Dog boarding horror stories

I worked at a boarding kennel throughout high institution as well as college, so let’s just state I do not look at boarding kennels the method the typical client does.

The facility I worked at was extremely congested as well as understaffed. On the typical weekend there would be at least 80 dogs as well as just two or three personnel members to care for them.

On holidays, we would take in 200+ dogs with perhaps one additional person to help.

We all liked dogs as well as did the very best we could, however certainly each person can only do so much.

I’m not trying to knock on boarding facilities with this post. I believe the majority of boarding kennels are completely acceptable as well as risk-free locations to leave a canine as well as handled much better than the kennel I worked at.

I have to board my own dogs from time to time, as well as while I dislike leaving my boys, I count on they’re getting completely typical care.

Four dog boarding horror stories

Because of my experience working at a kennel, I do my best to prevent prospective issues by asking these questions before boarding my dog. I likewise understand that touring the facility ahead of time is a must.

With that, I’m going to share a couple of regrettable stories people told me about boarding their dogs.

If you have a story to share, please do so in the comments.

Lots as well as great deals of ticks

Anthony Bianco was traveling in northern Australia as well as had to board his Staffordshire bull terrier Tex for two days while going to friends.

“When I came back to pick him up, he was covered in ticks,” Bianco said. “I spent the next half-hour having to pick lots of blood-filled ticks off his body before I might take off to my next destination.”

A French bulldog’s damaged tooth

Chako Suzuki ended up paying $1,500 for her dog’s root canal after he was injured during boarding.

“They told me my canine was biting the bars of his cage as well as stated that he broke his incisor while doing so,” she said.

She believed this was odd, because her dog had never acted that method before during boarding.

This time, she had paid an extra charge for a “tug-of-war play session” as well as believes the tooth was damaged during that activity.

“The doggy dentist verified that the injury was triggered by something getting jerked out of his mouth as well as not bar biting,” she said.

“We’ve discovered to never pay for playtime since we aren’t sure exactly how rough they are going to be.”

I asked Suzuki if she had any type of guidance for others when selecting a boarding kennel.

“I would say, do a great deal of research, checked out a great deal of reviews, as well as be very specific with the personnel about your expectations as well as what is as well as is not OK.”

A black Lab’s trip to the emergency vet

Rosemary Frank left her canine at a expert training as well as boarding facility, as well as later discovered out the facility’s communication system was “badly broken.”

The kennel personnel had taken her canine money to the emergency vet at 10 p.m. on Friday, however she was not notified of the circumstance up until 4 p.m. Lørdag. Meanwhile, the vet would not treat her canine without her permission.

“The night team did not have gain access to to the computer system ‘for safety and security reasons’ so might not gain access to my get in touch with information,” Frank said.

Once the day personnel came in on Saturday morning, she stated they left a voice message with her emergency get in touch with instead of with her. That person did not inspect her voicemail up until later in the day as well as sent Frank a text late Saturday.

“In the meantime, personnel keeps telling the owner that I was ‘contacted’ very first thing in the morning however was not responding,” Frank said.

Once she received notification at 4 p.m. Saturday, she stated she called the kennel immediately, however the office had already closed because of the time-zone difference. She continued to leave messages, hoping somebody may get them.

“Nothing, up until they came back the next morning, Sunday, as well as heard them all,” she said.

She was then able to phone call the vet as well as provide consent to treat her dog.

“The kennel billed me for the two days money was with them prior to the incident,” Frank said. “Sometimes you just have to let dumb people self destruct.”

She stated Cash never recuperated as well as died three months later. This is one of the few photos she has with her dog.

Because of the event with Cash, Frank has some guidance for others when boardingderes hunde:

Selv hvis du mener, at du forstår kennelens proces i nødsituationer, skal du bede dem om at diskutere den.

Spørg dem, om natpersonalet får adgang til dit nummer såvel som telefonopkald dig øjeblikkeligt i en nødsituation.

Spørg, om personalet forstår, at “nødkontakt” kun er til, når de allerede har forsøgt at ringe til dig uden held.

Gennemgå uanset når der er en ny ejer eller manager.

Opdater din nødsituation, kom i kontakt med efter behov, så du forstår, at det er nogen, der stadig er interesseret i din hund.

En glemt hund

Loretta Levinson sagde, at hun forlod sine to hunde på deres typiske hunde Walker’s hjem. Dette var en person, der leverede internat i hjemmet. Der var i alt fem hunde, inklusive hunde Walker’s to hunde såvel som en anden.

Nå, Walker tog de fem hunde til en off-leend-gåtur på deres typiske sted, sagde Levinson. Derefter, da Walker -delegerede Go får de næste fem hunde til at gå, “betroede hun kun en af ​​mine hunde.”

Den hunde, der blev efterladt, var Lou, en malamute.

Heldigvis, da hunde Walker gik tilbage cirka fire timer senere, ventede Lou, hvor de havde parkeret.

Naturligvis brugte Levinson ikke den hundevandrer igen.

Hun foreslår, at folk inspicerer nogle referencer, før hun forlader deres hunde med nogen såvel som at udføre et kortere “testkørsel”, før de forlader deres hunde i en længere periode.

Har nogen form for jer nogen form for boardinghistorier at dele, fantastisk eller dårlig?

For ekstra materiale fra mig skal du indikere op til mit nyhedsbrev her. Du hører fra mig mandag med fredag.

Breaking Your current Dog’s bad habits before adding a second dog

You have to be a little crazy to want two dogs.

So for those of you with four or five, well … I don’t know about you. ?

Seriously though, I am looking forward to adding a second dog to our family. I just really like to have things planned out and under control.

I don’t like when multiple dogs turn into complete chaos.

You know, like when you walk into someone’s house and three dogs are barking and jumping on you and their owner is so immune she doesn’t even notice?

I don’t want that.

But, the types of dogs I’m interested in (Weimaraner, Belgian malinois, German shepherd, Jack Russell) are so active and known to be challenging, I’m trying to plan some sort of routine NOW, before we actually get this hypothetical, hyperactive pup.

For me, this routine involves two things:

1. planning a serious exercise routine for a young dog.

2. Discouraging certain bad habits from my current dog.

I’m going over my own ideas here, but it’s not that people should copy these. Instead, they should think about their own routines.

First: Exercise

I want a dog that can tag along when I run and hike. Unfortunately, this means the dog will need lots of activity each day and not just on the days I’m interested in running.

So how to prepare for this?

Let. start a running routine NOW, before we even get the dog.

Sure, I’m active enough. I take my clients’ dogs running and I walk with my dog Ace first thing in the morning.

But … my dog Ace retired from running two years ago so I currently don’t run in the mornings.

Well that’s about to change because I want a high-energy dog but I also want that dog to be able to chill out while I write blog posts. I have high expectations for my dogs. being able to lie quietly is a requirement. So I have to commit to my side of the deal too, which is running.

Might as well make it a habit ahead of time.

Other tips:

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Invest in a dog backpack. best tool ever!

Also, recruit other family members to help with the exercise. My spouse will be taking on some of the evening exercise shifts.

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Second: Discouraging bad habits from my current dog

No dog is perfect, but Ace is pretty dang close. ?

Two habits I’d like to discourage before we add another pup include:

1. Whining

2. cat chasing.

Ace will always be a whiner.

I think that’s just how he is, but I also know I’ve encouraged it (unintentionally) over the years. He’s actually throwing a tantrum right now. He’s in the other room growling because he wants to eat but I’m not done working. Suk …

Simply, I acknowledge his whining too often. I coddle him. I scold him. I give him what he wants. I know better, but I can’t help it.

So … if I could actually ignore his whining more consistently, it would make a difference. I’m not going to break his habit at this point, but I can try to decrease it.

When he whines for attention, I’m going to do my best to ignore. If he doesn’t stop, then I will either calmly move him to another room or just get up move to another room myself.

In other words, whining equals no response from me. Ønsk mig held og lykke! Ace is a giant baby.

Cat chasing.

Ace is not a cat chaser, but what happens is he likes to play “backup” if I scold my cats for scratching or getting into something. Ace feels the need to, shall we say, “muzzle-punch” the cats. We call it a dolphin punch.

It’s cute, but only because Ace is a substantial softy.

All the cats have to do is make eye contact and Ace goes to a corner and licks himself.

Det er trist.

But you can think of what could happen if a new dog sees Ace charging our cats and muzzle-punching them. It doesn’t take much for a dog’s prey drive to kick in. We can’t take any chances.

I’ve been on top of this for a few months already. The “cat nosing” is no longer allowed.

So those are really the things I’m focused on before we get a second dog: Exercise, and diminishing my dog’s whining and cat harassing.

I’m sure there are other things I should be focused on, but those are the main ones for now.

What kinds of things would you prepare for before adding a second dog?

Go ahead and add them in the comments!

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