I had a bad experience with a kenne/daycare facility here in Reno. I took Otis for a trial day at daycare and he did fine. I boarded him there once for 5 days while I was out of town and he seemed fine when I picked him up. So, I boarded him again a couple months later when I had to go out of town for 10 days, so he was there twice as long this time. Well, when I went to pick him up, he had scabs all over both sides of his face from being bitten (still not sure if it was playbiting or if a dog grabbed him around the neck) and he was skinny, you could see his hip bones poking out, and he had diarrhea for a week after coming home. I've found out that his skin tends to break easier than others, not sure if it is because he is white and his skin is pink, but he still had way too many bite marks on his neck in my opinion and they weren't exactly sure what happened which I also was not happy about since it meant they weren't supervising very closely. This place is all indoors in a big warehouse type facility, they have a big dog area and a small dog area. They also didn't seem to have a limit on the # of dogs they allowed in daycare, so some days there could be as many as 20. Also, since this place was primarily a daycare, they weren't open on weekends. So, someone would come to let the boarding dogs out for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening, and that was all the time out they got on weekends. During the week, they opened at 6:45 a.m. and closed at 6:00 p.m., so by 7pm everyone was gone. They did have webcams which I liked because you could watch your dog on your computer from wherever you may be.
Anyway, I obviously wasn't too psyched about having to board Otis at that place again and when I told the owners of the dog bakery I go to, they recommended another kennel that I now love. The owners are husband and wife. The wife works with a vet clinic doing physical therapy work for dogs. She and her husband are also involved with Mastiff rescue and have about 7 dogs of their own, mostly Mastiffs. My fiance and I went and checked out their facility, which has only been open a few months. They have large and small kennels, each with their own outdoor kennel area. They leave the door to the outside part of their kennel open until 9:30 at night, so they can go in and out all day. They also have a food room where they have all the best foods, but you can bring your own as well. They also provide raw knuckle bones for the dogs with your permission. They are open 7 days a week and the best part is that they live right next door to the kennel. They have a huge outdoor play area that is fenced in with 8 foot high fences. Rather than have a bunch of dogs in one area playing, like a daycare would, they do temperament tests with the dogs that are boarding, and then will usually take two dogs out at a time for one on one play. Or, they will just take your dog out by itself to run around and play.
They are still adding on to their facility as the wife does rehabilitative/therapy work at the kennel, so they are adding a swimming pool for that. They already have a therapy room, in addition to a laundry room, and a bath room for giving the dogs baths. The owners just love Otis and know him by name! I actually just dropped him off today for his 2nd time boarding there as I am going out of town tomorrow, and as soon as they saw him they called him by name and the husband said he had been waiting all day for him to show up! So, I know he gets loved on there and it is just a great, clean facility and Otis is happy and healthy when I pick him up.
Anyway, that's been my experience here in Reno! I know I'm probably lucky to have such a nice kennel. My fiance wants to move to FL and I'm so worried that I won't find all of the great stuff there that I have found here!
