Apolda Kennels Inc

I’m not sure how anyone can give this place a good review, maybe back in the day when it opened they cared about what they did here but I have to say NOW… no way… don’t board your dog here. I have two experiences with Apolda I would like to share with you:
First they board dogs here from various rescues. I dropped off a dog I transported from a high kill shelter, a sweet beautiful Pit Bull names Ramone, the family lost their jobs and could no longer care for him. The shelter was overloaded and he was slated to be killed. He was saved by a rescue and subsequently brought here for boarding till he got adopted. He was a sweet 55 lbs dog when I brought him here, when I came back 5 months later, to pick him up, he was extremely thin, his skin and coat were in horrible condition and he was very aggressive from being left in a kennel all day. Look at some of their long term boarders… they are in «crappy physical condition». They feed them dirt cheap food and never socialize them with other animals. It’s terrible who would board dogs here long term for a rescue?
Second, I recommended this place to my neighbor early in my transporting dogs days here. She reported back to me after leaving her dog here for 7 days, he came back dirty, weak and very depressed. When I asked her to elaborate, she said «don’t recommend this place anymore»
I’m not sure if they just get tossed in a large kennel, food tossed in a bowl and that’s it. But I’d recommend going to a doggy daycare place first so your animal can be social and run around during the day and kenneled only at night when they sleep.
Don’t let the big yard fool you… they never get out to use it. The owner is very nice and it’s dirt cheap because he does nothing to improve the facility for the animals and doesn’t hire any staff. I think our pets deserve better… I have found two other places I can recommend.

If you care for your dog don’t go there! I have put my happy and hallthy dog for 10 days there and got a bone skinny, weak, filthy and depressed dog. I saw his look when I first saw him. so sad.I cried on my way home for doing this to him with my own hands. .it took me almost an hour to clean him. After that he ate like it’s his first meal for many days. .he slept for the rest of the day. .on our walk on the evening I saw that he was dairies very hard. what a poor place. .I beg you, if you love your dog as your family member do not go there. Please. Its a bad place.

We had a great experience this past week while we were on our vacation. Apolda kept our pup for 4 days and we received daily text updates of how he was doing along the way. The place was older but clean, and they offer grooming, and even groomed our dog before we picked him up on the last day.
We liked the outdoor/​indoor option and paid the additional couple of bucks to have individual walks throughout the day. They’ve been in business for many, many years. I don’t know what the other Unilocal reviewers were talking about with the nature of the boarding facilities. We will use them again!

If you are considering hoteling your dog here, please request to see the actual pen he /​she will be housed and ask when and where your dog will be allowed to be outside in grass. I was shocked to see the disgusting concrete cells the dogs stay in and angry when I learned the dogs are not allowed to run around in any grass area or play with other dogs. They only have a tiny concrete exterior space attached to the dog’s cell where they can go outside and do their business.

I have been very happy with Apolda Kennels and strongly encourage anyone looking for a kennel in the western suburbs to consider Apolda. I live in Geneva and takes me about 15 minutes to get there.
The appearance of Apolda is not the sellling point as the building is pretty mundane. The owner, John, lives in a home on New York St. and the kennel is in his back yard which is a very large lot. He is very friendly and helpful and I believe he practices bagpipes during the day while with the dogs.
This is the third kennel we have used and the first in this area (the other two were in Columbus, oH). When my dog went into the last two kennels he always looked very nervous and would shiver uncontrolably (one of these was «Pet Palace» which was double what Apolda charges). He is pretty neurotic by nature as it is so I never really thought too much of it and it is natural that he is uncomfortable around strangers.
When we first went to Apolda our dog exhibited the same behavior but after two or three times I noticed his a change. He is now at the point that he wags his tale and doesn’t look frightened at all when we leave him off. John said the he and our dog have a special connection and I believe it. I never worry about our dog when he is there.
We always get a shampoo and nail trim when we pick up our dog. The price is very reasonable and it also allows us to pick him up after the normal pick up deadline without paying an extra fee.

The owner is very nice, but the place is like the Gulag. We would not use them again. Though they have an enormous outdoor space, the dogs do not spend any time there. Also, there is no socialization. If you spend about 5 $ more a night you can get a really nice kennel that allows dogs to «play» together.