# Special Boarding



## WitterKT (Jul 22, 2010)

So I am no longer with my girlfriend. Her family is who cared for the puppies when I went on vacation (even little ones to San Diego for the weekend). What do you guys do when you must go on vacation? Are there special boarding kennels that feed raw? Do you have a dog sitter come to your house to feed them raw? 

What do ya' do?


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I would get in touch with reputable kennels etc, I wouldn't count on them to take care of your dog as you would so they probably won't watch his stools how you would etc so to make raw feeding easier i would grind all the bone in meals that he/she was to get for that week or however long, i would also pack them all into daily pouches labeled days/ingredients etc. things like eggs, organs i would also put into grinds on certain days to make it easier on the people caring for your pup.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Any boarding facility that will not continue to feed your dogs their diet is not one worth going to. 
I have always boarded mine at my daycare facility, but I think for their comfort I'm going to have someone stay at the house next time.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I use a petsitter because I don't vaccinate so that just about ends chances of using a kennel.


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## RaisingWolves (Mar 19, 2011)

I use a dog sitter, but our daycare doesn't have a problem with feeding raw if ever I need overnight boarding.


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## pandaparade (Dec 29, 2010)

I also if I need to, use a boarding place. They keep my raw food in the fridge and then feed Jasper at lunch. They have no problem with it.


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## Northwoods10 (Nov 22, 2010)

I haven't needed to use a kennel yet, our dogs practically go everywhere with us. If by chance we do need to go somewhere without them, we really try to have a friend or family stay at the house with them for their own comfort.

But, I do know there are a lot of people who feed raw that have found kennels that will feed raw. Most people just bring a ground version for ease and less room for error!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I sympathize - I don't have family/friends here willing to take care of my dogs, and I wouldn't trust any kennel or petsitter with them.

Last time we had to leave town, I flew my brother in from California to take care of them. 

Life was alot easier when I had people who I would trust to take care of my dogs, and vice versa, when we/they had to leave town.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

I also read a suggestion somewhere that if you need to use a boarding kennel and you feed raw but they don't have the "room" for your dogs food like that, you can always use some of the pre-made raw just while you are gone.

It's merely a suggestion I heard so don't jump on me if you don't agree.

I'm actually with Bill, I don't get all the vaccines they want so I won't be using a boarding kennel.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

We take our pets absolutely everywhere with us. Actually we probably need our heads read because we haven't flown anywhere in the past 4 years just so we can take them. The only time I've had to leave them at home is when my husband has had several operations at a hospital 90 miles away. 
I have several friends and one in particular who look after my dog at her place and who will even come to my house and walk my cat. When she goes away, I do the exact same thing for her dogs. 
I do tend to give them either a can of 95% meat or a pre-made patty for Mollie's dinner. It's not going to kill Mollie for a day or two to eat that. I feel that its a small price to pay knowing I can absolutely trust that Mol is getting 3 miles walks, several swims a day and the best care she can possibly have.


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

I live in LA also and have two contacts who are licensed and bonded to visit your home if you're interested. OR if you prefer 24 hour boarding ROVER: Dog Boarding, Dog Kennel, Dog Daycare, Dog Grooming, Dog Training, Los Angeles is where I take Tanis. All dogs are evaluated before they are accepted to make sure they are not dog aggressive and they meet the other dogs one at a time in the play area so they are not overwhelmed. Once they have met all of the dogs the workers take note of the ones that get along the best and keep them together. For feeding and nap time, they each get their own room away from everyone else. They will feed them raw too though I haven't had to send any food with Tanis for a while because he only goes during the day while I'm at work and I take care of his feeding at home. When I do board there for a few days in the future I will probably buy pre-made raw patties just to make it easier for the boarders during that time. There is a local company called wagalicious that makes those and you can find them at Whole Foods and smaller natural food stores.


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

If you do go to Rover, PM me so I can give you my name for reference.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

From now on I will only leave my dogs at home with a pet sitter, they do so much better at home and they don't fret and worry that they have been left. 3 years ago I tried leaving them with a pet sitter and she was very expensive with great refrences, I even met her a few times for her to walk the dogs so they could get use to her. SHE WAS HORRID. She was never at the house, my neighbors never saw her here. Needless to say we didn't go any where last year because of that experience.

Come to find out one of my vet techs at my vets office does this on the side and this year the dogs were so HAPPY, and my pocket book was a lot happier from the last experience also.

I'd see if anyone from your vet's office does this as then they know the dogs and understand dog behavior.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> From now on I will only leave my dogs at home with a pet sitter, they do so much better at home and they don't fret and worry that they have been left. 3 years ago I tried leaving them with a pet sitter and she was very expensive with great refrences, I even met her a few times for her to walk the dogs so they could get use to her. SHE WAS HORRID. She was never at the house, my neighbors never saw her here. Needless to say we didn't go any where last year because of that experience.


I had that happen too - I have a retired next door neighbor who I asked to check while we were gone and it turns out the petsitter DID come as promised, but she was never there longer than 5-10 minutes. No walks, no playtime, just let outside to pee, fed, and let back inside. And I paid EXTRA for walks!!!!


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

That happened to me once before when I just had cats. I paid a friend to stay at my house with them while I went to Vegas for 3 days. I got home earlier than expected and the house was a mess, the water bowl was dry, food bowl empty and litterbox overflowing. He apparently had taken the money and spent at least 24 hours at a local casino.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Yeah, I think if you just get friends that definitely can happen, but knowing that someone who really loves animals that works with them on a daily basis and knows their needs like a tech certainly helped with the bad experience. She is staying again with the dogs in June so we can go to my great niece's graduation in Couer d'lene ID


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Funny, I use to look after a close neighbours Rhodesian Ridgeback because I noticed their pet sitter would visit, let the dog out for a pee, didn't wait around to see if she did in fact pee or not, she was in and out of the house in 5 minutes. She was also paid an extra $20 to walk the dog for 15 minutes, but nope, never saw that happen once. 
So this neighbour would get home and wonder why there was pee and poop in the house. I felt sorry for the dog, so ended up looking after her many many times (for free) before they moved to the other coast.
This pet sitter had many good references. I found it disappointing that she could be so mean to the dog and so dishonest to the owners.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

I don't know that I could ever use a boarding kennel. I'm just too worrisome and don't think I'd be able to leave them with people I don't know.

Abbie my mix is also nervous and anxiety ridden, so if I did have to leave them, I'd just have my mom and her boyfriend babysit. They already refer to them as the "grandkids", my mom would feed Murph his raw meals (though she'd probably be a little grossed out lol), and Abbie would be much much more comfortable with my mom and the family boxer that she grew up with, rather than in a pen somewhere with people she doesn't know.

Plus, Murph won't be getting his rabies vaccination anymore if I can help it, we have a letter stating that he should not receive it because of his reaction last time, so I imagine that would probably be a big no no for a boarding kennel lol.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

I am going to Destin, Florida this summer for 4 days with my fam...We will not be boarding the dogs. 

a.) I refuse to have them all vaccinated on a yearly basis 
b.) they've never been boarded 
c.) I don't feel they would be receiving adequate attention -> I have three who hate playing with other dogs so they would probably just be sad and alone all the time
d.) I think my boss is up to the challenge of raw feeding the pups and taking care of them for a few days!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> Yeah, I think if you just get friends that definitely can happen, but knowing that someone who really loves animals that works with them on a daily basis and knows their needs like a tech certainly helped with the bad experience. She is staying again with the dogs in June so we can go to my great niece's graduation in Couer d'lene ID


If I could find someone like that, I would treat them like gold!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

CavePaws said:


> I am going to Destin, Florida this summer for 4 days with my fam...We will not be boarding the dogs.
> 
> a.) I refuse to have them all vaccinated on a yearly basis
> b.) they've never been boarded
> ...


Well, ahem, you kind of have an "in" with the dog world. I am laughing just imagining the look on my boss's face if I asked her to do that!


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

True...>_> I think my boss is the only one who can handle our dog aggressive pup, Indi. Well, it's not like it's for free either, I'll have to pay her to do it.
But if I had to board the dogs somewhere I would ask for a tour, watch how they interact with the dogs during feeding/play time, I would read tons of reviews, and make sure they could accommodate any special requests. The raw feeding thing should be a non-issue with any good boarding facility. I had to feed a couple of raw fed dogs when I worked for a boarding/daycare facility. It wasn't any harder than feeding the other dogs kibble, I just had to watch/listen to them more closely, but since I was right there feeding the other dogs anyway that wasn't a problem.


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

I love the daycare/boarding I mentioned before in this thread. At the end of the day, he is always one happy and tuckered out pup. It's right across the street from my work too so I can check up on him if I need to. They don't do cages or crates - there's an open play room that is sectioned off for big, medium and small dogs and then other sections for dogs that form a special "pack" to play in. For rest time, they get an actual room with a bed, blankets and a TV! I usually drop him off when he needs a good bath, trim and nails done and the groomer takes him at the end of the day so he's nice and tired and doesn't care what they do to him. I wish daycare had been so nice and easy for my daughter when she was little....


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