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