Originally Posted by ckuz13 (Post 1856697)

I worked at a wonderful vet clinic and we took great care of our animals. We kept our boarding to a minimum and made sure each pet got lots of attention throughout the day. We had a night shift too. And the Vet came to the clinic each and every night about 3:00 Am. to check on all the pets. Great place. But these are few are far between. I moved to Az and worked for a brief time at another vet clinic that also did boarding for extra profit. One holiday weekend the clinic overbooked the boarding facilities. The doctor out of pure greed, took in clients that we could not find room for. He assured us that things would be fine. He moved animals around to make room for the bigger animals. Nevermind that people payed for the cages based on weight. He let some friends of his board wolf hybrids. He put them in the bathroom with a pocketdoor as a barrier. In the middle of the night the dogs got out and ate one of our clients guinea pigs. She had boarded her often and felt this was a safe place for her. When I came in the next morning I was mortified. I heard the vet tell our client her guinea pig died of stress from being in the clinic. He said he would have her cremated and pay for her ashes as a favor. He took an unclaimed urn of dog ashes off the shelf and gave them to her. She was so heartbroken. I told the rest of the staff how horrible he was to do this. And I threatend to report him and I felt this poor women should know the truth. But I was the only one who felt this way. I was told I would only make things worse by telling her what really happened. But this poor women felt guilty for going to Hawaii and leaving her beloved guinea pig. I quit and never went back to this place again. This is the first time I ever told anyone outside my family of this incident. This was 11 years ago. I never ever boarded again. I carried the guilt of this story for a long time. Please do reserch if you ever have to resort to boarding. Check the facility ask a lot of questions. Go to the back and check the cages. If they don't let you back walk out. Spend the X-tra cash for a run. Even if you have a small breed. Friends or relatives are your best bet for care..thanks

Originally Posted by YorkichonBella (Post 1856730)

Thank you for sharing your story. I know this was hard for you. This was my reason too for sharing my story, to let others know what really goes on. I was upset about the care they got which was little. They are being paid. They should give quality service.

Originally Posted by MindieRose (Post 1857061)

I worked for a vets office with boarding facilities. For bigger dogs its not that bad. They can hold it much longer. We allowed anything in the run or cage with them that the owners requested, we would just write it on their chart. We had a large fenced in area that the dogs were allowed to run for 15 minutes, 3 xs a day, twice on weekends. They were fed twice a day, or once, depending on the owners request, with whatever food the owner brought, or if they didnt bring any, were fed Science Diet.
I do think the little dogs should be let out more, but they were very strict there about policy.
Personally, when I was there taking care of the dogs, I would hold them (if they were little), snuggle them, play fetch outside, and even take pictures of them to bring home and show the kids. I LOVED it, and treated them like they were my dogs. I would even walk throughout the kennel area several times a shift, bringing hypoallergenic treats to them so they felt loved.
If any dog had to be medicated, we could administer the pills, but if they needed an injection, the vet would have to sign off on it after it was done. It was VERY well organized. If a dog messed on its bed, we would wash it. But in your case, it could have just happened that day when no one was there.

Its a lesson learned in your case. Most vets offices are glad to answer any questions you have up front. Most every office is closed on the weekend, meaning only 2 outside trips.
I dont think complaining will do anything. They have their policy and their routine probably works well for larger dogs. If you ever board anywhere again, I would suggest asking every place how often they go out, and if they are walked or have a place to run. If they only go out 3 times a day, you can always suggest they go out more than that, I had more than one client do that before, and we did as they wished. You just have to make your requests known so they can write it on their chart and they will probably be more than happy (to your face at least ;) ) to follow what you want, within reason.