We use this kennel regularly when we have to leave town. My sweet, 5 year old Golden Retriever has always been happy to go to this kennel. He is well cared for and looks healthy and calm at pick up. I know you're thinking--Golden--that guy is always going to be happy. And yes it is true that he's pretty easy-going. Still...he always asks NOT to go in when going someplace he does not like. For example, when arriving at his groomers (he is a bit of a wimp and hates getting his tail brushed) he tells me "no mom, please, I don't want you to leave me with this lady with the comb!" But he is always happy to go and see the girls at Del Norte. I can only conclude that he likes it there. He would tell me if he didn't. Now he is pretty demanding. He wants regular walks and to be played with too. So he must be getting his needs met there. His bedding is always clean and since we label all his items, we get them all back. I have used this kennel many times over the years and have always been happy with them. read more

oh my goodness. Where do I start? Morgan is 14 1/2 and had never been left in a kennel before. We had to leave her in order to be with our family over Christmas. She went for a "date" one day and seemed quite happy. When we left her, we werent sure how she would do. The care and attention she received were top notch and beyond. She is on regular medication. I took my "drug store", her food, bed, blanket and one toy. Our friend picked her up the day we flew home. She was perfect. So happy and healthy. We would leave her here again in a heart beat. No questions asked. We highly recommend this kennel and will spread the news to all our known pet owners. Thank you so much for all of your attention and care of Morgan. Words cannot express our thankfulness and gratitude. Bless all of you, Richard and Vicky Savage read more

I didn't have a lot of time to find a new kennel when I found out the kennel I have used for 40 years with multiple dogs I have had over the years closed. I decided to use one across the street from my daughter's grandparents as it looked nice. I didn't see these reviews and my jaw dropped when I started to read them. Usually I would board my dogs in Vancouver rather than Nanaimo. Boarding them in Nanaimo meant I had to travel with my dogs to and from the island and use a ferry which is a 30 min drive to duke point then a two hr ferry then a 40 min drive to north van. This is not including ferry wait times and next sail times or car traffic. Taking my dogs to the kennel was super easy. They didn't bark once and didn't smell or have any bathroom issues. They refused water as well and didn't need to have emergency bathroom stops. Picking my dogs up at the kennel was strange. There were three or four girls that seemed nervous and didn't say anything at all. They just handed the dogs over. No collars on or leashes. Then they said that their dog bed got a little bit of pee on it. They handed the bed over and it was soaked, dripping and heavy full of pee and water. I was overwhelmed by the smell of my dog I was holding and the smell of the dog bed. It was so strong. I have never smelled dog pee smell so strong in my life and I use to work at an animal hospital and volunteered at the spca for years. I have four pets at home and always have had a lot of animals including lizards and hamsters. Never smelled this intense urine smell ever. I'm not sure why the bed wasn't washed when the pee got on the bed and I'm not sure why my dogs body and head smells as if they got peed on. It makes me believe that they were laying and sleeping in their pee or other dogs pee. The bed wasn't soaking as if they quickly sprayed it with the hose while I was waiting. It was literally dripping with water. They asked if I wanted a plastic bag to put it in but honestly that wouldn't have helped bc my two dogs stunk so bad it wouldn't have helped. The only reason for dogs urine to smell so strong would be from a uti which both dogs saw their vet two days prior to boarding or if they were dehydrated from no water and no chance to pee causing them to hold it for long periods of time. When they are able to drink water it dilutes the smell of urine and reduce the thickness of the urine making it less sticky which again would allow it to be spot cleaned. My daughter and I had to travel with urine soaked bedding and two super hyper barking dogs. They were using their emergency poop bark which is so loud it makes it so I have no choice but to pull over. I couldn't let them out as they didn't have their collars on but I did have a bottle of water so I offered them water. My one dog drinks a large amount of water every day but doesn't normally drink water when in the car. she drank about three bowls and the other one who barely drinks water and never drinks water unless at home or from a creek had about two big bowls. This told my daughter and I everything we needed to know. My dogs are 11 and 8. I wrote the kennel a long email describing each dogs personality and their health needs and quirks. The 11 year old is deaf in one ear and has limited hearing in the other since birth. She also has started to have seizures which I made sure to mention. The other dog has separation anxiety and is reactive to keys and being locked up in kennels alone. I can't help but think they were stuck in a kennel rather than open free play like most kennels these days. Everything tells me that their needs weren't even considered and that they were in a small kennel with no access to water or bathroom. Both dogs were stiff and sad looking. When I would pick them up from their old kennel they would be exhausted and smiling from ear to ear. I wish I had seen these reviews prior to taking them there as I see others have had the same experience as we did. It's funny bc there are only good reviews on their website. I think it would be beneficial for animal welfare to do some surprise drop in visits to ensure the animals needs are being met. I can pretty much say with confidence that they are being neglected. I feel so bad for my dogs. Not going there again!!!!! read more

This review has taken me some time to write as I am still upset about what happened. I am going to thy and keep it brief as I don to know how many characters you are allowed in a review. I brought my pup on the 14th of October for boarding with Del Norte, and was set to pick him up on the 20th ( business trip) during my time away I reached out a couple times via email to see how my pup was doing, the staff responded telling me he was doing fine. I went to pick up my pup on the 20th, the staff greeted me and handed over my pups belongings (bed, blanket and remainder of the food) When I put my pups bed into my car, it smelled entirely of urine, strong smell of urine, I was upset about this smell. They then brought my pup outside for me, he was very happy to see me, I put him in the car, only to find out he also smelled of urine. I went back to the girls and asked if the owner was around and they said no, that she would be back the following week. I went home and unpacked my pups belongings, only to find out that the blanket they gave me was some other pups blanket, I reached out to them to ask where my dogs blanket went as they gave me someone else's blanket. They indicated that they would track it down and get back to me. I received the email that they had the blanket and that I could pick it up at any time. I went to Del Norte to pick up the blanket and speak to the owner as she was there the following weekend of the 20th. I asked her if she could help me solve a mystery for me as to why, when I picked up my dog from the kennel that he and his bed smelled entirely of urine, her response was " I was not here the time he was boarded" - Excuse me?? I was floored by this response, and in my mind I was like, "I don't care that you were not here, this is your business and your staff. I asked if the staff gave daily reports to her about the dogs in their care, she said yes, and proceeded to tell me that each kennel is cleaned at the end of the day, I then asked, if they are cleaned at the end of each day, then why did my dog smell like urine? Why didn't they give him a bath and wash his bed? She had no answer and she showed no remorse of what my pup went through at her kennel. I was furious at this point and thought best that I walk away before I said something I would regret. I do not recommend leaving any pet with this kennel, my experience with them has shown me that they do not care about your furry family members. read more

I was quoted $57/night from the staff for my 2 dogs, I was told that they would be in a large kennel together. At pick up they tried to charge me $65/per night and proceeded to argue with me over what they said.... then they told me they had them in separate smaller kennels. After arguing for 20 min they finally reduced the fee to what they originally told me. Upon getting my dogs home I soon realized that my chocolate lab has pressure sores to his elbows and ankles. I'm horrified... this is a 2 year old dog.... the only way that happens is if he was put in an enclosure way to small for his size and not given a bed as promised and not allowed enough time outside. I will never come back here. This place should be shut down. read more

This was a hard review for me to make because I honestly don't wish any harm to the family or people who have steady jobs through this however, I did have the experience of bringing my dog here for an afternoon. She was there from noon to 5:45 . She came home extremely agitated and hyper. Hoarse. A broken tooth and bloody gums. And a bloody tail. It was very disturbing when I arrived there was constant barking. Crammed cages. And this can be the only reason for a bloody tail. All the girls 4 in total were present when they returned my poor girl to me. I have had lots of dogs in my life , a couple rescues and am well aware of what's ok and what is jot for a dog. The kind of distressed crying and barking I heard there is caused when a kennel is poorly designed and does not feature adequate care and exercise for the dogs. Dogs at kennels bark for several reasons: Confinement- If you've ever seen a stray dog walk past a confined dog, you know that the confined dog will start barking like crazy while the stray will simply stare at them with curiosity. Dogs will bark more when they are confined because it's the only action they can take in response to stimuli outside their confinement. Less confinement time means less barking. Lack of excersise- Dogs have a lot of energy and naturally want to explore and play. Getting cage-free play time means they use up that energy and feel more satisfied when they're back in their kennel. And sadly.... discomfort-Dogs shouldn't feel like they're in "doggy prison." Uncomfortable, cramped surroundings make dogs anxious and leads to excessive barking. Please please please do your research before you leave your pet in someone else's care. At the end of the day the only thing that truly matters is your pet. He/she TRUSTS you, do your buddy the same courtesy they would you... That's your best friend right there. Make sure they alwayse know that The other part that bothered me was that they didn't have a straight answer for her tail. And when they returned her to me st 5:45 pm she took two huge poos. Very disappointed with how my girl was looked after. I'm glad she got care elsewhere. read more

I have worked with dogs for years, have been around kennels, and NEVER have I heard the 'crying' that comes out of this kennel from the dogs. The barking is continuous, the howling is continuous. Yes we live nearby. Some nights I have considered going over to comfort the dogs. Does your dog come home hoarse? Absolutely exhausted? Think about it. read more

This was hands down the worst experience I've had as a pet owner. This place should be shut down in my honest opinion. Our dog came home severely dehydrated, smelling of his own urine, and the topper....634 dollar vet bill for a urinary tract infections later that night. The staff is young and extremely dismissive. Avoid this place at all costs. We sent a copy of our review and vet bill to this place, 1 month has passed without reply. They simply don't care which begs the question...why own a dog kennel? Purely financial I'm assuming. read more

We left our dog at Del Norte June 15-18. When we arrived to drop him off we were greeted quite rudely and they had no record of our dog ever having been there. Which he had 2 weeks prior. The girls were not pleasant nor helpful. When we picked him up on Sunday June 18 the girl at the desk said he was great over the weekend and there was no trouble with him. 2 hours later we got him home and he was tired and his nose was very dry. He tried to pee several times over the next little while and yelped in pain each time. He was not able to urinate at all so we were forced to take him to the vet at 9pm. 3 hours and $600 later we discovered that he had a urinary tract infection. The vet told us that this would be due to not enough drinking water, not being taken out enough to pee and probably left to sit in his own urine for hours and definately happened over a period of 3-4 days prior to them seeing him. Coincidence? Definitely not. We were so sad and angry having heard this information. It is so disturbing that the staff would treat our dog so badly and not give him the basic necessities such as water and bathroom breaks. We will NEVER send our dog back to this facility. if I could I would give this place negative stars. read more

My dog Roxi has been going to Del Norte for about 3 years now and in this time I have never encountered anything negative she enjoys going there an the staff have been very good with us and her. The groomer is amazing. read more