Excessive barking and howling in a kennel type of environment can be annoying.  But beyond the irritating aspects of noise, a wide range of unintended negative consequences exist.  Interestingly, most animal care managers will readily admit that noise has negative results, but very few will further analyze the issue to recognize that excessive noise will always result in decreased profits.    

Below are three examples of how “noise” costs money:

• Added Supplies: A loud work environment for employees will result in additional costs associated with the purchase of hearing protection equipment.
• Unhealthy dogs:  Excessive noise will increase stress amongst dogs.  Stress oftentimes leads to a decreased appetite and diarrhea.  Worse yet, stress will decrease a dog’s natural immunity and will increase the probability of the dog contracting and/or spreading an illness.  Illness within a kennel may result in increased labor costs to eradicate the illness, increased veterinary costs or a loss in returning clientele.
• Poor Customer Perception: Excessive noise will produce a negative perception of your business by a potential client. Ultimately, this will result in a decreased perceived value of your services. 
  • This will limit your ability to raise prices. 
  • This will cause clients to find different accommodations as your prices may appear too high.

These are just a few of the examples of the negative impacts of noise in a kennel environment.  Other common problems, such as dogs with coarse barks going home after a weekend of barking only to have the parents later call and complain.  Or the shy timid dog so overwhelmed by the noise, that he goes home scared and traumatized never to return because the parents wonder "what did you do to my dog?".

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There are tens, if not hundreds of traditional noise control products on the market for boarding kennels and dog day cares.  While many may prove their worth, not all are humane and not one can completely guarantee to eliminate the effects of noise within the environment.  Oftentimes, as kennel owners or operators we're then forced to purchase multiple kennel noise control systems that provide mixed results.  In the end, a viable and sustainable solutions is not obtained.  

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Below I will highlight a simple inexpensive noise control solutions for an existing boarding kennel / pet hotel.  Most importantly, this technique costs little to no money and when applied correctly can produce amazing results.

"Turn off the noise"

The most common mistake boarding kennel operators make when attempting to control noise is that they attempt to contain the noise instead of defusing the noise.  Defusing the noise is pro-active, while containing the noise is reactionary.  (Do not confuse the term defuse with the term diffuse.)  To properly defuse noise, two critical approaches must me utilized simultaneously.

Manage the stimuli:  Oftentimes, in our attempt to defuse noise, we manage the noise as if the noise was the single core issue.  All the while, we fail to identify the dog's reaction to stimuli (sound, smell, sight, etc) as the core issue.  Ultimately, it is the dog's reaction to stimuli that initiates the need to act (i.e. bark, howl, whimper, etc).  Therefore, an effective attempt to manage noise should be partially rooted in eliminating (or managing) noise inducing stimuli.  And while I won't identify the individual noise inducing stimuli (as that is better saved for another article), instead I will explain real-life application of eliminating and mitigating stimuli to effectively defuse noise.

• Utilize an employee walk route: Create a defined walk route for employees to travel when moving from one side of your kennel to the other.  While this will create ONE high traffic pathway through part of your kennel, the rest of the kennel will be free un-necessary interruptions. 
• Utilize a tour route: Create a standardized tour route which balances the "needs" of the pets with the "wants" of the potential clients receiving the tour.  The tour route should (like the employee walk route) provide one pathway for minimizing un-necessary animal stimuli.
• Establish routine:  A daily routine should be established and followed.  The routine will (among other things) allow dogs to better anticipate the daily noises and distractions. 
• Decrease "line of sight" barking: Dogs will undoubtedly bark at other dogs, more so if they can see them.  To mitigate this issue, place dogs in kennels that can't be seen by other dogs or by other dogs that like to bark at dogs too.
• Create a "fill order": A defined fill order will dictate the order in which you place dogs into your kennels.  By having a fill order, you can avoid "line of sight" barking and keep dogs out of high traffic areas until space dictates otherwise.
• Eliminate boredom: Encourage clients to bring toys for their dog, otherwise provide safe toys for your dogs.
• Give them what they want:  For dogs that seemingly bark for no reason give them stimulation.  Most often, a long walk, a short swim or any other high intensity activity will encourage rest.

Manage the exposure:  When eliminating and managing stimuli is not an option, the next best approach is to manage the dog to minimize their exposure to the stimuli. 

• Create a "kennel stress chart":  Identify all common stimuli associated with your facility and qualify the exposure on each individual kennel in your facility.  A simple rating system will suffice.  The objective would be to identify which kennels have the potentially greatest amount of stimuli. 
• Define dogs:  Define dogs with a high susceptibility to stimuli and dogs with a low susceptibility to stimuli.  In conjunction with the "kennel stress chart" you'll be able to pro-actively manage dog kennel assignments to reduce noise.

By effectively utilizing the above approaches in your existing kennel you will be able defuse noise before it is created.  Best of all, you'll do so utilizing a simple, cost effective approach that is safe and good for the dogs.

© Intensive Management Solutions, 2009