First of all, you get a dog.
Once you’ve got a dog, another one isn’t too much more of a hassle. All of a sudden, you’ve got 11!
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So now you need somewhere to keep them all.
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And that’s how we ended up here!
My wife, Gwenda and I started Bladesdale Boarding Kennels based near Hawes in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in December 2014 with our own purpose- built kennel block. I knew how I wanted it to look, and more importantly, what it needed to do.
📷I’ve been in the construction industry for over 30 years and run a very busy shopfitting company. I started as a joiner and use my skills to offer a design and build turn-key solution for high street retailers nationwide. With the shopfitting, the kennels and field trial award winning pointers and setters to train, time is always a premium.
The winters in the Yorkshire Dales can be extreme, and I knew the importance of keeping our dogs warm and dry. The pointers and setters we own are working dogs and emerge from the harsh winters to start work on the important job of grouse counting on the local moors above our home in mid- March. Keeping them fit and in good condition means that they are ready to start work even when the weather isn’t all that inviting.
If your dog is warm, you don’t need to increase their food through the winter, they don’t lose condition and are raring to go. Our dogs cover about 8-10 miles a day during the spring count and come back to their comfortable environment to rest and recover each evening for the next day ahead.
Having 11 dogs means that cleaning out needs to be a quick and efficient operation as well. With a licence to board up to 20 dogs, plus our 11 we need to be thorough, but we don’t want to take all day about it. I couldn’t find beds for our bed boxes which met our needs, so have designed and built my own.
We’ve bred a few litters during our time, and whelping boxes are an absolute must. Keeping mum and young safe and secure, clean and dry is very important for the crucial early weeks of a litter’s development. Again, I wanted to make the whelping boxes to match the dog beds, and also to ensure they had a practical purpose after the puppies had gone to the new loving homes.
When you have so many dogs, holidays, or even days out can be a distant memory. But there’s always solutions to every problem and I’ve adapted the back of our pick-up to suit our needs. It has proved very popular with other dog owners and I’ve copied or amended my work for other vehicles so that my friends’ dogs can travel in style and comfort, with handy storage solutions and bespoke items.
Everything is a work in progress, but I’ve finally found solutions to our problems which work so well for us, I thought I’d share them with you.
From easy clean, light weight beds through thermally efficient dog cabins and transit systems to fully planned bespoke kennel builds, I’d like to think we offer a superb service for you and your dog, based on an understanding of what a dog needs to be kept at their best, all year round.
Please have a look at the rest of our website. If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, give me a call. I’m sure I’ll be able to make whatever your mind imagines.
All the best
Paul
