Looking to set up boarding kennels-any advice welcome!!

doggiedoggiedo

Hi Guys

As the title of the thread says I would like to set up boarding kennels for dogs. I want to be completely honest though and I want to know what you all think of my idea. I have been following this forum for a long time and I know that the majority of you know more about animals than me!!

My story is basically as follows: my husband and I have a big garden, and 7 dogs. We designed a space next to the garage for them during the day but they all sleep inside at night. I love looking after the dogs and I was thinking of setting up boarding kennels, what do ye think, any advice is greatly appreciated??

JustAThought

doggiedoggiedo wrote: »

Hi Guys

As the title of the thread says I would like to set up boarding kennels for dogs. I want to be completely honest though and I want to know what you all think of my idea. I have been following this forum for a long time and I know that the majority of you know more about animals than me!!

My story is basically as follows: my husband, daughter and I have a big garden, we got 2 boxers two years ago, a doberman last year and we have 4 terriers as well. We designed a space next to the garage for them during the day but they all sleep inside at night. I was never particularly a 'doggie' person before but I have to admit that I love these dogs as much as any person!! Our dilemma was during the summer when our daughter went abroad and we went to visit her...I felt so guilty leaving our 'babies' at home. We were lucky, my brother who the dogs love, looked after them, but it got me thinking about others who dont have anyone to look after their dogs.

I will inherit some money shortly and Im thinking about investing some of it in setting up boarding kennels, what do ye think, any advice is greatly appreciated??

It sounds like you already have a kennels!!!
Seriously thou, if you dont know what your up to, why take somebodys elses life savings and gamble them on it... Government bonds give a 50% return after 5 years... That might be a better bet.

planetX

first step is to see if you'd have a hope in hell of getting planning permission. Unless you're very isolated it will be a problem.

Whispered

I would want someone with a proven track record on dealing with dogs.

It's a long day with last walks late at night then up again early for morning walks. Depending on how busy you are and how many you have in, as well as how well they will walk together you could end up walking tens of km's every day to ensure they all get sufficient exercise.

You'll have to be prepared and able to deal with behaviour problems ranging from nervousness to aggression to obsessions.

You'll need a good relationship with your vet, because you will have to call him at odd hours at some stage over a boarder.

You will have to have the patience of a saint with people as well as dogs.


It might be worth looking at doing a canine first aid course or the likes as well, just in case you ever need it.


You'd have to have a bathing facility. It's my opinion that if the option isn't there for the dog to get wet and muddy then the kennel is just not fun :P but of course you can't let a stinky muddy dog sleep on its blanket so you'll need to be able to wash them.

There are so many kennels out there, but from reading threads here it seems I'm lucky to have one I'm totally happy with. I'm sure if you set up the right type of facility you could do well. Best of luck!

Cherry Blossom

I'm just thinking of the kennels that are around me, one is a vet, one is a vet nurse, two are dog trainers, one is a lady who shows and breeds, one is a dog groomer and one is greyhound racing kennels that take boarders as well, there is only really one of these where I would consider leaving my dog at all, all might be considered experienced with dogs in one way or another. There are a lot of people out there already offering this service and you'd be missing that 'extra' thing that most people have on their side unfortunately. If you would like to look into it a bit more though it might be a good idea to volunteer to help out a kennels near you for a while, this would give you a good feel of what is actually involved.

pokertalk

you will need to get planning permission,a kennel licence public liability insurance and so on you would defo need to do a k9 or animal care course which i think you can do it in killester college have a good vet and dog groomer handy because you will need them