The new Walkedo dog boarding kennel

Starting a dog boarding service involves a great deal of arranging. Building a suitable kennel, permits, paperwork, and a new way of working. Here is a short account of how the dog kennel on Karmelitessenlaan in Arnhem came about.

In 2025 there was a 7 by 5 metre kennel in my garden. Two spacious pens and a small canopy for supplies. I am a great lover of plants, so I had combined it nicely with a table where I could happily drag pots and seedlings. The kennel was open at the front, but there were insulated sleeping boxes so the dogs could sleep out of the wind.

You will have noticed I said the kennel was there — because there was no permit for it, and that was not really the intention. Not my finest moment, but you learn from your mistakes. So the kennel had to go. What then? I already had the idea of converting the garage outside the house. So the plan logically began to form of putting a proper dog facility there instead, for Walkedo clients.

Generally I am reasonably handy with small jobs, but a plan of this size was beyond me. So it was a relief that a very kind client was able to help me get started. She was having an extension built, and I could see the progress every time I collected her dog for a walk. I thought I would be bold, ask about her contractor, and find out whether she was genuinely happy with them.

An architect and a contractor are now helping me build a beautiful dog facility. The permits are arranged and construction has started. They expect it to be finished at the end of March, and the first dogs are already booked in to stay. Room for four dogs at a time. For daycare and holiday boarding, and also for the Northern Inuit Dog puppies arriving in 2026. A fully insulated, ventilated and soundproofed dog kennel in Arnhem, close at hand. Is that not wonderful?

And to round the story off, a new qualification too — the Dutch 'Dogs and Cats Decree' course, which makes sure everything is properly and correctly arranged, and that the boarding service and the Northern Inuit kennel are entirely legitimate and responsibly run.