Host dog boarder

gettingready

I am not judging, someone asked a question - replied with what I know...

And believe me, they are very often booked.....

As I said, those are London prices, they are people who work for themselves, not minding for an agency - they set their own prices and they do have customers , especially in busy periods like holidays, Christmas, Easter etc etc.

My Zara was at one of those boearding places for 10 days last year at Christmas PLUS I was paying someone else to come and check on the cats twice per day (£12 per day)..... I was working then though.. sigh....

Personally I would not leave my own dog in kennels or cats in a cattery - if I can not afford cat sitter/home boarding - I stay put at home myself.... BUt of course this is everyone's individual choice.

gettingready

Froglet wrote: »

the agency must surely have their contact details,then surely you would just let the agency deal with it.

Sorry, are you saying you would not know who's dog are you looking after? YOU would have no owner details????? Owner would not have your details? Seriously?

There is no way I would ever leave my dog with anyone in this kind of set up.

My friends invite the dog owners to visit them, see the house and meet the people/animals their dog will be staying with etc etc.. Can not imagine it any other way, sorry.

Froglet

No,getting ready that wasn't what i meant though i probably didn't explain.I have been told that the owners like to vet the person looking after their dog,and rightly so,i would be the same.What i meant was that although i would know whose dog i was looking after it would be the ultimate responsibility of the agency who take the money from them to sort out a problem should it arise,such as an owner not claiming a dog.However i think that a highly unlikely scenario!!

I have been quoted £10 a day which when you consider all the responsibility and the time taken up walking it etc it seems very little but if the owner is only paying the agency double that(just guessing here) they can't afford any more i suppose.

What do kennels charge per day?

Gem_

My kennels are £10 per day which includes them being taken on 2 walks per day.

I am clearly in the wrong job if I could get made to stay at home with a cute pooch.

Gem

elsien

Yes in my case it would be the agency rather than the host who'd sort things out if there was a problem - including getting the dog to the vet if needed and taking care of unclaimed dogs. According to my company this has actually happened to them - I can't see how you can pay hundreds for a fortnights boarding then not fetch the dog, but that's exactly what happened. Basically the host sorts out the day to day care, the agency is responsible for everything else. And sort out the insurance, pre-vetting the dogs etc.
At a guess I'd say that my host families get about a tenner out of each twenty paid - I've not asked but I don't see how the owner of the company could make a living otherwise.
Re kennel costs - mine averaged £14 a day - you can get cheaper but that's because they charge for all the extras like twice daily feeding, giving meds, extra walks etc. But out of that they provide all the food and have all the overheads such as staff costs. I think the extra £6 a day is worth it for the individual attention for my old knackered pooch - I don't think the kennels would pick up as quickly if there was a problem and as my last dog died in kennels while I was away, I'm not taking any chances.

pawsies

I did this for a bit however my dog was NOT happy with other dogs in her house so we stopped.

We also got quoted £10 a day and everything was provided etc from the owner, the owner pays £17.50 a day around here which I think is quite a lot but clearly not as much as other counties!

As you've not mentioned any current dogs I'd highly recommend doing it

gettingready

From about half way down the page - the dogs listed by names, are the dogs that were boarded at DogsAndTheCity, total home comforts, 3 fantastic walks per day with other dogs etc etc:

http://www.dogsandthecity.co.uk/gallery/

gettingready

My fav being the gallery of Uggs LOL

http://www.dogsandthecity.co.uk/gallery/uggs-the-english-bulldog/

Froglet

pawsies wrote: »

I did this for a bit however my dog was NOT happy with other dogs in her house so we stopped.

We also got quoted £10 a day and everything was provided etc from the owner, the owner pays £17.50 a day around here which I think is quite a lot but clearly not as much as other counties!

As you've not mentioned any current dogs I'd highly recommend doing it

That is reassuring to know that it is the same elsewhere.I am in South Lincolnshire.The pet company is pet buddies,they are a nationwide franchise i believe.So maybe the charges are the same in other places though London you would expect to be more.

No we haven't another dog at present,having a break after the last one.

zaksmum

I'm very fortunate in that my grown up kids take my dogs if I go away...we trade dog minding for LOTS of baby sitting!!

Otherwise there's no way I could pay £490 to have them minded for a week, and you could forget about a fortnight!

I did once check out a lady who was advertising home boarding though, at £120 a week for both dogs. She had no garden, saying dismissively that the dogs could "go" on the tiny strip of communal grass in the front area...close to a busy road! I couldn't get out of there quick enough.