# Starting up a small dog kennel



## Cavalierlover1 (May 25, 2014)

I am thinking of setting up a luxury dog kennels. Ideally, I would like to offer home boarding but I am worried that it might upset my own dogs. I only want to board up to 4 dogs, and would plan to find a suitable property where I could convert an outbuilding into luxurious homely rooms with individual runs etc.

I would be very grateful if you could give me a rough idea of insurance costs for a small kennels and rough license costs etc.

Also, when designing the runs, is it best to use obscure fencing so neighbouring dogs can't see each other, or do they prefer to be able to see each other?

Many thanks for any advice


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## BoredomBusters (Dec 8, 2011)

Hi there,

Licence fees are set by your local council, and insurance costs will be related to what services you would like on the policy. You need to give a couple of them a ring.

You'll need to do some research on kennels to see what works best, I have been round a lot of big professional (not commercial) kennels where the dogs live in kennels (rather than just go in for holidays) so I highly recommend that to see how they are kept and the reactions of the dogs, as well as talking to the staff to see why they have chosen that set up. You would be better to go round new, modern set ups, rather than kennels that have been there a long time, although I went round a lot so I had something to compare.


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## Westy (Feb 19, 2013)

I would suggest that you start by reading this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Running-Boa...id=1401188278&sr=1-6&keywords=boarding+kennel

It's old now and the licensing info may be out of date but it's full of experience and common sense.

I have run a large quarantine/boarding kennel/cattery. You can expect to be full for 13 weeks of the year to give you an idea of income. Your license will say that you must have a responsible adult on the premises at all times. Unless you have a number of interested and responsible family members, you may need to increase your numbers or you will be tied to the premises 24/7, sometimes with only one dog in the kennel and 4 would not justify paying staff.

I've had a number of friends who have kept a lot of dogs of their own who thought that boarding would just be more of the same. They have all failed and had very bad experiences eg lost dogs, been badly bitten etc. So I would also suggest that you work in a boarding kennel for a while, full time, if only to discover what you don't want to do in yours.


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

https://www.gov.uk/animal-boarding-establishment-licence

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health - Model Licence Conditions and Guidance for Dog Boarding Establishments


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## Elles (Aug 15, 2011)

Some councils won't give a licence if you have your own dogs.


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

I built and ran my own kennels for 12 years. I had 10 kennels in one block and two separate 'changeover' kennels, which you need for dogs that cross over in and out during busy periods...also these can be used as quarantine if you suspect something contagious.

I did 10 because this was the maximum number that I felt that I could handle on my own...more than this and you need help, so the number of boarders has to go up considerably to cover this cost.

I chose to have runs that were quite long, and roofed with translucent plastic roofing ( stops wet being walked in in bad weather), with block walls for the half immediately outside the doors, then mesh sections at the ends. This was so that the dogs could choose whether or not they saw/were seen by their neighbours.

Rather than heat the whole block I chose dull emitter infrared heaters to hang over the beds...this meant that, unless the weather was really cold, I didn't have to shut the doors to the runs and all the dogs still had access to outside, but still had a warm,dry bed.

This is a totally 24/7 job. Holidays are almost impossible unless you have really trusted stand-ins. Also I would walk round and check the dogs at least twice after six o'clock ( my official closing time) and this paid off at least twice...once when I found a dog with his bone-shaped identity disc caught in the mesh ( fortunately he was just standing still and not panicking to escape), and once when I found a dog (whose owner hadn't bothered to tell me it suffered from Addison's Disease) in a state of complete collapse/semi-comatose, at eleven o'clock at night; left till the morning, without emergency vet treatment, she would certainly have been dead.

For insurance costs, just get quote from companies who do this...try Equine and Livestock. For Licence costs and conditions contact your local council, and also the DOE used to have conditions upon which a licence could be granted.

Beat of luck if you decide to do it...it's very rewarding, very much a lifestyle and very hard work!


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