If your dog has anxiety boarding or isn't a fan of other dogs, I don't recommend taking them here. A few months ago, we went to drop our dog off for a few days of boarding. You could hear the dogs barking as soon as you pulled in, but I figured they were just outside, and it wouldn't be bad inside.
Once we got inside, I was a bit disappointed. I have a reactive dog, which I mentioned multiple times before we got there, and upon arrival. I was told that wasn't an issue they often have reactive dogs board with them. I let them know he needs slow introductions to new people. Immediately one of the staff members came up behind him and "grabbed" his lower back. He immediately jumped back in fear because he wasn't aware someone was behind him. I was told the staff had many years of experience working with reactive dogs, and Belgian Malinois specifically. But if that was the case, you would know to never do that to any dog, but especially one where the owner has mentioned multiple times, he is slow to warm up to people and needs proper introductions. This was the first red flag.
We were asked if we wanted to go back with him, and we said yes. Once we walked to the kennel area you couldn't hear anything over the barking and growling. Dogs were lunging at their doors (which didn't seem super sturdy). I was asked to put my dog in the kennel, so I did. He immediately began pacing and cowering. The dog in the kennel next to his was barking and growling and was able to shove his face into the fencing and invade my dog's kennel space. He was putting his entire muzzle through the fence between kennels. This was the second red flag as we were told the masonry went high enough up that the dogs wouldn't see each other while inside the kennels.
The kennels weren't very high, and, in my opinion, half of the large dogs could have jumped into other dog's kennels if they wanted to. The outdoor "runs" were covered with old tarps with holes in them. Again, many large dogs could jump these fences, or climb since they are chain link (I know my dog could and would have) I exited the kennel (very small by the way) and shut the door.
A staff member came back with a (chewed up) cot and opened the door to put it in his kennel and right away he ran right past the staff member. I was able to grab him and got him back in the kennel but went in with him. If my dog was so scared and uncomfortable, and able to escape past the staff within 5 minutes of being there I knew he would just escape again because it was such a stressful environment. I was almost in tears because of the stress it was causing to my dog, myself, and even my boyfriend. I hooked his leash back up and we left the facility with my dog.
Maybe more easy-going dogs may do better here, but I couldn't bring myself to leave him in that environment, especially since it was effortless for him to get past the staff in the first few minutes of being in the kennel. read more