Running Your Own Boarding Kennels

The Complete Guide to Kennel and Cattery Management

David Cavill

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780749453305
• eBook ISBN: 9780749454913
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Small Business
• Index: Business

With an increasing demand for quality kennel accommodation for dogs and cats, a good boarding kennel is a sound investment and can provide a healthy income if run efficiently. Running your own Boarding Kennels, the only guide of its kind available, is essential reading for anyone who is considering starting out in the business.

This new edition by animal care expert David Cavill provides advice on every aspect of running a boarding kennel. With an exhaustive breadth of detail it covers every related topic, including: boarding fees, raising finance, insurance, kennel cleaning, dangerous dogs, types of food, exercise, grooming, beds and towels, staff training, accommodation, advertising, puppy and kitten rearing, and product sales. Comprehensive and unique, Running your own Boarding Kennels also includes information on ancillary services such as dog-walking, pet sitting and home boarding.

1 Facing the Facts

Before considering the purchase of a boarding kennel it is important to ask yourself and your family, ‘Will life in a boarding kennel suit us?’ It is vital to pause for thought and try to give yourselves an honest answer, for many people wishing to enter the animal care industry have had little or no experience of small animal boarding establishments and therefore have not very much on which to base their answers. It is an occupation of great responsibility involving the complete care of other people’s pets, and a kind, caring and understanding attitude towards animals and a sympathetic approach to their owners is essential.

Dogs and cats, and possibly some other small animals, become residents of a boarding kennel intermittently for varying periods. The kennel owners live there permanently, and although their personal accommodation is somewhat more spacious, they also face certain restrictions when assuming a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, responsibility for their clients’ pets. Naturally, there are compensations and every aspect needs to be weighed carefully before embarking on a venture which is demanding both in capital investment and physical endurance, but which can be highly rewarding in terms of satisfaction, provided the kennel owners are suited to their work, and can make the most of its advantages and tolerate its disadvantages.

Boarding kennels are extremely individual businesses and offer self-employment, freedom from a deskbound job, an outdoor life and, it would seem, stable employment as people tend to take more holidays than in the past and therefore need boarding facilities for their pets more frequently. Despite the increased flexibility resulting from what has become known as the Pets Passport scheme, this is also an era in which restrictions on dogs have become more severe. Shops, beaches, hotels, caravan parks, self-catering holiday flats or chalets and public parks have become ‘off limits’ to dogs, or are so stringent in their restrictions that visitors taking their pets into strange areas find their own vacations spoiled. It is far better for the family pet to go to its own holiday camp – your boarding kennel! Many boarding kennels are now finding that they have bookings all the year round as winter holidays are becoming universally popular, and weekend breaks, which are extensively advertised, are attracting people who have the leisure to enjoy them.

Nevertheless, some parts of the year will definitely see the kennels more empty than others and careful planning is needed in the early days of ownership to cover the financially lean periods. Freedom from constant clerical work does not mean that there are no desk jobs at all. Accounts must be kept, bookings made, a register of boarders maintained and, particularly while you are gaining experience, investigations into all aspects of running the business profitably need to be continued. The outdoor life, which can be very enjoyable when the weather is beautiful, must be endured when it is inclement beyond description; it is not easy to enjoy working outside in torrents of rain but the basic tasks still need to be done.

A flair for DIY is a definite, perhaps even an essential, asset to any boarding kennel owner. There are always maintenance and alteration jobs, as some dogs while away their happy holiday hours destroying whatever their teeth and claws can reach, and there is usually something in a kennel block which might be better for some modification. If a kennel owner is a competent plumbing and heating engineer and an expert in drains, as well as a capable electrician, so much the better! However, many folk of slight physical strength and deficient in DIY aptitude become extremely successful boarding kennel owners. Profitable kennel ownership may well be a triumph over adversity, and what constitutes a serious problem for one owner may be a mere bagatelle for the next.

Boarding establishments for family pets are sometimes part of a breeding and exhibiting kennel. Usually, dog or cat breeding or exhibiting has led the owner into the boarding business because it appears to be an easy and economic way to fund their hobby. In such cases the owner may have acquired considerable experience of animals in a kennel environment before assuming the care of other people’s pets. However, those who wish to follow the exhibition lure will find that show dates conflict with the busiest boarding season, necessitating complicated staffing arrangements, and, though exhibiting at dog or cat shows can be a compelling interest, it is not in itself a paying occupation. It costs money, even for the glory of winning at prestigious shows. Show entries can be expensive, prize money nil and travel costs exorbitant, not to mention extra staff salaries if members of the family are not available to cope on the home front while others are away at shows. Remember that pet owners, when leaving or collecting their dogs and cats, expect to be met by competent adults; if a boarding kennel owner is not available to attend to the clients personally, it is essential for the confidence of the clients and the goodwill of the establishment that whoever meets them makes a good impression. You cannot afford to leave a school-age youngster in charge. Can you and your family give yourselves wholeheartedly to the business, particularly in the early days of ownership?

A SECOND CAREER

Many people come into the boarding kennel business as a second career with the advantage of business or professional experience and training, and a certain maturity. This is almost inevitable, as the capital cost is high. Boarding kennel ownership also attracts some people already qualified in animal care. Veterinary surgeons sometimes own kennels and obviously have many professional advantages; veterinary nurses are often interested in kennel ownership and again have definite advantages of training and experience. Members of the armed forces, many of whom retire from the services in their middle years, quite frequently find the ownership of animal boarding establishments an interesting and practical pursuit. Years of training, discipline and an outdoor life, plus dependability and self-sufficiency, are a commendable background. Men and women from all walks of life are interested in animal care, and many find that the boarding kennel business appears to offer them the ideal occupation.

Those choosing kennel ownership as a second career usually have ample time to consider possibilities and prepare for the tasks involved. When life has not previously included specific training in animal welfare, how should prospective kennel owners proceed?

GAINING THE KNOWLEDGE

If you can, it would be sensible to obtain some practical experience in the sector, but in any case you must become as well informed as possible on all subjects relevant to small animal care. How can this be achieved? The internet is a great source of information with many good websites – a lot of which are mentioned in this book. Another way is to benefit from the peripheral activities connected with the exhibition community, which is closer knit than the boarding kennel world.

The exhibition scene, through its excellent publications, provides a wealth of necessary background information and general reading mat erial of interest to intending kennel owners. In particular, the weekly canine journals print up-to-date news concerning changes in legislation, and carry advertising material which is most useful.

One bi-monthly journal, Kennel and Cattery Management, is aimed specifically at the boarding sector and contains informative articles on all subjects relating to small animal boarding. Other canine and feline journals encompass the show and breeding world as well as publishing items of interest for boarding kennel owners. People who plan to become the owners of boarding establishments should certainly become regular readers of such weekly papers as Our Dogs, and its sister magazine Our Cats, and Dog World, all obtainable to order from newsagents nationwide.

Intending boarding kennel owners, though they may not be interested in showing dogs themselves, should read the forthcoming show announcements in Our Dogs and Dog World if only to be aware of what is going on in their own area. They give details of shows nationwide for exhibitors making entries in advance, and list current events for intending spectators. Many people have the false idea that Crufts is the only dog show! There is sure to be a dog or cat show at some time in your present neighbourhood, or at least within a reasonable travelling distance. Attending local shows could help you to become more familiar with breeds of dogs and cats you may never have encountered but might at some time board. Championship dog and cat shows attract the highest number of entries and stands dealing in kennel necessities, so trade sections are worth visiting too. Separate trade fairs are also interesting, and advertisements for them will be found in the weekly dog press and in the monthly magazines Pet Product Marketing and Pet Business News.

However, the first port of call should be the Pet Care Trust, www.petcare.org.uk. Formerly the Pet Trade and Industry Association, the Trust represents kennel and cattery owners to government and to local authorities, monitors legislation likely to effect all those involved in the animal care industry and circulates that information to its members. It also provides a whole range of other legal and financial services and advice that kennel owners will find useful and includes regular surveys of pay, conditions, boarding fees and licence fees. A dedicated board member of the Trust represents the industry and chairs a panel of experienced owners that meets when necessary to ensure the organisation fully represents their interests. The Trust also publishes a Code of Conduct and a Boarding Kennels and Catteries Manual that new owners will find extremely helpful. Most important, membership includes insurance cover for legal expenses – vital in an increasingly litigious world and the recent activities of some branches of the RSPCA Inspectorate.

The noise factor

Dogs bark! A superfluous statement? Not really. One of the most important questions intending boarding kennel owners must ask themselves is, ‘Can I tolerate a high level of noise?’ Naturally, barking cannot be prevented, and though good management may keep the noise level in check, there will be some extremely noisy spells. Noise is a stress factor and can be very wearing at times. For some people it is unbearable. Boarding kennel owners must learn to live with it, or live elsewhere. Recent health and safety discussions in the services have focused on the possible damage to hearing of kennel staff. No doubt this will impact on commercial boarding kennels in time.

Unpleasant smells and dirty jobs

Boarding kennel owners also have to accept other unavoidable facts: kennel work is very strenuous, and the dirty and tiresome jobs, as well as the more enjoyable tasks, have to be done.

Can you tolerate nasty smells? This question has to be answered truthfully. Although you may consider that all household pets will be house-trained, your kennel routine will be different from their home surroundings and the dogs will not understand at first why they have been handed over to you. Also, the smell of other dogs may set off their reactions and home toilet training may be temporarily forgotten.

There will be dirty kennels to cope with on most days, and in quarantine, where dogs are confined to the same kennel and adjoining exercise area for the duration of their detention, there will always be dirty kennels to clean and disinfect. If you cannot face unpleasant smells, you cannot face a kennel job, and you must be honest with yourself about these basic problems.

ANIMAL NURSING

Although the boarding kennel business attracts people who have had animal nursing experience, many newcomers to the trade will have had no dealings with sick animals, or even those with chronic conditions needing regular medication. Unless a boarding kennel owner is competent in caring for ailing animals he or she must recommend their owners to another kennel or to a veterinary surgeon. There are dogs which are diabetic and need daily treatment; dogs with a pancreatic deficiency may need a special diet routine; there are dogs with kidney disorders, arthritic and dysplastic dogs, very young dogs, aged dogs… all possible subjects for nursing care. Can you give this? Could you learn to give such care? Giving pills to dogs and cats is not always easy and the apparently simple logistics of ensuring that the correct medication is given to the right dog in the right quantity at the appropriate time can be a nightmare if you are not properly organised.

PRACTICAL PREPARATION

The acquisition of practical experience of kennel work for a second career may not be easy unless you are prepared to sacrifice some of your leisure to work in a voluntary capacity, perhaps for an animal charity. If you can manage it, it is well worth doing for many reasons. Contact your local branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA, www.rspca.org.uk), or the Dogs Trust (www.dogstrust.org.uk) and enquire whether they could use a helping hand. There may possibly be an independent local animal sanctuary needing help; consult the Yellow Pages under ‘Boarding Kennels’ for information.

It may also be possible to help out voluntarily at a local boarding kennel or cattery, or perhaps you have friends already established in the business who would be pleased to assist with your indoctrination. It would be a good plan to see as many kennels as possible, but remember that kennel owners are extremely busy people; they are working when they may seem to you to be simply standing and watching! Show courtesy and consideration, and always make an appointment in advance. Be as understanding of them as you hope others will be of you in the future. Friends who are established owners are in a position to point out small matters of importance that the uninitiated may not otherwise see.

FORMAL TRAINING

Fortunately, recent years have seen great strides in opportunities for people interested in working with animals in the boarding environment to gain formal education. They can now study for the Diploma of Kennel Management which is organised and administered by the Animal Care College, Index House, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7EU, www.animalcarecollege.co.uk, e-mail: [email protected]; the course organisers will send full details on application. Study time is 180 hours. Beware of those who might encourage you to think that you can learn everything there is to know in a weekend! The college is a member of, and accredited by, the Open College Network and is also a member of the British Association of Correspondence Colleges.

The advent of formal study courses in boarding kennel management and other aspects of pet care such as nutrition and first aid is not only a great help to students but should set a higher standard and ensure a better professional image for small animal boarding establishments nationwide. Although not required by law, the new Model Licence Conditions, covered in detail later, place great emphasis on qualifications and training. Formal qualifications are therefore highly desirable and may be influential in certain circumstances – in the case of a dispute, for example.

THE BOARDING CATTERY

So far, in referring to small animal boarding establishments, those catering for dogs and cats have been mentioned. It should be noted that cats are better suited to care in a cattery exclusively for their own kind, and there are many such establishments, a few of which come on to the market annually. Occasionally, it may be possible to acquire permission to start a new cattery where a dog boarding ke...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Imprint
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• 1. Facing the Facts
• 2. Finding Your Property
• 3. Professional and Other Advice
• 4. Finance and Running Costs
• 5. Laws and Orders: Statutory Requirements
• 6. Health Matters
• 7. Feeding the Boarders
• 8. The Daily Round
• 9. Kennel Staff
• 10. Kennel Buildings
• 11. Fanfare
• 12. Expanding Your Business
• 13. Associated Services
• Final Note
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Further Reading
• Full Imprint