The Northern Border, LLC

We're happy that you feel relieved to leave Padfoot with us! Thank you!

Hey Lisa, Thank you for your review. Because we like transparency in our business I would like to reply to your message. On Aug 13, 2019 I received a message from your mom in regards to her dogs behaviour. I told her that I thought it was weird why she didn't contacted us any earlier if there were so called issues for a boarding that took place in May. It turned out that your mom got "reminded" about his behaviour when she saw a former employee of our kennel (this employee got fired approx. 8 weeks before your mom met her). However, as a business owner I take any and all complaints extremely serious. My wife and I started this kennel to provide care for dogs while their owners are gone in a matter how we want our own dogs treated. Everyone that knows us, knows how high our standards are and this will also show in all of our inspections. On Aug 20, 2019 I replied to your mom that i've not been able to pull up camera footage yet. But that the accusations from the former employee saying that we ONLY had 1 person taking care of the animals in that period was false, because our employment schedules showed that said employee had several shifts, as did 2 other employees in that period. Your mom replied back that she appreciated the cooperation, she also wrote that she measured out his food and that way too much food came back and the dog had lost a lot of weight (once again, why does this suddenly get brought up almost 3 months after the boarding took place). Some dogs get a little bit stressed while being kenneled. We try to make them as comfortable as possible during their stays, but it can result in not eating all their meals sometimes. Your mother then wrote that the young lady was in hot water with her, because her lying about who all took care of the dogs in that period sounded very suspicious. On Aug 26, 2019 your mom send a slightly annoyed message to me why I still hadn't reviewed the videos. (I was prepping the property for my wife before I would be out of commission for at least 1 month due to a surgery). I then had time to review all the videos. And, i send your mom print screens of the footage as proof that I did reviewed it all. I have video material where your mom needed to encourage the dog to come into the building. When the kennel manager wanted to take over the leash before your mom left, the dog showed extremely skittish and very afraid to join her despite of her best efforts. Speaking as an expert with 20 years of experience with dog behaviour, this showed to me that the dog was definitely not as open and happy in ALL situations as your mom tried to claim. However, do i believe that boarding for some dogs can be stressful? Absolutely. This is very unfortunate, but some dogs can get very anxious, where other dogs have the best time of their life. Regardless, I offered your mom to bring the dog FREE OF CHARGE to 1 of our group classes. So I could see the behaviour myself at our facility, and even with other dogs around. All I got back was videos of how the dog was before at her house, yet no videos from his behaviour now. Then I never got a reply back. On September 14th your mom showed up at the kennel demanding to speak to me without having an appointment. I told my employees that I was over 1 hour away, attending a dog event in the morning in Hartville, OH. She tried to lecture me on how I should tell my employees where I was at and that she demanded an appointment later that day (which was impossible for me and i told her my soonest next availability). After her wrongly forwarding the messages to me instead of someone else, I received a final slandering message. I spend many hours communicating with your mom & investigating the case, but unfortunately she wasn't willing to come with the dog, show the issues and have us show ways to work on his confidence. Your mom is still welcome, and she has my number to make the appointment. - Joeri Veth (owner)

Cutie is so easy to deal with! We are looking forward to her stay this weekend!