Kalmegess Kennels

We have boarded with Kalmegess four times now and each time we have been so impressed! My dog is a Shiba so she is not dog friendly and they have no problem with this and they do take her out to play on her own (she was actually out when we showed up once). The kennel is nice and every dog gets their own indoor/​outdoor run which is VERY hard to come by. I researched many kennels before I chose this one and even though its over an hour drive for us — its well worth it. Everyone working there is so friendly and they give me updates when I call every so often to check on my pup while she is there (she is family after all) and they have no problem following my page of instructions lol I would recommend this kennel to anyone.

Just joined the team as the second full time groomer. Really happy with how friendly everyone is. They all treat the pets like their own. Happy to be part of the team!

While it’s true the staff are friendly they just aren’t very knowledgeable and lack oversight and experience, leading to 2 of our dogs being bitten more than once. We have 3 border collies who have been in doggy day care in Scarborough for many years so when we moved to Oshawa in July of 2013 our first priority was finding excellent day care as both of us work full-​time. We were referred to Kalmegess and after meeting Mike the owner (who was indeed friendly) felt it would be a perfect fit. We dropped our dogs off to Mike every AM Monday-​Friday and picked them up from the caregiver in charge (Mike’s daughter) evey PM. No significant problems for the first several weeks although the dogs didn’t appear very tired at the end of the day and still required an evening walk even being all day with other dogs. This was unusual based on our prior day care experience but they didn’t seem to mind going at first so I felt it wasn’t an issue. However, when I went to pick up the dogs early one day they were not outside in the play area but in the kennels (Mike has a large kennel business as well as doggy day care). I wondered about this and Mike was vague about when the dogs were kenneled during the day versus free, directed play. I began to wonder if that was a reason they were less interested in going in the morning and not worn out at the end of hte day. Then, about 5 weeks into taking them daily, 2 of the dogs became very resistant to going and when I asked Mike if anything had occurred he said no, nothing new. So again I didn’t see any specific problems but contnued taking the dogs until one day about a week later I went to pick them up and the middle dog refused to come out of the small dog house that sits not far from the gate in the play area. She finally was coaxed out by Mike’s daughter but it wasn’t until I got home that I found a big bite on her right flank. It didn’t require stiches but was bloody and there was a distinct loss of flesh that looked like a serious nip. I asked Mike about it the next day and he looked at it and said he thought it came from one of the 2 dogs he had taken on recently who were rescue dogs and one of them would randomly chase the other dogs and bite them on the rear end. He said he would watch and be sure it didn’t happen in the future. The following week I went to pick up the dogs and now the youngest one wouldn’t get out of the dog house and the rescue dogs were at the gate barking very aggressivbely. Mike’s daughter was having significant problems getting the rescue dogs under control and it took her a considerable amount of time to get my dog out of the dog house and into the car. When I got home I found both dogs had bites on their rear end and the middle dog now had 2 bites as well as the young dog. I went back and asked Mike why he had continued business with the rescue dogs if his daughter obvioulsy couldn’t control them and they continued to bite. ANY doggy day care I have ever been with has been very explicit that dogs get a window of time to prove themselves but they will never keep a dog that bites. Mike was very defensive and said he couldn’t be out with the dogs all the time. He said it was «nipping» behavor and not «mean attack dog behavior» and he didn’t have any other solution. So, be forewarned that you may end up with biiten dogs… I have since found a great dog walker who comes twice a day for an hour each time and the dogs are tired at the end of the day — and very happy.

If you’re looking to board or provide daycare for your dog, I highly recommend Kalmegess Kennels. The staff are extremely friendly, courteous, and professional. I take my husky-​shepherd here daily for their daycare program, and she is always well taken care of, well supervised, and well exercised all day with a whole pack of other dogs.
They have different packages that you can search on their website. They also provide basic boarding services. They have an on-​site groomer as well.
Speak with Mike — the owner — and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.