We have three animals and I have to board one or more when we travel. For those of you who use kennels for your animals, when the kennel charges a set fee, do you pay only the fee or is it customary to add a tip? If so, what percentage on top of the fee??

Well since you can't ask the pets how their stay was, use your own best judgement, but most often it is not possible, because the person you see at the desk is most likely not the person (or persons) who cared for your pets.

I worked at a Vet's office for a year where they boarded cats. In all that time I never knew of anyone that gave tip's to the Vet or any of us that worked there.
We also had 2 Labs that we used to board and we never tipped either.
But I think you have to use your own judgment on this one.

I board as much as 10 or more times a year and for what I pay I don't tip for sure. I don't think they would know what to do with it. Who would get the "tip"? I pay extra per day to have my dog exercised also. This is a totally new concept to me--the kennel is selling a service for a set price. A tip just doesn't enter the picture. We also pay to have our other dog house sat.

We do not tip when we board our dogs, but since they live together we pay extra for the large kennel, make reservations way in advance so we can have it and leave an emergency phone number. Since it is our vets office they know our dogs and what to watch out for ie the little one rules over the big one!!

I use a kennel to board my dog frequently but have only tipped a few times. This is a small business and there are a few people that are constantly involved with my dog--and it's obvious that he loves 2 in particular by his happy reaction to them when we drop him off. After Christmas this year, my husband left a $10.00 tip with one particular lady, and she did accept it. The other time we left a tip was when we were running late to pick up our dog and knew we'd make it to town about 10 minutes after the kennel closed. We called ahead to say we were hurrying to get back into town, and lucikly, the guy who was on duty that day said he'd be there after the closing time b/c of cleaning, feeding, etc. (and this was the other person our dog particularly loves). When we paid our fees, we gave this guy a $10.00 tip, and he gladly accepted it. We normally don't tip (at the kennel) but some people are just worth it at special times.

I don't board my cat when I travel, but I do use a pet sitter who comes to the house to care for her. If it's just a regular weekend that I happen to be going out of town, I don't tip. But if I am going to be gone over a major holiday, such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, I leave a tip in addition to the daily charge.

I wouldn't tip. Kennel workers don't make a lot of money but there will be quite a few who take care of your pets over the course of their stay. It will be hard to know whom to tip.

Give a nice fruit basket at Christmas time. All of them can share it.

Keith

Thanks for the replies. I have been wrestling with this for a while, but the kennel that I use sounds a little different from most. It is one family, and the wife primarily, who operates the kennel on her property, with a little help from the family. I asked my husband this question when we returned from vacationing last week. Once in a while I have just added a little to the check, moreso just to round off the figure. It's quite confusing to me, though, why they wouldn't get tipped--the groomer gets tipped (at least, we tip them) and all the other service people who do work for us (waiters/waitresses, porters, hairdressers, etc.), it just seemed to me that the kennel "should" be tipped.

I would say that since you use a family owned kennel, you would not need to tip. Similiar to not tipping the owner of a beauty shop. If you board with this kennel often, you could give them something like a fruit basket, as Keith suggested, as a thank you.

We tip waiters because it is the custom/expectation--AND they are legally underpaid to be our servers (tip hours are about $3/hour). Even if it is a family owned business, they set their rates. If you tip, then it is possible they will say, "Oh, folks are really willing to pay more." and will just raise rates. This is confusing to me because it just doesn't seem logical.

My mom had someone come into their house to watch the pets as well as the house in general. The animal needed medication and special care. She was very trustworthy and they appreciated her very much. I think they would add a little extra $$ around the holidays and would give little things here and there as they were friendly.
If the animals need special care I would consider a little extra or if you really like them and their service or they go above and beyond.

Since a tip is intended as a token of appreciation (other than with waiters, who now must legally live off of the income), something else you might do is buy a small gift during your travels for the exceptional people at the kennel. I doubt that the staff in general have any idea how to split up tips.

I have not read all of the above posts but have a comment. I think when to tip is a regional thing. I'm sure that in a place such as NYC there's a whole lot of tipping going on. I live in the midwest. If I tipped my veteranarian for boarding my dog I think he would find it embarrasing and akward. In fact I am sure he would not even accept a tip.