Boarding in Toronto area

[Svitlana]

dear all. i'm leaving home for about 40 days and i have to board my dog. she is a wonderful, good-natured, spayed 4-year old rotti. she has never been by herself for such a long time and i want to find a nice doggy farm or camp for her where dogs are not caged, are properly supervised, and have freedom to run and play all they want. does anyone know a place like this in Toronto area? an experienced dog/house sitter is another option as I also have a cat and a fish tank. i would really appreciate your help!

[guberdog]

I would DEFINITELY go with the sitter. You're not going to find a kennel that will suit your needs for 40 days. And, I guarantee the sitter would be cheaper. Our guys get pretty depressed with new surroundings and missing their families.

[Svitlana]

so far I don't have any candidates for dog sitting. :( but I found a farm that seems promising. I still have about a month before we leave. i'll keep searching :)

[Sansano]

Originally posted by Svitlana
i want to find a nice doggy farm or camp for her where dogs are not caged, are properly supervised, and have freedom to run and play all they want. does anyone know a place like this in Toronto area?

I don't think such a place exists. If you have to bring your dogs to a kennel I would assume they will be kenneled. A place where they would be able to run and play would not work as there would be too many liabilities with other dogs. Your best bet is a babysitter.

[Sansano]

Originally posted by Svitlana
so far I don't have any candidates for dog sitting. :( but I found a farm that seems promising. I still have about a month before we leave. i'll keep searching :)

What kind of kennel/farm lets dogs run free? Are they Friends of yours?

[Svitlana]

the place that i found called dog camp. here is their site
http://www.dogsatcamp.com
i talked to them and i'll visit them in a day or two. they sound good.
as a matter of fact, our breeder used to live on a farm or a doggy farm. our dog stayed and ran wild with other rotties there twice. it was great. unfortunately for us her breeder moved to BC. so i know that places like this exist it's just the matter of finding them.

[Sansano]

Sounds nice for poodles and the like but I would never let my dogs stay there. What happens if the dogs get in a fight or another dog bites your dog? A kennel isn't that bad. I think we as owners worry more about that than the dogs. At least, they are safe and secure.

[Svitlana]

my dog gets along with other dogs just fine. she has never been in a fight. if i leave her in that camp i'll definitely first talk to the owner about such posibilities as a fight and /or hostile situations. it's necessary that i know how they would work on those situations. but i'm still looking for other options. keeping her in a cage is not an option at all. i'd rather take her with me.

[Sansano]

It's not a cage. It's a Kennel. Plus, how do you know that the other dogs will be fine? You put your dog in a new situation LIVING with other new dogs. I would say you never know what can happen. Sounds unsafe to me. If you can take her with you..I would do that.

[Svitlana]

how would you define or describe a cannel? as far as i know they keep dogs in if not cages then small caged areas which in my understanding are cages. dogs get 5-10 min. walks (which is unacceptable). as far as i am concerned, it's misery.
unfortunately i won't be able to travel with her. it will be probably too stressful for both of us.
as i said, i'm looking for a reasonable facility for my dog to stay for 40 days. dog camp is at this point the best option we have.
if you have any suggestions or recommendations, i'd appreciate them

[cpalenchar]

I looked at their site-- at $200 a week, I would think you could probably find someone to take care of the dog in your home.... Maybe a friend with a dog or to you would trust to take your dog into their house for the month? Maybe a friend to come stay in your house? Maybe some poor (but responsible) college student who would LOVE to make that kind of money!!! There are a few members of the board who live in Toronto-- maybe they'd like some extra money?

I think the dog camp can be looked at the same as "dog parks". And the main underlying problem with dog parks is that you CANNOT control who brings their dog there (unless you belong to one of those fancy private ones.) Thus-- even if your dog is wonderful, some idiot might bring an aggressive dog there-- and your dog can get hurt. One dog bite-- and a dog can develop dog aggression.

However-- at a dog park, you are there, watching the whole situation-- and you can (sometimes) call your dog back before anything bad happens. At this place-- you have no control-- you must trust these people to be able to control (off leash) many (up to 20?) dogs who don't aren't bonded to them and who are running around. This is a lot of trust I think....

They don't make any mention on their web site of what they do with dog-aggressive dogs. Maybe this means they don't have a good policy. But-- maybe they do. If you decide to persue this idea-- that is definitely something I would press them on. Because if it were me-- it's not *my* dog's behavior I would worry about... it's the behavior of the other 19 dogs who could be staying there are the same time....

-chloe

[brunie's mom]

The best thing for your dog would be to get someone to live in the house with her. She needs more then a pet sitting service that comes in twice a day and feeds...it is way to long for her to be alone.:(

I agree with the others, it is not always a good idea for a pack of dogs to get playing together.
I have a doggie B&B out in the country on 50 acres. I only take up to 9 dogs at a time. It depends on the dogs with who they get to play with....for your female a male Rott or a Lab would probably be a good playing partner.

My dogs go for walks 3 times per day and they are out playing in the fenced in dog yard with me supervising every two hours. I throw the ball or the stick with them and they have alot of fun.

It is alot like dogcamp...only I do not charge as much!!!:D

They each have their own pen that is carpeted that opens up into a individual run outside.

You cannot receive PM's but if you go to the bottom of my signature and e-mail the adoptarott.com address....someone will forward your e-mail to me.

Gina

[Svitlana]

thank you, cloe. you are right, leaving my dog with lots of other dots means a lot of trust to the 'camp' owners. i'll definitely find out about their policies and strategies. it's true, anything can happen and two totally docile and otherwise friendly dogs might for some reason not like each other. i'm looking for a house sitter, which is a much better option for me. if you or anyone could refer a person from Toronto area it would be wonderful.

[Svitlana]

hi gina,
thanks very much for your message!
here is my e-mail Please do not post email addresses
I also left a message with my phone# at adoptarott answering service. I hope we'll get in touch soon!