I will not kennel my dogs. Period. When we go on vacation, my dogs either come with us or we don't go. (I rent houses that allow pets.) We both only occasionally have to travel for work, so we coordinate schedules so one of us is always home.

I have friends who left their 2 dogs in a kennel for a week. When they came home, the kennel told them the dogs repeatedly went potty inside the kennel. That's when they were told the dogs were left unattended from 5 pm at night until the staff showed up the next morning between 7 and 8. Those poor dogs were expected to hold it that entire time. They could not, and the kennel was mad about it.

I understand that not everyone is willing to arrange their lives around their pets. But please for the love of all that is holy, if you can't arrange for competent pet sitters to watch your dogs in your home or theirs then please, please fully scope out the kennel before just dropping your dog/s off. I've heard too many horror stories like the one above, and it just breaks my heart.

> They should have known in the very first day, that they were going to have to use so me entirely different tactics with her, and
continue to do so.

And even if they tried different tactics it should have been abundantly obvious that what they were doing wasn't working and they should have called and said so and made the owner come pick the dog up.

That is horrible. They should have gotten the dog veterinary care the moment they saw her distress and especially when she wasn't eating or drinking. I am amazed the dog didn't die from the stress and trauma. That poor animal.

When I had 2 dogs and needed to board them, I found a place I could trust. I toured it, saw where they would be staying, learned what their schedule would be. They would be taken out to potty 5 times a day, the last time being at 9pm. Even if there was an accident during the night, it wasn't a big deal. They had cots to sleep on up off the floor. They shared a room. It was a clean, well cared for (still is) place with very caring employees. I never had a single problem and my dogs stayed there many times over the years. Now that Fred is gone though, I won't board Carmelita alone. I know she wouldn't do well so I have curtailed my traveling which is of no matter to me. If I have a long day coming up, my neighbor is happy to come over and get her out for a potty break.

I'm sorry your neighbor had such a bad experience and I agree that with a dog that age, unless they have gone to a good kennel all their life, should have had a house/dog sitter. I hope she is able to recover from this terrible experience.

I owned a kennel for 20+ years. Some dogs are just not suited to staying in a kennel. We had a policy that any potential boarding dog had to do a day of daycare prior to accepting the reservation. If the dog was a maybe, then we required a one night test stay. Many people complained about having to pay for the test stays, but it never failed us. In 20+ years we never had an issue with a dog that we pre-screened. If they didn’t pass then we would recommend they get a house sitter, stay at the vet, or pay us to do some training and daycare. The clients that chose to do the training always ended up being our biggest fans. But we worked hard to get the dogs to learn to love us and our program. We also took in dogs with aggression issues as we are very experienced in that realm. We charged a high price for those stays as it was a bigger risk to us and we had to have extra staff to be safe. People were happy to pay it.

In our case, that dog (elderly, shy, collie!) would have been a maybe from the get go. The kennel should have had a back up plan with a way to contact the owner, a relative, or the dog’s vet and gotten that plan in action.

Of course the kennel should be responsible but i think finding a good kennel is probably a rare thing. I've used a kennel three times in my life. First time, the dog came home traumatized. I didnt know what was wrong with him, took him to the vet and the vet figured out by me talking about coming home from vacation and him being "like this". 2nd and 3rd time I took another dog to what is supposed to be the country club of kennels in my area. HA! My dog was there for a week. No beds allowed, only a blanket. When they brought him out to me, his fur looked completely dull, (*hes always very shiny). his hair was falling out. They brought out the blanket and there was not one piece of his fur on it, which means, he slept on concrete for an entire week, he was never given the blanket. That was it for me. Im with Pat, my dogs come with us on vacation, or my son stays at my home with them. They dont go to the kennel any more ever.

While I completely agee that the kennel did a very poor job of things, I am unwilling to let the owner off as blameless. Surely she should know how well her dog might react to such a situation and if it had never been kenneled before, had done a trial visit before abandoning the dog there for a week. 'Shy', 'timid' and 'elderly' and with a nervous temperment woud be big flashng signs to me that this would not be a good setting for this dog!!

I would never consider kenneling my own dog, He is getting on a bit but he is very far from being shy or timid and he is not nervous about anything (except when the coyotes howl). But he is very attached to me, can suffer some separation anxiety and other than being crated when a puppy, is not accustomed to any sort of confinement. And he likes his creature comforts - his own bed, his corner of the couch, his toys and his meal routine. If I travel (rarely), I have a pet sitter in.

I agree there's some shared responsibility here. This situation should never have been allowed to take place.

I used to take my cats to board if I was gone more than 2 days. A new place opened near me so I tried it for a 5 day trip. When I picked up the cats, there was some urine on the floor of one's cage. I asked about it, and the fellow said "oh, yeah, that was yesterday." Yesterday? Never used it again.

In my community now, there are pet-sitters who will either take your dog to their home, or stay in yours. Many of them live here, so folks tend to trust them, and they tend to be trustworthy, because of that "6 degrees of separation" thing (here, it's more like 2 degrees). My friend's son is a vet tech who now pet-sits in your home, and he is quite in demand, he books up fast.

I don't think dogs can survive for 7 days without water. This makes any other accusations suspect. I do agree that the kennel should have called a vet for the paw injury and notified the owner because the dog was not doing well. But maybe they did that, we don't know.

I do think that some dogs should not be kenneled and should have in home care.

I agree, Lucille. There needs to be some questions and answers, not just a call, a complaint and a yelp review.

While I agree the owner should have known her pet was not a good candidate for kennelling, the kennel owner should have taken the poor dog to a vet and called the owner as soon as the problems became evident.

We usually have pet sitters come in to feed and care for our cats while we’re away. We did take them to a cattery once when we were going on a long trip and didn’t have anyone to come in to feed them, and they were OK, but I always felt the younger one had missed out on some important socialisation time because she (unlike every other cat we’ve had) was never very cuddly/friendly.

When the grouchy cat got old, she developed diabetes and had to have a twice daily insulin injection. As it turned out, this process was as easy as pie, as surprisingly the cat was cooperative and so the whole procedure took about one minute from go to whoa. We had planned and paid for a trip long before she developed the diabetes, and we were in a bit of a fix as our regular cat sitter was too nervous to do the insulin injections, and our vet refused (quite rightly) to board the cat as at the vet’s she would go completely feral and attack the staff if they tried to open the cage she was in.

In desperation I contacted the only cattery in our rural area, and explained that she would need the injections. “We haven’t got time to be doing stuff like that,” was their unhelpful reply. I figured if they couldn’t spend two minutes a day with my cat then what was I paying them for, so I kept looking. Luckily a new cat sitter advertised his services, and while he hadn’t injected a cat before, he was willing to learn, so I showed him how to do it and supervised him injecting the cat a couple of times before we left. She really liked him and would rub on his legs when he visited, which was very unusual for her- she usually hid if we had visitors.

So now we only have cat sitters.

I'm with flowergarden it is unconscionable that they did not call the owners. That is quite a few failures on their part.

The dog kennel I took my dogs to actually ended up taking my older dog into the house with them as he was uncomfortable. They phoned me right away and told me what they were going to do. They lived on the property with the kennel.

My younger dog absolutely loved being with the other dogs.

I was so appreciative of their care and my dogs were healthy and calm when I picked them up. The kennel no longer exists but what a lovely family they were.

I am so lucky. I have the best kennel ever. Before moving here I only kenneled a dog once and vowed never again. When I got J.D. from our local humane society, we were going away for two weeks and was about to get a house sitter for her, but a friend said I couldn't leave her alone that long and suggested kenneling her. She and other friends recommended a specific kennel. I brought her there to meet the owners. They ha read about her in the local newspaper. She was written up due to some stupid person bringing her to the shelter at night, below freezing and tying her to the fence. They said they give all their dogs TLC but would give her extra. I was worried about her feeling abandoned again after her shelter experience. Well, they certainly must have been really good to her because she loved going there. We would get within a mile of the place and she would start getting excited. and yelping with joy. She couldn't get in fast enough and yet she was just as excited to see us upon return. Georgy's the same way. I have to drop the leash or she would pul my arm out of the socket when arriving at the kennel. I once had to take Georgy to another kennel. My regular one was closed because they were going on vacation. When I picked her up after the new kennel, she sat on my lap constantly for about two weeks. Strange behavior for her. I vowed if my regular kennel cannot take her, we won't go away.

Like Annette, my kennel owners recommend bringing the dog in for the day so it can get to know them before leaving with them. They don't charge a fee unless the dog stays overnight. They also bathe the dog free of charge if it's been there more than three days, walk the dogs daily at no extra charge. How good is that!

I think the kennel should have tried to contact the owner. If it were me and I owned the kennel, if the dog was in that much distress and I couldn't contact the owner, I would have brought the dog home with me and given it some TLC. I could not let the dog suffer like that.

That is so sad. I hope the sweet dog fully recovers from the trauma.

We learned long ago not to board our cats as they get so traumatized. We hire a pet sitter who also watches the house while we are on vacation. She's also less expensive at $40 a day for all 4 cats.

My sister won't kennel her German Shepherds. The hobby breeder they bought the dogs from will either house/pet sit, or they will arrange for a teen from one of the families at their church to stay. The dogs are used to free range of 5 acres. They sleep in the bedroom with my sis and her husband.

Sis provides all food and comforts and pays $55 a day. But this type arrangement also means they can't always be away at the same time. More than once, one of them has taken a trip or gone away overnight without the other.

Why didn't they call the owner?

We don't know whether they did call the owner.

The poor Collie should never have been boarded - particularly in a kennel environment. I agree that there is something missing from the story but the bottom line is that this was not the place for this pup.

Our dog is 15. His breed of dog (Eskie) does not do well in a kennel. He needs a home environment with people that he loves - and he doesn't love everyone. He most definitely needs someone at night - as have all of our dogs.

We lost our dog boarder a few years ago, and now rely on a wonderful person who we are never certain will be in town when we go away. We have to book our tickets several months in advance and hope. He is on 3 types of meds and there are no issues with her giving them to him. Without her we would not be going anywhere.

Ontario has some pretty awful kennel that advertise themselves as 5 star. In what universe? I took a tour of one with someone who was considering placing her dog there for a week - I wouldn't have left my dog there to be groomed. My friend thankfully was equally horrified.

At the very least the kennel should have advised the owners of the Collie's decline. Actually the Collie's owners should have advised their vet where he would be (and received his/her okay) and authorized the kennel to release the pup to the vet under the circumstances (of course the Collie's owners would have had to pay for this service). At least the pup would have been cared for. I know that not every vet has someone available over night but having the pup's health care needs tended to is very important - particularly in a older dog or a younger dog/cat who requires special meds - such as injections. Better to be safe than be sorry.

Definitely the cost is high - we pay about $65.00 a day for our pup to be boarded. Home care with the person staying would be about $100 a day. We do pay for a person to visit the house every 3 days due to insurance requirements and he brings in the mail. This costs $30 a day. There are only a couple of places that offer this service in our major city.

I agree that a pup needs an evaluation prior to being boarded - no doubt our dog would fail. While he would no doubt pass the first test (he loves to fit in) he would fail by the second day.

We're going on a 10 day trip soon and booked our dog sitter months ago. We have 3 dogs and 1 cat and she only charges $30/night. Well worth it! She can come and go as she pleases but she said she'll be there the majority of the time. She'll text us pictures if we want and give daily updates. She has my daughter's # in case of any medical emergencies involving them if she can't get a hold of us.

A few years ago we did have to board one of our dogs as we didn't have anyone to watch him. I was very nervous about it as he's my shy, anxious guy. We paid for him to have extra walks and play time with the staff. He did great and they said he was a model "camper".

Nothing beats them being able to stay in their own home.

How horrible, poor dog!! Hope she will be okay. That kennel should be out of business, how can anyone with any compassion leave an animal like that?

When we kenneled our boxer girl years ago, the kennel called after a couple of days and advised us she was refusing to eat and they were going to have to consult a veterinarian. We cut our vacation short and went home and she was ecstatic. Some dogs just aren't suited to being kenneled. Our rescue lab, on the other hand, loved going to the kennel and getting lots of attention. And since he was a typical lab food hog, not eating was never an issue.

We kenneled our first dog once, for a week. We never kenneled him again. We never kenneled any of the three who came after him. We paid for a house sitter.

All the talk about a pet being 'a member of the family'? Parents found guilty of kenneling their children go to jail for life!

Having pets and being able to travel, be it for work or pleasure is fraught with peril. I've tried boarding kennels, boarding at my vets, pet sitter in my house, dogs at pet sitter's house. ALL of these have occasionally been a disaster!

I will no longer even consider a boarding kennel. It was fine when I had a Golden and Beagle. Cavaliers are not kennel dogs and mine would be miserable.

I love my vet's office for short-term boarding. I prefer it for a long weekend, but have used them for as long as a week. The best thing is that my vet and his wife are such "softies" that if a dog left with them is not doing that well, they just take it home with them. I once left an elderly Cavalier with them instead of with the pet sitter as we knew she was not doing well. We had a power outage and she went home with the vet and his wife cooked lamb chops for her and hand-fed her! It was all she would eat. We lost her a week after we came home, but that was no fault of the vet.

I tried boarding my dogs at a pet sitter's house twice. The first time, it seemed okay, but when I took them back for that 2nd time, they did not want to even go in the house. Bad sign, but it was 7PM the night before we had a 7AM flight the next morning and no time for a Plan B. It was a total disaster! She did not follow my warning that one of the dogs knew how to body-slam the storm door and get and and out they got She did not even go looking for them - just called the police and reported them "stolen". Fortunately, they only went a couple of blocks away and a policeman found them in his front yard, saw their address on the tags, called us (we were not home), so used his police computer to call my neighbor who told him we were out of the country, but she knew my daughter and gave him her number. She went and rescued my poor dogs and then went to the pet sitter's house for their crate and food. Not even an apology!

Then there was the trip to London/Paris 10 years ago this past Jan. We had a huge ice storm back home. Power was out everywhere (for 10 days!). Pet sitter was hysterical when she called me in Paris. I had already shown her were votive candles were kept and large lantern-type flashlights. She could not remember. She couldn't figure out how to open the flu in the fireplace and light the gas logs. She ended up dumping my two dogs with a woman she'd met twice at her dog training club - she had power. One was elderly and needed meds and she "forgot them" at my house. It was awful.

I have ONE pet sitter I trust my dogs and my house with - ONE! She is very popular so much be booked months in advance. I used her two years ago when I went to London for a week with my son/grandchildren. I doubt I will be traveling abroad again, and the dogs go with me for a month for my summer vacation (yes, it IS hard to find rentals that allow pets!).

Finding someone one can trust is very hard, regardless of high recommendations.

I "did" call the kennel and give them a chance to tell their story. There was "no" call to the owner. It was so weak when they picked it up, it couldn't stand, had to be carried to the car.

The owners were bicycling cross country....did you want them to come home? Also they wrapped the injured paw. How did the paw get injured? It was badly swollen. A big open wound.

When the kennel accepted the boarding of this dog, wasn't the burden of care in their capable hands? This kennel has a 4.8/5 rating. The owners thought their dog was easy peasy to care for...they had no idea this would happen.

Is this the 1st dog they've neglected or simply this is the norm for a kennel?

From the replies....I gather THIS is normal for a kennel. WOW! Just WOW!

"IF" a kennel is only able to care for out going young pups, why don't they screen potential clients?

I forgot to say how awful for this poor dog and her owners. Nicole please keep us updated on how she recovers and if they discover what happened to her paw.

I have a friend who never had children but her dogs are her kids and she goes overboard in how well they are treated. She is extremely picky in who watches her dogs so I knew if this girl was good enough for her, I could trust her completely in my home.

After reading all the above I feel even more blessed to have a reliable sitter!

First of all I would refuse to pay the bill for boarding. They essentially did nothing ( other than cause harm) I would then send them the vet bill and if it was not paid, I would tell them I would sue and do just that.

They ought to be prosecuted for neglect and abuse.

Update: Her paw is still swollen, the vet has it unwrapped. No idea how it was injured. She normally wears boots when indoors, she's afraid of slipping on the wood floors. She's walking daily, still has her sweet....grandma-like disposition. I'll try to take some pics when I see her next.

I "did" call the kennel and give them a chance to tell their story. There was "no" call to the owner.

That is very strange that they would give out information to you on someone else's dog.

Lucille.....I had the dates & names of ALL parties....and I explained I was a neighbor. I said "can you tell me what happened?" (the owners had already told me their side of the story). The employee I spoke to even gave me the name of another kennel, that's open and NOT confined where they should take it next time. The dogs owner is NOT suing them or asking for them to pay vet bills. The dog is thus far recovering. I'm hoping there's no relapse, it will be staying with me in June.

Ya know....at first....I blamed the owners...then the more I thought about it....the kennel. Then.....? Really....? Let me put it to other dog owners and see what THEY think about this....

it will be staying with me in June.

You are terrific to help your neighbor with her dog both in June and throughout the issue.I have warm fuzzy feelings about how you are taking time in what I know is a very busy life to help out.

I do feel that if the owners were bicycling that they should have come home. And I do think in this age of cell phones and etc. that some attempt at contact must have been made.

I do not have warm fuzzy thoughts about either the kennel or the owners, and I feel there is a lot that perhaps was not told to you. I flat out do not believe that the owners did not call to check up, and that the kennel did not try to make contact.

Yeah...the owners are a "little" self absorbed due to a recent accident. The husband was riding his bicycle, was hit by a car, in California. He had a brain injury, trauma, memory loss. They sued & won. They're taking tons of vacations! Buying tons of new toys, furniture for the house....cars. Life is short and they've just realized it. True story. The dog is low on their list of priorities....and it's elderly. I do not envy them. No Lucille....they would not have called....and THEY had a GREAT time on their vacation. I'm there for the owners, the dog needs a home-away-from -home.

If it were I, yes, I’d have come home. But since the dog is low on their list of priorities, as you said, I guess they wouldn’t have done so even if the kennel had called.

i do find culpability on both sides.

That makes a bit more sense but honestly lots of people don't really know what their dog needs and don't know enough to find a kennel that has you bring in your dog for a visit before leaving it there. My kennel did that and the dog did very well. The other thing the kennel looks for is if your dog will get along with other dogs when it's "play" time. At least a reputable kennel does things like that.

Someone on a FB page I frequent asked if anyone had any kittens because she wanted one to live outside and kill chipmunks. There are lots of ignorant people out there.

Collies can be very sensitive. They can sense human emotion, particularly anger, distress, and happiness. If they have bonded with someone, they may reflect that person's emotional state.

I purchased a washed up show dog--cocker. They had to eliminate the line due to cataracts showing up. I took it to be groomed where I got it--they returned Spot to me with razor burn; "my fault as she was REALLY dirty"!!! Next I kenneled Spot there over the holidays as we were traveling and when I went to pick him up his back was broken and he had no use of his back legs. "my fault as he was a bit over weight". Visits are no guarantee, these are businesses and a busy business is just that too busy.

Thanks for the update, Nicole....I understand your caring. Hugs. Your simple

question sure wandered. ;)

The kennel is fully at fault. They shouldn't take on a case they can't handle, including complete responsibility for the dog's care. Just as it would be you left a child at a daycare.

What a pretty girl, she looks a lot like the one we had; I always loved brushing her long fur. They’re such a sweet and gentle dog.

Just as it would be you left a child at a daycare.

I remember my days as a school nurse when parents would drop off very ill children at the school because the parents had to go to work, or court, or whatever. Both at schools and daycares, when a child is so ill that he or she needs a medical setting, and not to be in school/daycare, it is the parents responsibility to pick them up. Several times I told parents that if they were not at my clinic in 30 minutes, I would have Children's Protective Services pick the child up and take him/her to a doctor, the parents showed up. I think both the kennel and the owners dropped the ball here. I'm wondering if the owners even took their cell phone.

Well there you go. Not "just like" daycare (which was far less accepting than school during our school days). Children don't make it in the door, but if they did, the daycare has to do whatever is necessary for life saving measures. Which is how I view this. You wouldn't not take a child to the hospital if they were so weak they couldn't walk

Chancy is a beautiful girl. I hope she is feeling better now and that this won't happen again. Thanks, Nicole, for looking out for her.

Lucille & Rob.....I'm trying to see both sides. That poor dog. I have blinders on when I see a pet that's declining because of the care it's given....so I did wait awhile before posting this question....knowing I was too involved to "get a new perspective".

I need to step back....let the owners care for their pet.

So....I tried to split the responsibility. The owners need to care for it better when the dogs home by taking it for daily walks. I offered to go over & let it out if they're gone all day......and for long trips leave it at a place that does not kennel/cage the dog.

This is the front page on the dog daycare and kennel owner’s group I belong to. When people would gripe about my bill when they picked up their dog(let me say they only complained once lol) this is what I sent them. Now granted, my place was what was considered a “boutique“ kennel, in that we had a 20 dog capacity, not 100! So I charged accordingly and my clients were happy to pay it. I regularly saw health issues before owners, we were experts at getting dogs in their best physical shape and on a good diet, etc.

Annette....:0) That's excellent! I wish the kennel would have hand fed this dog. The employee I spoke to said they didn't have the staff or the time. The owners of this collie can well afford a "boutique" doggie day care....and I'd like to push them in THAT direction.

According to the owner, the dog pees in the house. Bladder leakage "and" if not given "enough attention" the owner tells me....it just pees anyway.

Bladder leakage happens to the best of us as we get older. Even our pets. Perhaps as the owners age they will develop some compassion.

I had a sweet old dog, who has since passed on, who ended up in the doggy version of underpants for the last year or so of her life. There are meds one can try but they don't always work.

I feel sorry for this sweet old Collie. Her owners aren't coming across well at all to me.

Dogs don’t just pee “anyway”. That is nothing more than the excuse of a lazy owner. Dogs pee when they signal that they need to go and are ignored or when they are physically unable to hold it. I hope they aren’t just drawing the conclusion that it’s because she’s old as well. There are lots of reasons as to why a female dog might be incontinent, like a bladder infection or a problem stemming from when she was spayed. Heck, our dog had a problem with incontinence an it ended up being because of the cr*ppy prescription food the Vet wanted her on. It started shortly after we started feeding it to her for some tummy problems and it stopped immediately when I chose to stop feeding it to her.

These owners need to step up to the plate and take care of the old girl the way she deserves to be cared for. Scenarios like this always baffle me. I mean, why have an animal if you don’t value it’s companionship and/or enjoy taking care of it?

Nicole, I hope you don’t step back and let the owners care for their dog. She obviously needs a compassionate advocate who can speak for her and gently encourage the owners to do better.