Does Anyone Else feel bad leaving their dogs for vacation??

[DawnCt]

I have two poodles, a 13 year old toy and a 6 year old standard. Chelsea, the toy, goes to my friend's house while we are on vacation. Annie goes to the groomer's house and stays with her. These are people they are familiar with but I am still sad when I leave them and they cry when I leave. My DS (24) wanted to keep Chelsea with him but he works 12 hours a day and that is too long to leave her alone. She would be really sad.

 

[tiggereyore]

A little but we have a friend come and stay in the house when we're gone more than 3 days. Otherwise I have 2 great guys that come and take care of him 2 times a day. Course I also have 4 horses to worry about. I have more trouble leaving them with the worry of what they might get into (fence tangles cuts ect.) Buster (the dog)just loves everybody so he thinks companys coming when we're gone. He ends up with more attention since it's all one on one, when we're home he has to share us with the boys. Although he was really glad to see us last fall after disney we were gone 20 days. We were glad to see him too since we missed his 1st b-day (we'd left presents for him).

 

[Curly Q]

Yes, we are very sad and I try to not cry each time, but Zoe LOVES to go to her "Grandma and Grandpa's". They have 2 yorkies and Zoe is a black lab , but they have a great time so I don't feel too too bad . After 7-8 days away (at WDW even) we are ready to come back to get her!!!! We have no children so she is our baby!! The cats look at us in disgust when we get back When we are gone we have my mom or DBF mom/dad come over to visit the cats and give them food and water. They swear we are making it up that we have 2 cats because they have never seen Gwen!!

 

[Mskanga]

Not me, we have a german shepperd and to begin with I never wanted the dog but dh came home with it 5 years ago.
The total care of the dog is dh's problem but the funny thing is the dog listens to me, she knows I'm the disciplinary one, LOL.
DH is the one to look for someone to take care of her when we are gone , take her to the vet , pay for her expenses , etc etc.
I did that because if I had started walking , feeding, and taking care of the dog, then the responsibility would have been mine, he's the one who wanted the dog, the work comes with the package.
I won't hurt the dog , don't take me wrong, but I'm tired of things coming home and becoming MY responsibility.

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

Well, we usually have my Mom come and feed our cat,who couldn't care less about us being gone. But, in the last year, we've adopted a dog, two guinea pigs, and now have six fish. We're going to do long weekend trips this summer and I'm not sure what we're going to do. I might invite my Mom to come stay at our house while we're gone, or have one of my neighbors take care of all the animals but the dog who just might have to go go the kennel down the road. That would make me feel really bad, but the kennel is great. They do Doggie Daycare there and the dogs have a great time...but I know she'll still miss us.

 

[Bichon Barb]

Dawn, it's great that they have "homes" to go to. Sounds like a better situation than kenneling.

I'm also lucky that Oma and Opa take care of my dogs. Actually, they get pretty spoiled when they are with them.

 

[luvwinnie]

we bought an RV so we can take Winnie with us everywhere!

 

[LindaG4458]

Yes, we do feel both sad and guilty when we leave the dogs for our vacations. We are leaving Saturday for Florida for a month and can only have one dog at our condo. We have gone through the list deciding which dog was to go. Two of them need LOTS of care due to old dog issues. We are taking the one who needs the most care and leaving the other two at a great kennel. I'm still worried that my other oldster will have a serious problem while we are gone. She is my special baby, so this trip is bothering me more than most. I know that they will have a great time at the kennel, it's just the old mother guilt thing.

 

[KathyTX]

We have found a great kennel that really spoils our Lab. She seems to think SHE'S on vacation when we take her there.

They put a lot of thought in to where they'll locate her- lately she stays in a section with mostly older dogs. They always seem to plan ahead of time who they'll put next to each other, and they remember who "made friends" on earlier visits. They take groups of compatible dogs out for play time together, and we always get a report about who she became "buddies" with and how they got along.

They put a special bed in her room that's kind of like a little cot, and makes older dogs a little more comfortable. She gets very excited when she recognizes that we're in their parking lot, and is very affectionate with the staff.

I only feel guilty when I pick her up and make her come back home!

(Before we found this kennel, I did feel guilty leaving her.)

 

[yoopermom]

we bought an RV exactly one year ago, so that my old pooch (who *pines* for me, and won't eat if I'm not there) can come with us everywhere! As DH says (very sarcastically), "Nothing like buying a 24K RV for a *free* dog"!

Terri the Yoopermom

 

[minniecarousel]

Our cat is almost ten years old, and the first time we left him for a week, she was almost 1 year old. Younger DS was frantic about leaving him, even though it was HIS buddies coming in twice a day to feed him and play with him. He does quite well w/o us - as long as he has food! When we're gone for a week in July, my Mom (who lives with us) will have my sis here too - so Garfield will get all kinds of attention. (He gets a little "clingy" the first day or two that we're home - unusual for a cat!)

 

[KaterBell]

YES!! I feel AWFUL leaving our puggie.... but then again, my In-laws take him so he can play with their Golden Retriever all week... He LOVES it... but I still am sad b/c we miss him while we're gone!! He's our baby too...

The first time we left him, he was only 9 weeks old, and we had left for our long weekend October trip to Disney... we were worried he'd forget us!! But he didn't.. Next month we leave him for a whole WEEK while we're off at the Poly... *sigh*... Part of being a puppy mama!

 

[skuttle]

YES!!! Even though we leave them w/ my mom and I know they are treated like royalty, I still cry everytime we drive out of my mom's driveway. I feel so bad! I know they have a wonderful time at her house...I'm sure my mom spoils them even more than they already are (if that's even possible! ), but I still feel guilty.

 

[Dodie]

We have three German Shepherds and a Maine Coon cat and...

YES! We now get a pet sitter to come into the house (costs more, believe me) three times per day instead of boarding them because we felt so bad about leaving them at the kennel.

We take framed photos of our dogs in our luggage and put them on the nightstands in the hotel room. I'm sure the maids think we're insane! We even took them on our cruise last year.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Usually I'll have one of my brothers house sit for us but no one can this year so we're going to try the professional petsitter thing. I'm like tiggereyore worrying about my horse and everything he can get into plus he's getting up there in age with brings on it's own set of worries. Petsitters are definitely going to make us add to our vacation budget but I think it will be worth it. (I'm still going to feel guilty and worry though.)

 

[katerkat]

We felt so guilty about leavign the cats over Christmas that we took them with us. After 34 hours of Tycho HOWLING in the car, we won't feel so guilty next time. They usually don't care if we leave them for a long weekend, as long as we have a neighbor come in and feed them. Longer vacations aren't an option for us right now, so we don't need to worry about that!

 

[helenabear]

I don't have dogs, but I do feel guilty for leaving my two cats at home when I go away. Even when I go solo and my DH is home with them, I have a pang of guilt. Actually I will be leaving my babies home tomorrow for a few days and I already feel bad

 

[Boots]

Cayti our golden retriever had a half acre lot so she stays home and my inlaws come over every day to play with her and feed her. But poot little Boots my cat is being boarded at the kenne;s for 8 days. I feel so bad when I leave them both but especially for Boots. She is an inny outy and stays in most of the time, but last time she darted out pass my mother in law who left her out when she wouldn't come in. I would have made myself sick if I had know this, so now she goes to the kennels. I would rather her be safe than be out!

 

[DVC-Don]

We board our pug with his vet. He scrambles to get in there. Me thinks the staff spoils him as they all start "Bentley's here!!" when we come in the door. They have no clue what my name is, but they do know his.

 

[cgcw]

Never!

I feel bad that we impose my a friend to take care of the dog (and rabbit and hampster). Sometimes I wish we had other options so we could share the care with others. We always bring my friend a nice gift from whereever we go as well as give her a nice gift certificate to her favorite store.

My friend is really good hearted and spoils the animals rotten. In fact, when we go to pick up the dog, he'll be excited to see us but when we try to get him to the car, he sits down. Guess he likes it there - just a bit.