When you go away on holiday you often want to take your dog with you, but sometimes it's just not possible. It can be really hard to leave your best non-human friend with someone else. After all, no one can take better care of him than you can. Fortunately there are kennels near you that would be glad to have him visit for the duration of your trip.
The great thing about kennels is that the owners are almost always dog lovers themselves. Once you have a list of a couple you're interested in, you'll want to visit the kennels, meet the owners and caregivers, and check out the facility.
As you're touring the kennels looking for the perfect place to board your four-footed family member, remember to ask this extremely important question:
Will my dog be interacting with other dogs?
Your dog's safety should be the number one priority for the kennel at which you board your dog. With so many other dogs around, as the dog owner and boarder you need to be aware of how they handle the safety of your dog as well as the others that are there too.
You've no doubt had the experience of walking down the street with your dog and crossing paths with neighbors and their dogs. Sometimes things work out just fine; the dogs check each other out and then seem to carry on as usual. Other times you meet a dog that's more aggressive than yours, and if both you and the other owner don't maintain control over your dogs, a fight will break out between them.
When you are not around to control your dog with a leash, how will you know that he isn't going to meet a more aggressive dog and not get into a fight? Because you won't be there, you want to be sure that the person caring for your dog takes the same responsibility and precaution you do.
Make sure that there are enough pens in the facility to accommodate each dog separately from one another. Don't even allow them to give special treatment to your dog when you see something different with respect to other dogs. It's possible they'll tell you one thing, but if their actions with the other dogs you see don't back up the words they're telling you, they're probably not going to do what they say they'll do when you're not around to witness it.
Your dog should get his own pen, be fed in a place other dogs can't try to share his meal, and get daily exercise time in his own dog run. The facility doesn't need to have one run per dog, but they should show you how they schedule time for each dog in such a way that none will have the opportunity to beat up on another.
A safe kennel is a good kennel
When you can tell that each dog is important to the staff at the kennel, you've found a good place. You can trust that your dog is being taken care of very well by people that understand him and his needs. You'll be able to enjoy your holiday more knowing your friend is in good hands.
