by Jishi Santos

Created on: September 15, 2008

Everyone to their own opinion on this topic and my wife and I can only speak from personal experience. We had traveled Australia in our camper van and had always had our little toy Pomeranian/Maltese cross female doggy with us, often sleeping at the end of our bed or sitting between us in the middle seat as we drove the highways. She is a very well traveled dog and has seen Australia from the tropical rain forests in the far north to the red, dusty plains of the Central Australian region, to outback Queensland and outback New South Wales and finally residing on the Queensland coast amongst the palm trees and offshore islands.

After these travels we settled into a house in the country near the snow mountains of Victoria and quite out of the blue were fortunate enough to do some traveling interstate and overseas by air but realized that our little dog would have to stay behind. So we asked around and after a while visited a small farm where there was a facility for cats and dogs. It seemed such an intimate little set up with only twelve dogs at a time and as we were going away in winter ourselves to warmer climates, we were told that the dog area was always heated to about 22degreesC. Not only that the owners were trained in their field and had a vast experience of dogs and were genuinely loving of our little dog. We have used them three times now, and though we live 200 miles away now, will take her up there next year to stay for six weeks when we go to Vanuatu. We are very happy with what we found and prior to this had discussed various relatives, however,here was always that nagging doubt what if she got out and ran on the road or escaped? Besides we didn't want to burden any one with this job.

The kennels we found we so good that if the owners felt there was a need to be with the dogs overnight for some reason of sickness or stress they had built a flat right inside the area for one of them to be on call. Every morning they would go out into a paddock type run. Each dog had their own and there was a regular routine of feeding and rest and then another afternoon run. What we found was, rather than worrying whether she was going to be alright, we knew after the second time our little dog saw it as a holiday and regarded it as a home away from home. Why she didn't recognize us for a while when we picked her up the first time and the last time that I dropped her off she couldn't wait to jump out of the car.

You have to be prepared for some cost but at 12 dollars a day it was very reasonable. Also you could buy ahead and organize your own food for each day and they had a large fridge to keep it in. The actual living area was quite large and had a little couch they could rest on. We brought favorite toys and blankets and an article of our own clothing so she would have a familiar pack smell there. We even sent her toys from New York and other places and little cards which the owners read to her. All in all a very satisfying experience for us and our dog. If you find such a kennel that is small we are sure you will find the same quality that we did and you will rest easy on your trip away.

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