You’re excited, it’s only weeks away until your family is going on holiday! If you can’t take Fido with you this time, the options are finding a good pet sitter or a dog boarding kennel. Not all dog boarding kennels are equal. So, how do you know what’s a good one? Fortunately, Louise Newman, the founder of Let’s Go Fido, a dog training business in Sydney knows all about dogs and boarding kennels.

Louise shares her top tips for choosing a boarding kennel for your dog.

  1. Consider a dog sitter for puppies under six months old and dogs over 10 years old
  2. Visit the facility in person or ask the manager of the boarding kennel to give you a tour using Facetime
  3. Listen for the noise level, is it constant?
  4. Avoid ‘double-stacking’ – boarding kennels that double up with two unfamiliar dogs in one kennel in the busy periods
  5. I recommend not to take up the option of training particularly if the trainers are not qualified in positive reinforcement methods
  6. Look for water park/features in summer
  7. The kennel runs should face out towards a yard
  8. Good kennels will have a low handler to dog ratio such as one person to four dogs
  9. Ask the boarding facility about enrichment (toys for mental stimulation) when your dog is on their own

MORE ABOUT LOUISE NEWMAN

Louise is the Founder of Let’s Go Fido, a dog training business in Sydney. Louise is a qualified professional trainer with a Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services as a Delta-accredited instructor and a Pet Dog Ambassador Instructor and Assessor. Louise has many years of experience in training pet dogs large and small.

Louise Newman's tips for choosing a boarding kennel for your dog

Louise Newman’s tips for choosing a boarding kennel for your dog