[bassmaster17327]

I am looking at buying a house that was one a licensed dog kennel, the woman did dog boarding but also bred dogs. Currently the property has a ten unit dog kennel, each unit has an area inside the barn with concrete floor and an opening in the wall that goes to a slightly larger area that is covered by a roof and also has concrete floor. On the second floor of the barn are areas divided off with wood floors and wood walls where the female dog was put to give birth to her puppies.

I never had any interest in boarding dogs but since everything is already in place maybe I could make a small profit from it, most places around here charge 30.00 a night to board a dog. Has anyone here done dog boarding before? What else could I use the kennels for?

 

[bishopthegiant]

My wife and I had a dog boarding business for a while. I used to train dogs as well. I can say that it can quickily become full time work, but if managed properly you can make some cash. Our place got annexed by the city and we had to stop our business, but we figured it was time any way. One thing to keep in mind is that the big money making times are the holidays and summers, so you would be home for most of those times. There are also local and county codes you may have to go by as well as insurance.

 

[bassmaster17327]

Thanks, I checked on state license and it is 100.00 a year for boarding up to ten dogs at a time. If we end up getting this house I will have to research county license. The person that owned the house before also bred dogs but I do not know if I really want to do that

 

[katykanuk]

I have worked at a boarding kennel for the last five years. It is open from 7-9 am Mon thru Friday and 8-10 am sat and sunday, and 4-6 pm. These are the public hours. We spend approximately three additional hours per day for feeding, watering, cleaning etc

Our kennel is a one person a day operation so that means that you must be available from 6am to 6pm, 7 days per week, 365days per year

It is the best job I have ever had, dogs are wonderful to work with, but hard work. I personally would love to do it but you have to research.

 

[Rime]

Besides the 365-days-a-year nature of it, two other things stick out to me:

1) The noise. Can you handle it? Dogs bark - because they can see the other dogs but not reach them, because they don't like being alone, because they're excited, because they just like to. If the building is close to your house, you'll be listening to this every day, and sometimes at night.

2) Do you have a lot of dog experience? Can you break up a fight, deal with food aggression, handle a nervous biter, etc? Can you recognize when one starts dropping weight from stress, or needs to moved away from its kennel mate? Boarded dogs can have all kinds of issues - you should be skilled in managing them.

I considered starting a kennel at one time, but changed my mind the more I thought about it. After working at a vet and dealing with poorly behaved animals, their poorly behaved owners, and the muck (excrement, vomit, drool, urine, you name it) I decided I didn't really want to do it 24/7, 365 in my backyard.

 

[CraterCove]

Also there is a certain class of dog people who are insane. Seriously I used to work doing pet sits, private boarding and dog park outings. Some people are crazy and you are sure to run in to them.

 

[fordson major]

loved the dogs!!the people were often a challenge.

 

[Maura]

If you buy the place, see if you can work for a boarding kennel. You can see how they do things, what you would change. The place I board is great. Clean. The gal takes my dog out every day and plays fetch in an insane attempt to tire him out.

You could board just during peak times, as already suggested. This would enable you to only accept previous customers during other times as well as nicely reject others because of the owners or because of the dog. You’ll need some kind of liability insurance.

You could tag on other things as well. If you have the room, you can have someone teach classes on your property and give you a rental fee. Just be careful. Find out as much as you can about training so you can be wary in working with someone. Again, you can do this as you wish with dogs in training every day, or just quarterly.

Also, I don’t think you should get into breeding dogs unless you have a dream of becoming a puppy mill. People who breed dogs should love their breed and be willing to breed best to best and develop a great reputation. Look into it if you like as what constitutes the best breeder in one breed doesn’t in another breed.

 

[Michael W. Smith]

I wouldn't agree with the hours you have listed. You can set your own hours.

We had a dog boarding place open up about 5 years ago. They built a huge very nice building - and I was shocked wondering how they would even make a living - let alone paying off the building costs.

In addition to the dog boarding, they also do dog grooming. Now that we have an indoor dog that has to be trimmed every so often - I see how they make money. Anytime we have had our dog in, they are insanely busy. People dropping off their pets, picking them up - whether it be for boarding or grooming. During the week someone is there all the time - they have several workers who handle all the work, but on the weekends there are only certain times you can pick up or drop off your dog.

People are CRAZY about their pets - and willing to spend massive amounts of money!

This dog boarding has individual kennels, with heated concrete floors and an area where each dog can go outside on their own. (Some kennels even have a tv!!) In addition to that, they have a play area where they take all the dogs to
play in groups.

On the weekends, I think they have 2 windows of opportunity to drop off or pick up your dog usually in a 2 hour span - like 11:00 - 2:00 and 6:00 - 8:00. If you can't be there during those hours on the weekend, your dog simply stays for another day.

As I said, people will spend massive amounts of cash on their pets - as well as change their plans for their beloved pet. And if you are the only game in town - you can pretty much call the shots by setting your own hours and charging whatever you want.

 

[texican]

For a little negativity....
I'd recommend a corporation set up, so this business is set up as one.... and not just part of your home or homestead income... and, get lots of insurance.
Yes, people love love love their dogs... trouble is, if the dogs get injured or worse, they're not going to feel kindly toward you, and will have no problem suing you for everything you own. St*ff happens... and won't matter, if you have a mistake, or an accident.

 

[rambotex]

We also have been considering this. Our property has an old hog barn on it that is 140x40 on a sloped concrete slab. There is a alleyway down the middle with a drain trough in the alleyway. each side has 12' x12' stalls that could be easily converted to 6x12 or 12x12 kennels for each dog. We could also fix it where each stall could open up to an outside fenced area if we built a cyclone fence, say maybe an acre or two.

We're about 3 miles from town in a town of about 40,000 so I don't think we would have a problem keeping 5-10 dogs.

Your thoughts?

 

[TedH71]

Be aware that sometimes some people will plain and simply abandon their dogs at your boarding kennel. It happens more often than people are willing to admit.

 

[fordson major]

For a little negativity....
I'd recommend a corporation set up, so this business is set up as one.... and not just part of your home or homestead income... and, get lots of insurance.
Yes, people love love love their dogs... trouble is, if the dogs get injured or worse, they're not going to feel kindly toward you, and will have no problem suing you for everything you own. St*ff happens... and won't matter, if you have a mistake, or an accident.

not if, when. and can be an imagined "when" as well!!:l33t: