Questions to Ask a Boarding Kennel
For dog and cat owners choosing a boarding kennel, to ask on the phone or on the tour before booking a stay. The questions follow the order the decision usually takes: the first call, staff and safety, space and exercise, group play, food and health, then updates and cost. Each has a note on what a good answer sounds like and which answers should send you to look at another kennel.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
First call
Do you have room for my dates, and is there anything about my pet that would rule out a stay?
Why ask it
Give the species, breed, age, weight, whether your pet is spayed or neutered and any medical or behavior problem along with the dates. Kennels often have their own rules on intact dogs, young puppies, giant breeds or animals that need injections, and the phone is the place to find that out. If the dates fall on a holiday, ask how far ahead those weeks usually fill.
Can I tour the whole kennel, including where the animals sleep, before I book?
Why ask it
A kennel that is comfortable with how it runs will show you the sleeping area, the yard and the food prep room, not only the front desk. Set tour hours, or a view through a window so that strangers do not stir every dog up, are reasonable. A flat refusal to let you see the back at all is the clearest reason on this list to try somewhere else.
Which vaccinations do you require, and how long before the stay must they be given?
Why ask it
Core vaccines and kennel cough for dogs are on most lists, plus rabies in many places, but each kennel sets its own and the cutoff before arrival differs too. Get the list in writing and take it to your vet, because a shot given the week you leave may be too late under their rule. A kennel that takes your word for it is taking everyone else's word as well.
Is someone in the building overnight, and if not, when does the last person leave and the first one arrive?
Why ask it
Plenty of kennels are empty of people at night, and that alone does not make one bad, but you should hear the actual hours. Where nobody stays, ask what watches the building: cameras that a person checks, smoke and temperature alarms that call someone's phone, and how far away that someone lives. 'There is always somebody around' needs a follow-up asking who and where.
Are you licensed or inspected, and who does the inspecting?
Why ask it
Whether a boarding kennel needs a license at all, and what an inspection covers, depends on the country, state or county, so ask how it works where they are and whether you can see the latest report. Membership in a trade association is voluntary, and it is worth asking what they had to do to join. What you want is a name and a date; 'we are fully compliant' gives you nothing to check.
Do you ask for flea, tick or deworming treatment, or a vet check, before arrival?
Why ask it
The entry rules protect your pet from everyone else's, so stricter is better news than it sounds. Kennels differ on what happens when fleas turn up at check-in or midway through a stay: some treat and bill the owner, some send the animal home. Check with your vet that whatever product the kennel names is right for your animal before you agree to it.
Can my pet come for a day or a single night before the longer stay?
Why ask it
A short trial shows the kennel how your animal copes and shows you how it comes home: hungry, hoarse, exhausted or much as usual. Many kennels encourage one and some insist on it for first-time boarders. Book it a few weeks before the trip so there is time to choose again if it goes badly.
Do you board both dogs and cats, and how far apart are they kept?
Why ask it
For a cat this can decide the whole stay. The answer to hope for is a separate room where barking is faint and no dog walks past the door. Dog owners can ask too: how the quietest guests are housed says a lot about how carefully the place was planned.
Staff and safety
How many animals is each staff member looking after on an ordinary day, and in your busiest week?
Why ask it
You need both numbers, because a ratio that works in a quiet month can double over a holiday when every run is full. The follow-up is whether extra people are hired for the peak or the same team simply works harder. If your trip is at a busy time, the second number is the one that describes your pet's stay.
Would the same people look after my pet through the stay, and how long have they worked here?
Why ask it
You are hoping for names and years. A team that has been together a long time knows the regular boarders and notices when one is off, while a kennel that restaffs every season is always training someone. If you can, meet one of them on the tour and watch how the dogs greet them.
What training do new staff get before they work alone with the animals?
Why ask it
Anything from a formal course to a morning of shadowing can be called training, so ask what it covers. The parts that matter most are reading a dog's or cat's body language, safe handling and pet first aid, and who on each shift has done the last one. The arrangement to listen for is a weekend or after-school helper left alone on site.
What gets written down about each animal each day, and can I see my pet's sheet at pickup?
Why ask it
A chart on the run door or in an app, marked for meals eaten, water, bathroom trips, medication and mood, is how one shift tells the next what it saw. Without it, a dog that has not eaten since Tuesday can go unnoticed until Thursday. Asking to see the sheet at pickup is fair, and a kennel that keeps one will hand it over without fuss.
How do you stop an animal from getting out, at the front door and in the yard?
Why ask it
Look for two barriers between any animal and the street: a gated lobby or double doors inside, and outside a fence that is high, sound and blocked at the base against digging. The risky moments are the moves between run and yard, so find out whether dogs are leashed for them. If yours climbs, digs or bolts through doors, say so now and see how the answer changes.
Has an animal ever escaped or been badly hurt here, and what did you change afterward?
Why ask it
Listen for one specific incident and the gate, rule or routine that came out of it; that tells you more than a clean record you cannot check. Notice whether the story blames the dog or its owner, or looks at what the kennel did. Local reviews and the front desk at your vet's office are a fair second source for this one.
What is the plan if there is a fire, a flood or a long power outage?
Why ask it
Listen for where the animals would be taken, how they would be moved and how many people it would need, then compare that with the number on shift at night. For an outage, the thing to pin down is what keeps the heating or cooling going. A plan that exists only in the owner's head will be hard to follow if the owner is not there.
How is a run cleaned between guests, and how often during a stay?
Why ask it
A routine with steps is the good answer: waste lifted as it appears, the run washed and disinfected daily, a full strip-down before the next animal moves in. The animal should be out of the run until it is dry, and bowls and bedding should go through a wash as well. On the tour, trust your nose: a kennel smells of dog, but it should not sting your eyes or smell of old urine.
When did you last have kennel cough or a stomach bug go around, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
Anywhere animals share air and ground sees an infection now and then, vaccination rules or not, so a specific story is more believable than 'never'. Good accounts include telling the owners of every animal that was there, pausing group play and refusing dogs that arrived coughing. The test for you is whether they would phone to warn you about one in the week before your booking.
Space and exercise
Would my pet sleep in a run, a room or a crate, and how big is it?
Why ask it
All three get called a kennel, so have them show you the exact one. Picture your animal inside: room to stand, turn and lie stretched out, a bed off the floor, and somewhere out of a draft. Solid lower walls between runs mean neighbors cannot stare at each other all day.
How many times a day does a dog leave its run, for how long, and where does it go?
Why ask it
Push for numbers, because 'lots of exercise' can mean three ten-minute turns in a concrete pen. Find out whether time out is a leash walk, a solo yard or a group, and which of those the basic rate includes. Then set the answer against your dog's normal day: an hour less is manageable, a quarter of the usual is a different week.
Where do the dogs go to the bathroom, and what if mine will not go on concrete or inside the run?
Why ask it
Some house-trained dogs hold on for far too long when the only option is the floor of the place they sleep. Tell them what yours is used to, grass, gravel or a leash walk, and how many trips a day it gets at home. A kennel that has met this before will have a routine for it, usually more trips out to a surface the dog will use.
Can pets from the same home share a space, and would they be fed apart?
Why ask it
Animals that live together often settle better sharing, and many kennels discount the second pet. The detail to settle is mealtimes: two dogs who eat peacefully at home can guard food in a strange place, so separate bowls behind a divider is the careful answer. If the pair started to bicker midweek they would need a second run, so check that one would be free.
How noisy is it at night and at feeding time, and where would you put a nervous or elderly animal?
Why ask it
Your own ears on the tour are the first answer. Some barking when a visitor walks in is normal; a wall of noise that never settles makes a hard week for an anxious dog. A quieter end of the building, a room for small or old dogs and runs away from the main walkway are all things you can request by name.
What do you do for a pet that has never boarded before and will not settle?
Why ask it
Pacing, barking or hiding at the back on the first day is common, and experienced staff can describe what they try: a run away from the walkway, a longer walk, time with one person, something that smells of home. The worrying answer is that every animal gets used to it. Find out at what point they would call you, and whether they have ever told an owner that boarding did not suit a pet.
How is the building kept warm in winter and cool in summer, overnight included?
Why ask it
A good answer has a temperature they aim for and a way of knowing in the middle of the night that the system has failed. Outdoor runs need shade and shelter, and the yard needs water that is refilled, both of which you can see for yourself. If your pet handles heat or cold badly, as many flat-faced, elderly or thick-coated animals do, say so and hear what they would change.
What should I bring from home, and what would you prefer I leave behind?
Why ask it
A worn T-shirt or an unwashed blanket that smells of home is the usual yes. Kennels often say no to large beds that cannot be washed, toys that can be shredded and swallowed, and raw food. Label everything, and do not send anything you could not bear to lose.
How big is a cat's unit, where does the litter box sit, and do the cats ever come out?
Why ask it
Look for height as well as floor space, with a shelf to sit on and somewhere to hide, and the litter box well apart from the food and the bed. Many cats are more settled when they cannot see their neighbors, so check the sight lines. Time out in a play room suits some cats and frightens others, and it should be your choice.
Group play
Is group play part of every stay, or do I choose it?
Why ask it
Some kennels build the day around a shared yard, some sell it as an extra and some never mix dogs from different homes. None of the three is wrong. What matters is that you know which one you are booking and that it suits your dog, who may love a crowd or only put up with one.
How do you decide which dogs go out together?
Why ask it
Size is the obvious sort, and it should not be the only one. Better answers add age, energy and play style, so that a wrestler is not put with a dog who only wants to sniff, and say what happens with intact dogs or females in heat. It should be one named person making the call each morning, and reshuffling when a new dog arrives.
How many dogs are in the yard at once, and how many people are watching them?
Why ask it
Work the ratio out yourself and ask whether it holds in a full week. Watching means standing in the yard with eyes on the dogs, not checking a camera from the desk or hosing down runs nearby. If you can see the yard on the tour, count heads and look at what the person in there is doing.
What does a new dog have to do before it joins a group?
Why ask it
Many kennels run a temperament assessment: a handler meets the dog alone, then introduces one calm dog, then a few more, and notes how it reacts. 'We can tell right away' is a weaker answer than a description of the steps and of what counts as a fail.
What do staff do when play tips over into a scuffle?
Why ask it
The answer you want starts before the fight: stepping in when one dog is being pestered, calling dogs apart, giving a time out. For a real fight, listen for a calm method they have practiced and for the absence of hitting or shouting. Then ask whether owners hear about every incident or only the ones that needed a vet.
How long is a play session, and when do the dogs rest?
Why ask it
All-day play sounds generous and can leave dogs overtired and short-tempered by midweek. A schedule with sessions and enforced rest in between, water in the yard and shade in summer shows someone is managing the day. Have them describe the afternoon of day five of a stay, not day one.
What would make you take my dog out of group play, and what would it do instead?
Why ask it
Dogs get dropped from groups for bullying, for being bullied, for mounting, or for plainly not enjoying it, and none of those is a disgrace. The useful half is what replaces the yard: solo time, a walk, a quieter pair. Two things to pin down are whether you would be told the same day and whether the price changes.
Food and health
Can I bring my pet's own food, and how do you want it packed and labeled?
Why ask it
Most kennels allow it and many prefer it, because a new diet on top of a new place is an easy way to an upset stomach. Bagging each meal and labeling it with the name and the time removes most chances of a mix-up. Send a few extra meals in case you are late back, and find out whether the house food costs more or less.
My pet has a food allergy or is on a special diet. How do you keep treats and other animals' food away from it?
Why ask it
The risk is rarely the main meal. It is the snack handed out at bedtime, the bowl a neighbor did not finish and the crumbs in a shared yard. A sign on the run door and a rule that this animal gets nothing you did not send are the answers to listen for.
What do you do when an animal does not eat for a day or two?
Why ask it
A skipped meal or two at the start of a stay is something kennels see often, so they should have a routine: note it, try a quieter spot or a little warm water on the food, tell you, and set a point at which the vet is called. Ask what that point is. If you have a cat, ask your own vet beforehand how long is too long and give the kennel that number.
Who gives medication, how is each dose recorded, and is there a charge?
Why ask it
One named person per shift and a log signed at each dose is the careful version. Bring the medicine in its original packaging with written instructions, and ask how they make sure a pill hidden in food was actually swallowed. Fees per dose add up over two weeks, so get the figure.
Can you manage injections, strictly timed doses or a condition such as diabetes or seizures?
Why ask it
Some kennels will not take these animals and are right to say so. If this one will, ask who on the team has done it, what hours that person works and what happens on their day off. A stay like this is also worth raising with your vet, who may know which local kennels handle it well or may board patients at the clinic.
If my pet gets sick or hurt while I am away, what happens, and in what order?
Why ask it
The order should come easily: someone notices, a senior person looks, you are called, and the vet is called at a point they can describe. Nights and Sundays are the test: who decides then, and how does the animal get to the clinic? Hesitation here suggests the plan would be made up on the day.
Which vet do you use, and could you take my pet to my own vet instead?
Why ask it
Get the name of the practice and of the after-hours clinic, and how far away each is. Your own vet has the records and may be willing to keep a card on file, but a kennel may only go there if it is close and open. Leave your vet's details either way, so the two clinics can talk.
How much treatment would you approve before reaching me, and who should you call if you cannot?
Why ask it
Settle a figure in writing and name a local person you trust to make decisions for you. Flights and time zones make an unreachable owner more likely than people plan for. Payment needs settling too: either the kennel pays the clinic and bills you, or the clinic will want your card on file.
Where does a sick animal go so that it is away from the others?
Why ask it
A separate room with its own bowls, bedding and cleaning tools, and staff who see to it last, is the thorough answer. A run at the end of the row is the common one, and it does less to keep an illness from traveling. Kennels also differ on when an owner, or the emergency contact, is told to collect a coughing or vomiting pet, so get their rule.
Updates and cost
Will I get updates while I am away, and in what form?
Why ask it
A photo and two lines every day or two is a common arrangement; some kennels have webcams and some send nothing unless there is a problem. Decide what you need to enjoy the trip and ask for that, including whether it costs extra. A posed photo tells you little, so ask for a line on eating and mood with it.
What would you call me about immediately, and what would wait until pickup?
Why ask it
Kennels and owners draw this line in different places. Give yours plainly: a missed meal, a scrape, a move out of group play, a vet visit. Then ask who you can phone if you want to check in, and at what hours someone who has actually seen your pet that day will answer.
What does the nightly rate include, and how do you count a night?
Why ask it
Per night and per calendar day are both in use, and the difference shows on the bill for a weekend. The checkout time after which another day is charged matters as much as the rate, and so does what the base rate buys in walks, play and one-on-one time. A written quote for your actual dates ends the guesswork.
Which extras cost more: playtime, walks, medication, a bath, holiday dates?
Why ask it
Read the list of add-ons before the tour so you can ask what happens to a dog whose owner buys none of them. If the honest answer is that it stays in its run apart from bathroom breaks, the extras are really the price. Holiday surcharges and minimum stays are common, and they should be on the quote.
What are the drop-off and pickup hours, weekends and holidays included?
Why ask it
A kennel closed to the public on Sunday turns a Sunday flight home into a Monday pickup and one more night to pay for. Some will arrange a pickup after hours, sometimes for a fee, so get the answer before you buy tickets. Check too that animals are fed and walked as usual on the days the desk is shut.
What is the deposit and cancellation policy, and what happens if I am delayed getting home?
Why ask it
Get the notice period and what you lose inside it, which is often stricter for holiday weeks. The delay half matters as much: ask whether your pet keeps its run if a flight is canceled, at what rate, and what happens if the kennel is full that night. Find out whether the kennel can cancel on you, and when.
If my pet is hurt here, or hurts another animal, who pays the vet bill?
Why ask it
The boarding agreement usually answers this, and often in the kennel's favor, so read the waiver before the day you drop off. Ask what their insurance covers and whether group play changes the terms. What a waiver can and cannot do depends on where you live, so for anything that worries you, ask how it works there and get the answer in writing.
Is there anything in the boarding agreement that owners are often surprised by?
Why ask it
It invites the kennel to point out the awkward clauses itself: permission to treat for fleas at your cost, a right to move a dog to solo care, charges for a pet left past its pickup day, photos used on social media. Take a copy home and read it there. A kennel with no written agreement at all leaves you with only what was said at the desk.
What will you tell me at pickup, and what do owners usually notice in the first day or two at home?
Why ask it
A good handover covers how your pet ate, slept and behaved, and anything staff would do differently next time. Kennels commonly mention tiredness, thirst and a hoarse bark after a stay, so hearing what they see helps you tell ordinary recovery from something to phone your vet about. Finish by asking whether they would have your pet back, and notice how quickly they say yes.
How to choose a boarding kennel
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you call
Put your pet on one page
Write down age, weight, diet, medication with times, your vet's details, and fears and habits: the dog who climbs fences, the cat who hides for a day. Reading from it on the phone gets you answers about your animal instead of the average one, and the kennel will want the same page at check-in.
Get the vaccination record first
Ask your vet for a current record and check the dates against each kennel's list before you shortlist. If something is due, book it early, since kennels often want a gap between the shot and the stay. Use the same visit to ask whether boarding suits your pet's health at all.
Decide what you will not bend on
For one owner it is a person in the building at night; for another it is no group play, or a cat room well away from the dogs. Pick two or three before the first call. They turn a long list into a short conversation, and they stop a pretty lobby from making the decision.
Split the list between the phone and the tour
The First call questions can be answered in a few minutes on the phone, and so can most of Updates and cost. Save Space and exercise and Group play for the visit, where you can check each answer against what is in front of you.
On the tour
Use your nose and ears first
Before anyone starts talking, notice the smell and the noise. Dog smell and a burst of barking at a stranger are ordinary. Stale urine, a chemical sting in the air or barking that never dies down tell you about cleaning and stress more reliably than any answer will.
Look at the animals, not the lobby
Check whether the dogs in the runs have water, a dry bed and a clean floor, and whether they come to the front to look at you or stay pressed to the back. One worried dog means little. A row of them is worth asking about.
Talk to the person who does the work
Managers know the policies; the attendants who clean and feed know what happens at six in the morning. Ask one of them what a normal day is for a dog like yours and see whether it matches what the office said.
Bring your dog if they allow it
Some kennels welcome a visit with the dog, others prefer a trial day. Either way, watch how staff greet your animal: crouching, letting it come to them and asking you about it are good signs, and so is a dog that walks back in willingly the second time.
Comparing two kennels
Price the same stay
Ask each for a written quote for your real dates with the things your pet needs added: medication, a daily walk, the second animal, the holiday surcharge. The kennel with the lower nightly rate is often not the cheaper one once both quotes cover the same week.
Compare the hours out of the run
Write down for each kennel how many minutes a day your dog would spend outside its sleeping space and what it would be doing. Put that beside the hours with nobody in the building. Those two figures describe most of the stay.
Let a trial night decide
If two kennels are close, book a single night at the favorite. How your pet looks at pickup, and how it behaves when you pull into the parking lot the next time, settles more than another round of questions.
When the better kennel is full
Ask about a waiting list and how early they open holiday bookings, then consider moving the trip by a day or two. If the dates are fixed, a sitter at home or a stay at your vet's practice may suit your pet better than a kennel you had doubts about.
Reasons to keep looking
No look behind the front desk
Tour hours and a no-touching rule are fair. Being refused any view of where your pet will sleep is not, whatever the reason given.
Nobody asks for records
A kennel that books your pet without wanting vaccination proof, a vet's name or an emergency contact has the same gaps for every animal sharing the building with yours.
Answers without numbers
'Lots of playtime', 'regular checks' and 'someone is always around' may all be true. If a second, direct question still does not produce minutes, times or a head count, assume the number is one they would rather not say.
No questions about your pet
A careful kennel asks nearly as much as you do: how your dog is with other dogs, what frightens your cat, what it eats and when. One that only takes the dates and a card number will learn about your animal after you have left.