DOGGONE IT

Since severe thunderstorms were forecast for our overnight at an out of town wedding and Romeo, our dog, is deathly afraid of storms, staying at home alone would not work with just the neighbor checking in on him. Romeo, mostly lab at 15 also now suffers from hip arthritis and it's worse when it's humid. 

For the first time in 13 years since we adopted our dog Romeo  stayed overnight in a kennel. Whether you have pets or not maybe you can understand the trauma of leaving a pet elsewhere besides home. Perhaps we all have kennel stories but this was a new experience with Romeo.

The Cedar Valley Kennel seemed like a good idea. No problem with reviews nor proximity.  I was asked to drop him off earlier than I had planned as the owner had to leave for work so I took the time to write notes of care including his age ailments of being hard of hearing and limited sight along with his feeding instructions of 2x/day moistened dry food and daily meds which I crushed up and packaged in packets for each feeding. I explained the dog ate smaller meals once in the am and then one about dinnertime.  I repeated the short instruction page outloud but wasn't sure the kennel owner was listening, but figured at least there was the written note. 

At the time of the drop off there were 2 other dogs present and Romeo was placed at the opposite end of the kennel away from the other dogs. He checked out the outside run and returned back to his kennel space and his futon bed pillow which I had brought from home. 

I informed the owner Romeo would be picked up about 5:30pm  the next day.  He told me to use a door code since he had an appointment close to that time and where to leave the money.  

Well, it did rain both days and we decided to head back a bit earlier so Natureman could regrade the road.  We returned to the area about 3 and decided it'd be easier to pick up the dog en route home rather than to have to go back out for him later. 

Maybe you can guess what followed. 

As we got out of the car by the kennel and cleared the back seat to make room for the dog and his bed, the kennel owner drove up next to us in his robe no less. I handed him what he was owed. Well, the kennel owner was in a tizzy. He said he was working from home at his computer and was not happy to not have been alerted by a phone call re: our earlier pick up. He understood it was our first visit but call them next time as they were worried to hear an unexpected car on their drive. 

Doggone it, I get it but it got me on the defensive since he forgot to tell me to notify him if the time changed. Besides the fact he didn't even take the time to put on a pair of pants (I find that disturbing), he added that Romeo didn't eat his food with his pill the night before. In my mind maybe Romeo was distraught over the new surroundings. Anyhow, the owner opened the main door for us and told us we could go get the dog. He left.

More dogs had arrived but Romeo was still all by his lonesome at the other end of the kennel row. Sadly, there he was curled up on his bed with a load of poop on it. This has never happened to him before. Dogs usually don't go to the bathroom where they sleep. Was this the beginning of him becoming incontinent? Now,  granted it could have recently happened because he couldn't stand up. 

When I grabbed his food supply bag, it was obvious from the amount that he hadn't been fed that morning either nor given his arthritis meds. 

Poor dog.  Of course, Romeo was ravenous and polished off both meals + and his pill upon his return home. Yes, some dogs may not eat when distressed but they also have to be offered the food.

Our pets are like part of our family and when we leave them in anybody's care, we expect them to be taken care of / at least have reasonable instructions followed like medicines.  As you can well imagine, we won't be patronizing that kennel again.  I don't need a doggie cam to figure out that Romeo didn't get the care he needed.

Sorry, sometimes one just has to vent.