What to look for when boarding?

[natesmom14]

We are going on vacation in September. I have never had to board a dog before. My sister has always stayed at our house w/ our mix, Daisy, but this will be the first vacation since we've had Nikki. My sister loves Nikki and would stay with both of them, but she already committed to petsitting somewhere else (my in-laws) for that week. Daisy and their (in-laws) dog get along great and previous to having Nikki, Daisy just would have stayed up there. However, they don't want Nikki up there b/c she is a Rottweiler. Truth be told, their dog is hardly trained at all, so should something happen it would get blamed on our dog anyway, so I'm okay that she doesn't go up there.

Which brings me to my question:

What do you look for in a place where you board them? I have a spot reserved for them at my vet's. They are in a decent sized run that will hold both of them and are supposedly let out to a very large fenced in back yard together (without other dogs out at the same time) 3x/day for 15 minutes. When we take the dogs in for baths and nail clippings (nope, don't do it myself- that's one of my little quirks- I am too squeamish in the nail-clipping area...), Nikki is practically running down the hall (in fact, last week, the tech didn't have a good hold of her leash and Nikki happily took off to the back of the office)- so she is very comfortable there.

Again, having never boarded a dog before- is this sufficient? Should I be looking elsewhere or what things should I look out for? One of the members here gave me a link to a nice one though it's a bit of a drive for us. However- if I needed to look elsewhere, the drive would not be a factor. I really love my vet and how comfortable and friendly they are with Nikki- 1/2 the staff seems to own a Rottweiler- so I feel they will be in good hands- I'm just so nervous leaving them for a whole week. Especially after having read recently on here from several different posters who won't leave their dogs anywhere and consequently can't go out of town as families...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[frontierrots]

I have a good page about just this subject on my website. Either click on my profile t see my website URL or do a search for it from my signature file below

[natesmom14]

I went to your page (great site, by the way! ) and couldn't find info. on boarding- I clicked on Rottweiler info, links, etc.

[frontierrots]

oh now there's a mystery. A navigation button vanishing! it is my website address then /tips.htm

[natesmom14]

I have a good page about just this subject on my website. Either click on my profile t see my website URL or do a search for it from my signature file below

That is a wonderful tip page and very helpful. Our vet basically covers everything you listed- except the run they will stay in is not indoor/outdoor. Is them letting them out 3x/day for 15 minute intervals not enough or do we need to look elsewhere? They are in a large enough space in their indoor space that they can move around a good bit with plenty of room just not to outdoors. The fenced area outside is very large and has AT LEAST a 6 foot wooden fence (it may be taller- it looks very tall). This facility is less than 2 years old and it does smell clean, my first visit I DID just drop in and they took me back to see it w/in just a couple minutes...all in all it sounds very positive- the indoor/outdoor run was the only concern according to your list.

Thanks again for your feedback!

[frontierrots]

I guess it depends on your dog. I know that for the majority of our clients three 15 min potty breaks would not be enough.

[livertw]

My Daisy goes to a kennel that specializes in large dogs. She has an indoor room (heated and A/C) with a canvas flap door to an outdoor run. They provide a raised wooden pallet for sleeping. We can bring a bed/blanket if we want. The play yard is enormous and the fences are high. Since they deal with big dogs, I feel confident they know how to handle her and keep her secure and happy.

[kala]

Before I would board my dogs anywhere I want to know if there is an attendant there after hours. Here in Arizona last month a training/boarding kennel had 28 dogs die after the A/C unit quit working at night. (The owners live on property so I don't know why they didn't have an alarm or something to alert them to the problem). So number one on my list would be after hour care.
sue

[frontierrots]

I know of only a couple kennels with an attendent in the kennel building at night and those places charge $50+ a night. Here we have fire and smoke alarms that ring to a monitoring company and we also live within a couple hundred feet of the kennel. The place in AZ should have had a max heat alarm like they have in chicken raising farms. With the value of their facility I don't know why they did not. Max heat alarms for night time situations here in NH are not normally something that would be needed even in summer