What about your dogs?

[kreckl]

Not sure if this is a good forum for this...
But what do you all do with your pets when you are away? This is a major factor in our ability to travel. We have had a wonderful friend stay in our home with our dog in the past, but she's unable to commit to a date due to family obligations. Even a month or two away- not possible. We now have 2 dogs and have considered using a kennel but have never done that overnight, and one is still a pup. I don't think I could do that for a week-long trip.
Dog lovers/owners please help!

 

[ELSA711]

My dogs go to a kennel and they love it. Sometimes they go to doggie day care there too. They have a little play group there.
My mom may come this time and do a split stay with them and then kennel for the 2nd half of the trip.

The youngest we used the kennel was for our 4 month old. She did fine. I was worried though and it was only for 2 nights that time.

 

[PlutoPony]

Ours go to a kennel. I don't like the idea of someone coming in and letting them out a few times a day, that's just too much alone time for them. At least at the kennel they're around other people and dogs which is good for them imho. They come home exhausted, so I'm sure they don't get as many good naps as they do here at home lol. Getting pups used to it when they are young helps. We have 2 large dogs and request the kennel keep them together in the same run. They are both rescues with some separation anxiety so being together is a comfort for them. I'd recommend calling and making an appointment to tour a couple kennels, and see if you're more comfortable with the concept after you see them.

We do have to plan and book quite a ways ahead for popular times like holidays and weekends in the summer.

 

[Iowajes]

We've put her in a kennel 3-4 times; and yes- book way ahead of time.
I always hate doing this, as she was a shelter dog and worry that she thinks we are leaving her, but the people at the kennel are always the same, so hopefully she is figuring out the routine.

We've also left her at the neighbors 3 times (we take their dog too) for up to a week- but this last time she came home with fleas, so that plan is out now!

And once (for 10 days) we paid a neighborhood kid to come over multiple times a day to take care of her. She loves him, and he seemed happy to get the money, so that worked too.

 

[Baklava]

Our dog is being "boarded" with a friend who is home full time and has friendly dogs of her own. We'll pay her but she's cheaper than the vet and her set up will be nicer for the dog.

The cat... the cat may have to go board at the vet. I haven't found a better option for her.

 

[hisgal2]

We have two 9 year old Alaskan Malamutes. We kennel them every year for 5 nights over Thanksgiving. When we go on vacation, we try to find someone to stay at our house while we are away. We've had very good luck with young couples who do not have children yet. I've asked friends of ours if they can stay with our girls in January when we are gone for 10 days, but I've also reserved the kennel just in case our friends can't watch the girls for us.

If you've never boarded your dogs before, ask around for recommendations for kennels. Have in mind the requirements you might have for your dogs. For instance, our dogs are both over 100 pounds and need alot of space to run multiple times a day, so a kennel that doesn't not have a large, fenced in yard that will allow them to run freely does not work for them. Also, we used to board our girls at our vet's office. We loved boarding with them. The only thing we didn't like was that they had a policy that did not allow the girls to be in the same run together. I understand why they didn't want to do that (if 1 of the dogs got sick, they wouldn't know which one it was), but they did put them in runs next to each other and the "walls" of the runs were fencing, so they could see each other and lay against the fence towards each other. Our vet retired and we had to find a new place to use. The place we use now will put them both in the same 'room' and they are very happy about that. Anyways, once you get recommendations, start calling around and making appointments to walk the properties. If a place doesn't want you touring their facility, run away FAST.

 

[kmb584]

If my parents are coming on vacation with us, my 2-year-old Rottie spends the week at the kennel. She enjoys her time there -- lots of room to run around, doggie playtime, large run space -- and always comes home freshly bathed. If my parents aren't vacationing with us, she spends those 9-10 days at their house.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Gingersnap is boarded. I found a local place that lets the dogs run and play most of the time. They are only in kennels for meal time. He loves going, and it is like a vacation for him, too. Since they separate big and little dogs, he and the other big dogs are constantly running around together. He comes home exhausted!

 

[Thing 1]

We have a collage student to come stay with Sammie. He lives near by and comes and goes often. Sometimes he sleeps here and sometimes he takes her to his place. She likes him and it works well for us. Our older dog always stayed with my in-laws but Sammie has too much spunk for them to handle for very long. We do travel quite a bit with her, but not WDW,

 

[powellrj]

We used a dog sitter this time. Our dog is older and isn't in the best of health so we were afraid to board him this time.

 

[jne7043]

When my dogs were younger they stayed in a kennel. They were both rescues, but they seemed to love it there. They stayed in a run together and got plenty of outside time. At this kennel you could pay for extras like an "ice cream" party, story time, pool party, hiking, etc. So I always picked out a few of these for them to do. Only one of my dogs is still living and she is 14. The older she has gotten the less she likes other dogs so I can no longer board her. We have lots of teenagers in our neighborhood and we have had several of them dogsit on different vacations. They come a few times a day to let her out and feed her. She's too old for walks or throwing a ball so it's pretty easy for them. I think at her age it stresses her out a lot less to be in her own house. However, when we have young dogs again I wouldn't hesitate to use a kennel.

 

[wilkeliza]

We have someone come stay. It was easier when it was just our older pup Luna as she is more like a cat (hates walks out side, is wee wee pad trained, sleeps 90% of the day, doesn't play with toys) but with our puppy the original sitter isn't so into it. The puppy needs a lot of work. He is a doxie named Oswald and is not taking to training so great. So there is a lot of cleaning up. Plus he will only be 6 months old so he is full of energy and has to be watched pretty closely when you are home and kept in his kennel when you aren't. We are looking for a new sitter but may end up having to board him.

 

[kreckl]

There is a highly recommended kennel nearby- they allow tours on Sundays so will check it out. They require 3 daycare visits before boarding so will likely schedule those soon. I'm not really worried about our little one but our older dog- who's nine, has separation anxiety and has never been overnight anywhere...Maybe he would miss us less?

 

[Polishnavy]

We also board them. I'm not comfortable with people coming into our house only a couple times a day and most of our family isn't up for the challenge. They stay at the Vet and are super popular and loved. It's not the most economical option, but it works best for everyone involved.

 

[BLAZEY]

My mum looked after dogs before they passed away, we look after hers when she is out of town. We also had a kennel we used to give her a couple of days off as we had 2 big energetic Labradors. We still have a kitty(2yrs) and my mum, sister or MIL will come to our home and feed & play with him while we are gone. He's a big scaredy cat and will hide when MIL comes but not my mum & sister.

 

[MudBud]

We've had our 2 dogs for 8 years & have only gone away one time. BUT we are going to Disney in November for 9 days so that's a huge step for us.

We have a co-worker of my husband's coming to stay at the house. He's 21 and still lives with his parents so it's a nice break for him too.

My one dog has anxiety issues, the other probably won't notice we're gone!

 

[kreckl]

We have been spoiled by our wonderful nanny. She does reduced hours at her job when pet sitting and gives them lots of TLC. Stays in our home, hangs on the couch and texts us pics
She's truly a gem! Our dogs are used to people home a lot-they sleep in my son's room at night- would never go if someone just stopped in a few times a day. I have a friend who does that though and it works for them. Sigh.

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

We board our dog and he loves it there! He has a play group and lots of doggie friends. I took a tour of each place, and would send him for doggie daycare before we boarded him the first time overnight. The first time he was boarded it was for 9 nights when we went on a Bermuda cruise, but by then he was so comfortable there he was happy!

 

[ckcnj]

We have used a place that is a farm owned by a dog trainer who also boards dogs. It's great if you can find a place like that with lots of outdoor exercise space, especially if you can get a referral from another dog owner (which is what we had).

 

[sprousehouse]

We hire neighborhood kids/teens. They love to come over and play with the dogs (ours are 13 & 14 year old pugs so they are pretty low key) and we have a dog run in our basement and a dog door to our fenced back yard so they can be relatively independent. That way they get to stay in their own environment (I think a kennel would stress them at this point).