There are many articles on the internet telling you WHAT to look out for, and what to avoid in kennels, but none that I’ve found actually tell you WHY.  Unless you understand what effects these problems will have for your dog, you’re unlikely to avoid them.

Although we could ask kennel owners these questions directly, we feel it is more prudent to ask dog owners who have used or visited kennels to look for these problems throughout the year.  That’s why we ask every dog owner who leaves a boarding kennels review on BoardingKennels.org if they noticed any of them.

Top 10 Kennel Sins

To make it easy for you to find out what to look for and avoid, here are the Top 10 Kennel Sins and what they mean for your dog:

1. Did the kennels smell?
   If it smells - it’s unhygienic. If it’s unhygienic, it can lead to illness and disease. Old or poorly designed or constructed kennels often have  materials that are completely unsuitable. The floors and walls of kennels should be easy to clean and stop any liquids (urine, washdown water with urine/faeces) soaking into the material. If liquids, bacteria and disease can soak into a building, it will smell (even more so for dogs, who have much more sensitive noses than us), and be unhygienic which can cause illness and disease.

 

2. Were the kennels constantly noisy?
   The more noise, the more stress is caused. Stress is extremely dangerous, it can kill.
   There are many ways to reduce noise and stress, such as boarding less dogs in total, less than 20 kennels in any building, dogs not facing each other, providing daylight, views and stimulation, places to encourage resting and relaxation, correct management of visitors, and good (and enough) staff are just a few ways.

 

3. Were staff/owners welcoming, friendly & polite?
   Helpful and kind treatment will leave you feeling less guilty, and much happier about leaving your dog, whereas unhelpful and unkind treatment will be very distressing for you, and will cause you concern about the treatment of your dog while you are away.
   Reasoned answers to your questions or any problems will be of comfort, whereas rudeness, bad manners, being unreasonable or even anger does not show a person in control of their feelings, and is not at all professional. This has the potential to completely ruin your holiday or vacation.

 

4. Were you shown where your dog would be staying?
   One of the oldest tricks in the book is to make an excuse why you can’t see where your dog will be staying, or even to flatly refuse to show you. The kennels has something to hide, feels they may lose your business, and the accommodation is certain to be substandard.

 

5. Were the kennels in good repair?
   If in poor repair, old and tired, or dilapidated, there is no pride or interest in providing good accommodation. A poor state of repair means there is more risk of smell, noise, stress, disease and injury.

 

6. Were there newspapers, shavings or gravel on the kennel floors?
   Anything absorbent placed on the floor tells you it’s porous, and will soak up all the urine, washdown water and faeces, bacteria and viruses - which of course means it will smell and be unhygienic and be a disease risk.

 

7. Was there bedding in both the sleep AND run?
   If a dog has bedding, it is more likely to rest.  If there is nowhere to rest in an outside run, then it’ll be cold and uncomfortable for dogs to lie down and rest.  So what do they do?  Try and take their minds off it by looking outside and being forced to stand or sit for a long time causes discomfort and frustration which usually causes more barking. It’s so simple, give dogs different places to rest, and they will relax and settle!

 

8. Did they require proof of vaccination?
   Vaccination is a legal requirement to help prevent the spread of disease. Boarding dogs who are not vaccinated is thoughtless, dangerous, and shows a distinct lack of interest in animal welfare. Kennels who do this should be reported to the local authority who license them. 

 

9. Were there signs of overbooking or overcrowding?
   If you see dogs kept in cages or odd places it is a sure sign that the kennels have overbooked themselves and may well be charging the same amount from owners who expect their dogs to be in secure kennels. Another problem is placing dogs from different households in the same kennel. This is unwise, unprofessional, could lead to extreme stress or dog fighting, it’s just downright dangerous.

 

10. How was your dog when you collected him/her?
    If your dog shows previously unseen signs of depression, is withdrawn, suffering or fearful - then you must find out why. This isn’t the kennels for you.

Objective Rating System

We use these 10 Questions for our ratings by dog owners.

When a dog owner writes a review, we ask them these 10 questions about the kennels they’ve used. Each answer can earn or lose half a point, so if kennels achieve the maximum 10 points, they get a 5 Paw Rating from their customer.

Ratings by Dog Owners

	10 points
	9 points
	8 points
	7 points
	6 points
	5 points
	4 points
	3 points
	2 points
	1 point
	0 points

Now when you search any of our boarding kennels profiles, you’ll be able to see if there are any customer reviews, and what objective rating they received.

The use of words like ‘hotel’, ‘luxury’, ‘deluxe’ and even ’state-of-the-art’ are used by standard kennels, and even by the most dreadful of kennels. Naturally, this makes life very confusing for dog owners looking for better kennels via the web.  Not only do you have to look through a lot more websites, but just finding something that meets the highest standards can be time-consuming.

We are here to make it easy for you to tell the difference for yourself - and once you know, you’ll never be bamboozled again!

Kennels or Dog Hotel - How can you tell the Difference?

Dog Hotels have

ROOMS

Dog Hotels have large, light ROOMS of over 8ft x 8ft (2.4m x 2.4m) with full-height, solid-built walls, and full/part glass doors, and some may also have windows. This creates a quiet, calm, balanced environment, feels secure, is spacious, and lets in lots of natural light.

Dog hotels are likely to have fewer dogs (perhaps just 5 - 15 rooms), and therefore providing a more tailored and personal service.

If a dog hotel has 15 or less rooms, you will have the benefits of more tailored and personal services, special requests and even quirks can be catered for. The lower number of dogs means much more one-to-one attention that your dog will receive (both inside and outside, perhaps with other dogs if your dog is sociable) and the atmosphere will be calm and quiet. Larger rooms mean more personal comforting items can be brought from home to help your dog settle in quickly and feel much more at home.

Rooms can also be called Suites, but it is only in the largest, most spacious accommodation,where the main building roof extends over the attached exercise area to protect and enclose it as another room (rather than an open run), that this term truly applies. 

This is the closest to a home environment. 

Kennels have

PENS

Kennels have partially open PENS of over 4ft x 4ft (1.2m x 1.2m) built with partial walls or panels, with mesh/bars above, and mesh/bar doors.

This creates an open environment where dogs can see, smell and hear everything, which can lead to higher stress and noise. The higher the walls, the more secure a feeling is created. Active, healthy and confident dogs will fare better in kennels. Nervous and more sensitive dogs should be boarded separately, ideally in a building or section with similar dogs in smaller numbers, or a separate kennel.

Kennels with no walls should be avoided (i.e open chainlink, wire, mesh or bars between kennels where dogs can touch or injure each other, and the risk of injury, disease and stress-induced illnesses will dramatically increase provide no privacy)

The fewer kennels there are, the lower the stress and noise. Fewer kennels (for example less than 20 kennels) means your dog will receive much more attention than larger facilities (unless they are exceptionally well staffed). We would recommend you choose suitable facilities with fewer kennels whenever possible. 

Dog Prisons are

DARK, DINGY,

DEPRESSING &

DANGEROUS

A small, dark, almost totally enclosed area of 2 - 4ft (60cm - 1.2m) without windows, dog door/hatch or exercise run, with solid walls/panels/doors is not a hotel or kennels, it’s a prison.

This is the image that many dog owners have of kennels. I regularly receive emails from dog owners describing kennels as ‘concentration camps’. We hope that if nothing else, this website will show you it doesn’t have to be like that.

Nothing to look at except other barking dogs?
… It’s a prison.

Depriving dogs of a view and stimulation (other than other barking dogs) will create extremely high levels of frustration, stress, and noise, resulting in depression, lowered immune system and ultimately illness.

If dogs NEVER leave the kennels?
… It’s a prison.

Getting out, spending time with humans/other dogs, sniffing, playing, exploring - in short, being allowed to ‘be’ a dog and express natural behaviours will create more balanced, calm and happier dogs. Depriving dogs of these basic needs is appalling. If you use a kennels with such low standards you are keeping these people in business.

If the local authority aren’t doing anything about it then you can. Vote with your feet - go somewhere better, and help us stop more dogs from suffering.

Every kennels with a profile on our website is asked if dogs are taken out of the kennels for exercise. We show this, and other important information when you SEARCH for kennels, you’ll see special icons at the top of each kennels’ page on our website. For example:

Dogs ARE/ARE NOT taken out of kennels during their stay

This icon tells you whether dogs are taken out of the kennels, or not.

and…

Dogs ARE/ARE NOT walked or exercised with a person

This icon tells you if the dogs are walked/exercised by a person, or not.