I voted other, because I just noticed you have a pen! Could your father in law possibly come over in the morning, maybe exercise them and put them in their pen, then come back at night and play with them and put them in their crates inside? As long as the weather is ok, of course, and if it started raining he could bring the dogs inside. ^_^ I'm sure you've considered it, or some one has said the same thing, but I think it's a good idea if it could work out. A pen together is a lot better than sitting in crates all day, you know?


Also, I don't trust kennels either. Most of them will only feed your dogs the food they have on hand, which is usually Iams .. we've only had to kennel Gonzo once, which was when he had to be quarentined. He came back to us very dirty, starting to get fleas (he was on Advantix), and exhausted. This was a very expensive kennel that was part of a veterinary office. He slept for days after he came back, I think all of the barking dogs kept him up. But, I know there are a lot of *good* kennels out there, maybe you could even find a doggy daycare-type place for them!