mate and his missus came back of thier hols.

My advise, keep clear of this one

 

have to say i would never trust any kennel with my dog friends and family only

 

Theres a lady local to us that does housesitting for animals, she used to run a superb cattery but a divorce forced her to sell up. I trust her 100% with my cats, she's as mad as a box of frogs but loves animals. Can pass on her number if it may be of interest, she's in Latchingdon which is fairly close to you.

We used to use Farcroft cattery & kennels but one time we picked up the cats after a week and they were so unhappy, they'd obviously been seperated plus they wouldnt let us see the pens.

 

if u leave ur dog at the kennels for some time will come out differnt my mate put his dog at some kennel place near me and went on holiday for a week and came back anditwas just going mad biting him and all sorts but now is ok

 

S1 - if you could pm me the number is would be great, Latchingdon isnt far, funnily enough our dog groomer lives there!

Since the thread we may have one person who will be up for it, hopefully he can live in my house for the fortnight to look after Trev so he's in his normal surroundings!

 

If that falls through mate the Wickford kennels really are top notch, breed Bullmastiffs & Bichon Frise so work well with all sizes...

 

Left our boxer dog winston at a reputable kennels up our way for one night when he was just over a year, didnt sleep eat all that day night when he was there, wasnt the same dog when we got him back, he went in a huff big time too, took him 2 or 3 days to come round to his normal self like eating etc. never again if i can help it.

 

My dogs have been in kennels loads of times, cant get anyone to take on two bullies for a night never mind a fortnight lol. One of em loves it and the other dont , depends on the dog to be honest.
I would maybe book him in for a night , then a weekend befor you go for a couple of weeks,that way he knows your coming back for him mate. He seems about the right age too, not too set in his ways and younge enough to maybe see it as an exsperiance . They have pesonalities and can be upset but if eased in he should be fine .
I would rather leave my dog with good profesionals than a mate , imagine if he got out ?At the kennels they get there food, excersise and are kept apart from the other dogs soshould be safe as houses.

 

Can happen , but if left for longer he would soon start eating lol. We used to take the food for ours , couple of weeks of prepared meals , but eventualy realised they are animals as much as we love em they will cope with the changes.

 

Strange thing as well mate, his dog bed at the time we took that too, but he pee`d all over it?? whats that about?

 

Used to being surrounded by his scent when he beds down, would of been too diluted in a kennel so he had to get things potent again lol...

 

seriously?

 

Yep lol...

Their whole personalities are built around scent, reason they'll mark the same tree's for 10 years, prefer certain toys, need the same blankets, like a sofa spot etc.

 

as said making him feel at home lol

 

Yeah he loves nothing better than sleeping on a pissed soaked bed, who desnt

 

As said previously on this thread, you can get a proffesional person who will dog sit for you and look after your house at the same time. We were dreading putting our boxer dog in the kennels when we go away. But at the end of the day Its a big commitment to leave them with someone and if anything did happen would you want to burden some one else with a problem.We now take him to the kennels(we dont really want to) but there sometimes isnt any alternatives. The kennels we take him to are £8.75 (large dog fee)a night to include bedding and all foods etc, plus that is with an outside run for them to go outside through the day. That price is up in the north though so maybe more exspensive the further south you go. If it really is bothering you i would look up references and ask about for good recommendations from other dog owners in the area. We absolutley love animals and we know people treat them as a family member but as said they are a animal at the end of the day and will adapt. When you go away on holiday you dont want to be worrying all the time and on pins. Out of all the dog owners on PF with 30k members How many have actually had bad experiences with kennels?

 

We leave our 2 labs about 6 weekends per year

We started at a very very posh place , Superb place that wasnt very old and had all the mod conns ,BUT, the woman that owned / run the place had a real attitude problem and we just couldnt find anything we liked about her so now use a nice old place where the owner is fantastic and we feel she realy loves animals and were happy she looks after our dogs

IMO the people who own / run kennals is more inportant that the place itself

We love our dogs more than anything in the world and knowing there looked after means everything to us

Chatt with other dog owners and see who they use