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| - My 3.5 year old Germain Shorthaired Pointer stayed here for 10 days while we were on vacation recently. He is a high energy, happy dog, so we thought he would have fun here while we were gone. We decided to do every other day daycare so he would have time to recoup between days.
When we dropped him off, we went to the back to see his accommodations. The kennel area was noticeably warmer than the lobby and smelled. Not like feces or urine, just bad. The air just seemed thick and moist. When we got to his "room" (glass block or not, these are no different than the pound in my opinion) and he wouldn't go inside. He had to be carried in. He was given a raised cot, but there was no bedding or anything like that on it. If I had realized this I would have brought him something more comfortable, but that's my fault.
When we picked him up he was TIRED. We have boarded him before elsewhere, so we expected it, but 3 days later he still wasn't feeling well. We got a call from Pete and Macs asking how he was doing, and I told them he wasn't feeling well. She brushed it off to him being tired, but I told her I didn't think that's what it was. Later that day, he started coughing. It kept getting worse and worse, and we come to find out he has kennel cough. If you've never heard it before, it sounds like a hacking, barking seal. It's the saddest thing ever.
I did some research and spoke to the vet, and while kennel cough is common in boarding facilities, there are ways to prevent it. It's airborne, so proper ventilation and air purifiers are crucial to keeping the illness down. Based on my experience being back there, that air is NOT circulating, let alone filtered.
We paid a LOT of money for our dog to be there and he ended up sick. I feel like for the money there are much better options. I'm sad because I really wanted to like this place and have it available if we needed it.
Edited to add: I do want to say that the employees there were all very nice and professional. I think that's important to comment on!
Also, like I said before, we have boarded him before and he's never been sick. He was also seen by the vet about a month before we boarded him for his annual check up and vaccines and he was perfect.
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