[Bailey]

I have a 6 month Whaeton Terrier who was boarded at a kennel for 2 weeks while we were on vacation. Before Bailey went into the kennel I had him completely checked out to make sure all was OK. When I picked him up from the kennel, he was completely covered in open wounds and scabs. I took him immediately to the vet and he thinks it is probably a massive infestation of mites so he is now being treated for sarcoptic mange. Its a really pitiful site to watch him as he constantly scratches himself.
Bailey is now on AdvantageMulti 55 to kill the mites, Cephalexin (an antibotic) at a dose of 375 mg in the morning and the same at night as well as Prednisine at a dosage of 10 mg in the morning and the same again at night.
The kennel says they never saw any indication that anything was wrong, however, to my point of view, this further convinces me that they were completely negligent in Bailey's care. If they had paid any attention at all, they would have had to see him practically mutilating himself.
He also spent 2 full days and evengings in the clinic by the way. At he moment he is still scratching furiously around his face only (earlier it was his entire body) and he is wearing a cone to prevent any further scratching. He's about 50% better but its still very uncomfortable for him.
My point is this: now matter how good or clean a kennel looks there are still serious risks in placing your furry family member in a kennel. [b]The next time we have to go away, you can be sure I'll hire a live in sitter to stay with Bailey, full time. My hope is that this clears up soon and doesn't become a recurring theme for Bailey. Wheatons are know to have skin issues but this is ridiculous. Once his biopsy results come in next Tuesday, if it does turn out that the root cause was the kennel, they and I will have a serious discussion. In the meantime, I still hold them responsible. If they had been paying attention to Bailey as they should have, they could have called their vet or mine and nipped this in the bud when Bailey first started showing signs of discomfort. I guess I just had to get this off my chest. I am so guilt ridden and angry at the kennel at the same time.

[Bailey]

You know, considering that kennels are supposed to provide shelter and protection for a family's loved one, even though it may be an animal, it would be nice to see some regulation and audit procedures just like in restaurants that state a particular kennel has passed its audit and is in good standing with a proper regulatory authority.
The same should go for breeders. If this were the case then any pet shop would be able to differentiate itself from all the others by showing it sells only breeder approved animals rather than those that sell pets from puppy mills.

An unrealistic but never-the-less wishful thought.

[Poohbear]

But then, it would be just cheaper for us to take our dogs with us when we go on vacation!!! I have never used a kennel, and I am an old timer who has had dogs for 35 yrs. If my dog is not welcome, I don't go!!!! I bought my youngest GSD from a kennel, went, looked, thought it was really clean, and I had to bring that poor pup to the vet every other day, for at least 3 wks. It cost me almost 1000. dollars to bring him back to good health, but I don't regret a dime of it, he is just great!!!

[Bailey]

Well so far I've spent $1200.00 to help fix this problem and relieve Bailey from his discomfort. I also have no regrets and would spend that and more in a heartbeat. My wife, my children, my grandchildren and my dog and cat can have every penny if it helps their quality of life and makes them happy.

I spent $3500.00 in the last six weeks of my previous Wheaton's (Riley) life. I don;t regret that either.

You can't put a monitory value on love of this kind, it's impossible.

[beks]

I had my dog in a Kennel for 3 weeks, it was a really good one though, I had alot of reccomendations and positive things said about the girl that runs it and we called few times while we were gone to make sure everything was going good...They had a farm, so there was an out door and indoor play area and the dogs could sleep where they wanted. My dog had a blast there, i dont think he wanted to come back with us!
I guess if you are concidering putting your dog in a kennel for a time you should double or tripple check the place out, and get reccomendations and keep in touch while your gone...
but i guess also u can't always trust everyone.
I'm thankfull the one my dog went to was realy good, if i go away again and he cant come that's where he will go. The price was good to, 10 dollers (canadian) a night.!

[Bailey]

Hi there, I do agree with you full heartedly and I know of several breeders who all say the same thing about selling their pups to pet shops. We made that mistake about 30 years ago and obviously will never do it again. In fact I go out of my way to publish to anyone considering a pup, to not go that route.
An update on Bailey is that he seems to be improving and to his benefit right now he sleps all the time. If you're sleeping, it can't hurt right? He's is starting to show some interest while on our walks now but man, because of that Prednisone he's peeing like a racr house. It takes all my efforts for him to keeps drinking enough so he won't dehydrate himself.
His biopsies should be back by Tuesday or Wednesday and I pray it is all caused by some sort of parasite. That can be fixed and prevented from re0ccuring. If it's alergies or smething else, we may be headed down the same road we travelled with our last Wheaton, Riley, who we had for 13 years. I swear, Riley put every Vet's kids through college. Bless his heart and rest his soul.
So for now we kep our fingers crossed and pray for the least of all evils. Thanks for listening, guys.

Mike Trainor
Montreal, Canada

[Poohbear]

Good Luck with Bailey, and I hope that things go better for you this time around!!