To board or not to board...

A few months ago, I went shopping at the new Petsmart in town which featured a cute Petsmart Hotel. The hotel looked very clean and the dogs looked like they were having a great time. I laughed at the idea of a hotel for dogs...at least until today.

I am considering boarding Paige for the day of the wedding just so that she would be out of the way and we wouldn't have to worry about her "accidents" since we would be gone for such a long time. FH and I have not decided if we want to get a hotel room for the wedding night yet. If we are going to, then obviously we will have to board Paige.

My first (and only) experience boarding Paige was a few weeks after I got her. I was going on vacation so I called a few local kennels and made a reservation. I was a little leery when we went to the kennel to drop Paige off because it was literally someones house. It was a scary beat-up house that was surrounded by trees, overgrown vegetation, and set back far from the road. Immediately I had a bad feeling. I knocked on the door for ten minutes and no one answered. I called and the lady who answered hung up on me. Now was I not only scared of who I was leaving my dog with but I was extremely pissed off because I was leaving for vacation and had no other place to take my dog. The house kennel lady finally answered the door but insisted that she didn't have any appointments that day or even that week. She finally took Paige, but only after we checked out the kennel.

I called and made a reservation at the Petsmart hotel today so that I could have peace of mind on the wedding day. At first thought it seemed like a "no-brainer" for the price and the peace of mind but now that I'm made the commitment I'm second guessing myself. I've read too many reviews online about pets coming home from the Petsmart hotels with kennel cough. Petsmart requires the Bordetella shot but that only prevents a certain percentage of kennel cough. Paige and I have plenty of experience with the unpleasantness of kennel cough. When I first brought Paige home from the shelter, they neglected to tell me in advance she had kennel cough. For the first month, she coughed constantly including through the night. It's an experience we don't need to have again.

So is a one day stay at a Petsmart hotel really worth Paige getting kennel cough?