Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with kennel

Need a safe place to stash the cats for a few weeks

swhitt — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:26:35 -0800

Where to board our cats in Paris while traveling in the states? My girlfriend and I are spending three weeks back in the states for vacation/work for three weeks in early June. Trouble is, we have two cats and no idea where they can be taken care of. Does anyone have any recommendations of cat boarding facilities, kennels, etc? We live in the 12ème if that helps.

Shh puppy, shh.....

mjcon — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:18:28 -0800

After 4 months of living with me, my puppy's barking in the kennel issues haven't improved much. I am looking for suggestions for things I haven't tried that might make him quiet down. I have a 6 month old small dog who still barks in his kennel EVERY DAY when I leave him alone. I don't want him to do this. I have tried everything I can think of and am looking for some fresh suggestions. I apologize in advance for the long back story, but here goes.

I have had the dog since he was 8 weeks old, and he's never been super fond of being alone. When I leave him in his kennel, he barks/howls off and on for a while, often as much as a half hour. Then he seems to settle down and fall asleep for the rest of the time he is in there. From my extensive google-ing, it appears that his deal might be a mild form of separation anxiety or something similar. Other details:

1. The dog does typically follow me around throughout the house, but sometimes he will go and play in another room for a little while when I am home
2. He gets anxious and whiny when I leave the house even if other people are home. Sometimes my roommate has to grab him to keep him from darting out the door when it is obvious I am going to leave. He whines for a bit after I am gone, but not nearly as long as when he is alone in his kennel
3. He does not get anxious and whiny when my roommate (who the dog is very very fond of) leaves the house.
4. Before he was housebroken, he slept in his kennel in my bedroom and had no problem with it. He was pretty much completely quiet and would go in without a fight. So I don't think the issue is that he hates his kennel.
5. When he is in his kennel and barking, he will still eat any easy to access foods in there (he won't fight for an hour for something that is frozen, but he will spend a couple seconds gobbling something up) He never hurts himself or tries to get out or pees in there or anything. When I come back, he is totally quiet and sleeping. Its really just that first little while that he is upset.
6. He is a moderately barky character. He doesn't bark to huge excess, but he does seem to bark or whine when he is frustrated (toy trapped under the couch, bark. Water bowl empty, bark, cool person or dog out the window, bark)

Things I have tried to calm/quiet him down in the kennel

1. tons of awesome food items in a kong toy, frozen or unfrozen. He will eventually eat them, but seems to understand they aren't going anywhere....He isn't as food motivated as most other dogs
2. DAP spray and rescue remedy
3. playing music
4. Spraying him or spraying in the room he is in with a squirt bottle to distract him from barking (this actually has cut down the barking some....)
5. one of those ultrasonic noise things that makes an inaudible beep when he barks. This had some impact, but it wasn't good...made him bark less, but for way longer. And he was a neurotic mess when I took him out of the kennel. I returned the thing.
6. Exercising him tons before he went in the kennel so he was dead tired. He still seems to find the strength to bark for a while.

I know about the whole building up the time he is alone thing, and after the holidays I am going to work toward moving him out of the crate and gate him in the bathroom. We will work up the time he is in the bathroom from nothing and hope that he has a more positive association with the bathroom than the kennel. I think for his own safety, he's still too young to have free run of the house when I'm gone, but I hope that someday he will. What other things have you wise dog owners done to keep dogs quiet that I haven't tried? Has anyone used a citronella bark collar to any success? Did your dog eventually just grow out of this problem?

make me down a pallet on your floor

wg — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:59:45 -0800

Dog boarding recommendations in Niagara Falls, Ontario? My dog: 6yo Brittany. Well socialized. Wouldn't hurt a flea. She kennels best when she can gallop about with other dogs and has attention from humans.

Ideal setting: A kennel/doggie daycare, where she has regular play with the other dogs and regular contact with people.

She will be well exercised upon arrival, and will only be staying for one night. So, I would consider a well-respected boarding facility that at least gets her out of the kennel a few times a day.

I'd also welcome any information that may be specific to kenneling a dog in Canada, as I am from NY. My dog is current on all rabies, kennel cough, etc and I can easily provide documentation from my vet.

Maybe it'll be cheaper to take her on the plane after all

Countess Elena — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:10:25 -0800

Can you recommend a dog boarding service/overnight walker/kennel in the Boston area, preferably T-accessible but otherwise not a long drive from the North Shore? My vet has a kennel, but it's an extremely basic crated-all-day setup. There's a spacious place I know nearby, but I hear that some dogs got kennel cough there.

Let me know if you have any tips.

Help me find a loving, caring kennel in Los Angeles.

jmoneystl — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:25:03 -0800

Help me find a loving, caring kennel in Los Angeles. My girlfriend and I are relocating to Los Angeles. We can't move into our new apartment yet, so we're staying with family. Our dog, however, needs to go to a kennel. Since he may be there for 2 weeks, we want to find a place that plays with the dogs a few times a day and preferably keeps them in runs instead of cages.

We'll be in the Redondo Beach area and we will have a car.

How do we get the dog off our bed at night?

birdlips — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:13:33 -0800

Dogfilter: We need help training our dog to sleep in her kennel and not in our bed. How can we do this? Without going into too much detail, my wife and I lost our baby at 5 months and I got a dog for her to help her cope and funnel her parental energy. The dog quickly became our little baby and slept in our bed from the beginning.

I am allergic to dogs (although not badly) and I use an air filter at night that has worked well enough to control my congestion.

Our dog is a Karen Terrier, is about 12 pounds, has hair not fur, and is female.

We now want to get the dog sleeping in her kennel or on the floor at night because she is getting too big and my allergies are starting to over power the air filter. Here is where I need your help. We have tried several times to put her in the kennel, however, she cries and barks until we take her out. We have tried leaving her in there for hours and she continues to cry and bark the entire time. Obviously this keeps us up at night so we end up bringing her back in the bed. I know the dog has figured out that through crying she will eventually make it back to the room.

We know this is our fault and we trained the dog to be in our bed but we really need to know how can we break this habit. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

What can I do with two cats in NYC while I wait for my apartment?

kdar — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:11:15 -0800

I'm moving to NYC from DC in August and my temporary housing (paid-for-as-part-of-relocation-package corporate apt.) wants $1000 out of my pocket for my cats. What alternatives do I have? The $1000 is a non-refundable fee, not based on length of stay. (I had hoped that it would be a deposit, or prorated, or something. But no, it's a fee.) I plan to come to NYC on August 18; I'll be staying in the housing until September 1, when I, with any luck, move into my new apartment. Unfortunately, getting them to stay with friends and family is right out of the question. All of my friends in NYC either are already full to the brim with pets or are allergic.

So, can anyone suggest some good alternatives to do with two cats in NYC for two weeks that would cost less than $1000? Anything I save here is pretty much gravy.

Also, any tag suggestions to help others find this would be appreciated.

Shelter for my dogs?

mikel — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:42:58 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good boarding kennel in the Ottawa area? Although I grew up in Ottawa, I am fairly new to the area as a dog owner. What would the best option be for both overnight or weekend care and for longer week or 10-day care? I don't mind a bit of driving to get there.

Who will care for my kitty?

mostlymartha — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:37:04 -0800

How do I arrange for the best possible care for our kitty while we're away from San Francisco for the holidays? Mr. Mostly and I will be away from home visiting family from December 20-January 3. Our cat Imogene will be just seven months old. We thought about taking her with us, but because she is a sweet but slightly neurotic girl (a shelter cat who was very undersocialized when we got her in July), that seemed like a very bad idea.

We thought about asking friends to come by to feed and give attention to her, but frankly, I'm not sure they're responsible enough to care for our baby, particularly during the holiday rush.

So, we figure our options are to board her or hire someone to come by. Which is preferable? Any recommendations for either a good kennel (although I rather cringe at that word) or reputable sitter in San Francisco or ideas for how to find such a thing? Craigslist maybe? How much should we expect to pay?

Pampered Pooch Seeks Plush Puppy Palace

clpage — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 11:30:09 -0800

PetFilter: Need kennel/boarding recommendations in the Silver Spring, MD/Montgomery County, MD area (or along the I-95 North corridor as we will be traveling to Philadelphia). In search of a very nice kennel (preferably ABKA member) for a short 2 day/1 night stay for my precious puppy-wuppy-kins. I would prefer that the kennel be on the "comfy/plush" side, as puppy-wuppy-kins is a pampered pooch.

Bonus points for facilities that allow Sunday pick-up.

Feline Move Post Coast-to-Coast

Dante5Inferno — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 20:13:35 -0800

I am moving from the West Coast to the East Coast and I'm wondering what the best way to move my beloved cat. I was originally going to bring her on my flight as a carry-on, but I'm thinking that the plane ride may be too long in a small pet carrier. There is also the option of checking her in as luggage, but most airlines don't allow this in the summer months (i.e. the time I'm moving). Any suggestions? Shipping is also an option; any suggestions on airline-friendly kennels that can attach water and food? Also, to sedate or not to sedate?