Gundog Training Forum

Hi folks, its been a while since I was on here so I glanced by to see whats occurring and also to ask a little advice

We recently moved into a pub ( ) with a small courtyard cum smoking area. Attatched to this are 3 garages, one of which is now a kennel for the boys. We bricked halfway down to make it more secure (now no access from the up and over door) and installed a panel with a door which is ALWAYS padlocked. The walls are painted an off white colour to seal them and help brighten the place up.

We have always been aware that this will be a compromise as far as customers fussing the boys are concerned but so far they have all been very good (both dogs and customers!) We have signs up with a little info on the dogs, breed, age and name etc, as well as warnings that they are tattooed and microchipped. The kennel is visible from the bar area so I think we have security fairly well covered and (though we do not mention it) they sleep in a small cage in the office at night as we are happier doing this than leaving them outside unattended.

HOWEVER, we are getting comments that the kennel is bare and the dogs will "get bored" Numerous explanations that they go out to work with Phil most days, have plentiful walks and stimulation have little effect. Do you guys have any suggestions as to how we can make the kennel seem more "acceptable" to those customers who do not understand what our dogs do, without further compromising them? In an ideal world I would not listen to them but these are our customers, we took the decision to have the dogs out there and I want to try and strike a reasonable balance.

Vicky

Hi Vicky,

Nice to hear from you again. Have you thought of one of these...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSIQnuDf ... re=related

Can't you just say that the kennel is their "chill out zone" where they go to switch off and have a break.

Rascal

Welcome back!

I have missed your humour.

Where is the pub and what is it called???

It's annoying when people see you leave your dog in a kennel or crate for a short period of time but don't see how much time during a normal day that the dog actually spends with you, going for walks or training or just playing. My dog comes to work with me and is crated when I cannot give him my full attention but need to know he's not up to no good. He is out and about for roughly 40mins, around 4 times a day. In between those sessions he is let out for toilet breaks, but there have been times when if we've gone out to meet friends at a restaurant after work I'll leave him in his car crate.

Someone once said to me "Do you ever walk your dog? Isn't it cruel to keep him in a cage?"
"It's not a cage, it' a dog crate. And yes, he gets plenty of exercise." I said.

I understand totally that you don't want customers thinking that you are cruel to dogs or they might decide that they don't want to drink there anymore, but it is frustrating when people judge you when they don't understand/know the full story.

I wonder whether you can customize your kennel to include an outdoor run bit if it doesn't have it already. Otherwise, put up thousands of photos behind the bar of your dogs out and about and training and retrieving and generally having a great time and draw attention to those rather than the kennel.

Get them really talkin and leave a few empty beer cans, packet of smoking papers and maybe some naughty magazines (sporting gun or something with a hot spaniel on the front) in the kennel.. Itwill look like they're havin a great time!! G

People will always have something to say, especially if they've had a few!