I have to chime in with my own opposing experience. Our beloved late dog absolutely loved a local kennel and the staff all loved her. She would be so excited to be going that I would have to hold tight to her leash or she would get away from me trying to get inside the kennel. Now true, if we were gone more than a couple of days,she was even more excited to be going home but I always felt that was more from homesickness than any type of mistreatment.
I guess my point is that there are good kennels out there. If it's a good kennel, my bet is that your dog will not mind going.
yes, we've had wonderful kennel experiences as well with our 3 dogs...
as well as bad experiences..
and i totally disagree that you can't tell whether your dog is happy in a kennel or not..
all 3 of our dogs were very obvious about their likes and dislikes when it comes to kennels...and it's not always the same place..
for our first dog (sunshine, who lived with us for 14 years) it took us two tries to find her the perfect kennel....she LOVED it there.....would yank on the leash to get inside....would hug and kiss the workers each time before she left....etc etc...she continued to go there even in the last two years of her life when she was completely blind....she adored it there..
our second dog, sandy, hated that kennel...and it was clear from how uphappy she was when we picked her up.....so we asked around for recommendations and took her to a different kennel that she loved.....so that's where she went during her short stay with us (she only lived with us for a year and a half - she had been very badly abused and tortured in her life before coming to us...that abuse took it's toll and killed her at the young age of about 8 or 9)..
our third dog, buffy, adores the same kennel that sandy adored.....so we've stuck with them.....they love her, she loves them.....what could be better?.
by the way, all of the kennels we've used are family owned and run.....
all of them are on farms (actually a kibbutz to be specific) so there is lots and lots and lots and lots of room...
none of them use 'cages'.....each dog has a big fenced in area of its own, about the size of a large bedroom.....and then there are huge running/exploring areas....the dogs are never 'caged' in small cages...
also dogs are paired together if they have a 'best' friend....so they can play together even when they're not out in the main play area.....all 3 of our dogs have had 'best' friends with whom they almost always ended up sharing an area.......(since dogs tend to get boarded at the same time -holidays, etc.)
bottom line, it is possible to find wonderful kennels that will take excellent care of your dog....
don't generalize that all kennels are bad....some definitely are, but not all of them..