I used to work at a large commercial boarding kennel. I am just going to tell you a little about what goes on behind the scenes. A little bit of the politics, and a little bit of the scams.

At first glance, any unknowing dog owner walks into the nice and clean lobby area of your local kennel, thinking to yourself "Oh this place looks nice". It is a business, it is supposed to "look nice". Now for what you don't know.

A daily routine for a kennel worker goes like this. You arrive at 8 am, you check in, you go to the shed and get the supplies, you grab a wheel-barrow and a shovel, and grab the power sprayer. Hook up the hoses and goto work. You must first scoop all of the feces off of the concrete, then you go along the rows of kennels spraying them all off. Refresh the dogs' water bowls as you go along with the hose. You then let all the dogs out to play because it is easier to clean the kennels without the dogs in them. Then you kennel all the dogs back up after your done and you scoop the yard from all of the feces that the dogs left while playing.

After that, you go inside the inner part of the kennel and refresh the soiled blankets, or replace the old ones for the new day, feed the dogs, and medicate the dogs that require medicine. Sounds alright so far right? Wrong.

Any kennel, no matter where, is situated between neighboring houses. If dogs bark, the neighbors complain and the kennel loses its liscense. In order to hush noisy dogs, an electronic zapping bark-collar is used. Now because most dog owners do not wish these to be used on their dogs the kennel has a system so that they will not find out. Any dog that barks constantly is given a bark collar, then that dogs name is immediately written on the whiteboard in the lobby area. This lets the kennel workers know which dogs have bark collars on them. When a dog is scheduled to be picked up one of the workers erases the dogs name and takes the collar off before the owners arrive to pick up the dog.

If any of you have ever taken your dog to the kennel before, you know that you are offered the option of "play time" while your dog is being boarded there for an extra fee of anywhere from $3-$5 a day because it is "more work". Couldn't be further from the truth. No matter if the dog is scheduled to be let out with the other dogs or not, your dog is let out. Like I mentioned before, all the dogs are let out so that you can clean their kennels. Dogs that have play time paid for get it, so its not fraud. But they will be let out anyways, so next time you are asked, just say "I don't wish to pay for Annie to have any 'exercise time'". The only time your dog will not be let out is if it was specifically noted that the dog does not get along with other dogs. Then it will be moved inside while the kennels are being cleaned.

When a kennel has in excess of 200 dogs, they aren't always treated in the best manner. One time, while working there, there was a loud dog that wouldn't stop barking. After the manager yelled at it numerous times he proceeded to grab a cattle-prod and used it on the dog. I swear to you I have never heard a dog yelp louder in my life. Later we found out the batteries in the bark collar were dead, and that is why it was not effective. The cattle prod is meant to be used in extreme emergencies... such as a dog fight, and yes, I agree that it is better to use a cattle prod on an attacking dog than to lose a dog to a dog fight and have to pay the owner for a dead dog lawsuit.

When we give tours of the kennel, the first thing the dog owners comment on is how nice it looks and how clean it smells, so nice you couldn't even tell dogs were kenneled there, all they smell is the "fresh scent of Pine-sol". At first glance this would tell you the kennel is clean and good conditions to house your dog. When I walk into the indoor kennels, I smell pine-sol, bleach, and the vinegar that is mixed together to create the cleaning agent we use. Then my nose begins to burn, extremely bad. Imagine how your dog feels? It is extremely uncomfortable for the dog.

Think twice before placing your dog in a commercial kennel when you go on vacation. Make other arrangments. When I went somewhere, I was even offered to board my dog for free since I worked there, I declined saying that I had already made plans. I know what goes on there, I know about the dogs that get kicked, I know about the dogs that get abused.

So all-in-all, with all this said, I strongly recommend that if you care about your dog, with the knowledge I have provided you, that you not board your dog at a commercial boarding kennel.