kennelling the Pooches

Over the weekend Richard and I attended a rowing regatta out in the country. We put both our dogs in a kennel for the first time. This proved to be quite traumatic for me. I can just imagine what I'll be like when I have children!! (If and when).

Now one of my dogs was quite ok. Nelson is a terrier cross and we got him from the RSPCA three years ago. I get the impression he has been in kennels before, and certainly, the RSPCA is a kennel type of environment. Kaz, on the other hand, is a Jack Russell that we have had since she was eight weeks old. I'm very sad to report that her kennel experience was very traumatic for her. My mum went to collect them since the kennel closed at 5pm, and the last rowing race was 3pm. Therefore we would only return to Melbourne by 8pm. Anway, went to collect them from my mum's place, and my poor Kaz just would not take her eyes off us. It was as though if she blinked we would disappear. I was feeling very sorry for my pooch. Nelson on the other hand had lost his bark! When he sees other dogs he either wants them to come over to him or he go to them, so he can say a nice doggy hello. Kaz is the opposite. Because they were being kept together we had ticked the box saying to keep them separate from the other dogs. Poor Nelson. I think he must have barked for the whole weekend, shouting over to the other dogs that he just could not get to. The result? He lost his voice. Even though I felt bad about it, it was quite hilarious to listen to him bark when we got home. His bark is slowly getting back to normal now though.

We thought it would be a good idea to try out a kennel for them as we are going away in January, and also we are trying to find a 'good' kennel that we can trust. I think that if we go away camping on the next regattas we could take Kaz with us. Nelson hates camping. The bugs literally sends him bananas. He's been camping with us twice and both times we had to put him in the tent just to keep him sane. Also, he likes to wander and has selective hearing when being called. Kaz loves camping. She is very docile and will sit quietly with us. I think definitely for the next camping trip we will take her and put Nelson in the kennel and tick the box that allows him to socialise with the other dogs. He will have a fantastic holiday, and Kaz will happily sit with us and be the well behaved dog she is. Other than the camping I think next time we are away we may have to find someone to housesit and look after both of them. Which we have done before. Or, unfortunately for Kaz, it will be back to the kennel.