Have you/ would you ever hire....

[kymom99]

I struggle with this, too! Our dog is very anxious and very attached to us. I don’t have anyone nearby to ask. In the past, we boarded him at a deluxe resort and he hid underneath the play apparatus most of the time. The workers told us they thought they lost him because he was hiding. He also came down with kennel cough after that stay.

I need to board him in June for a few days this summer and need to figure this out. I’m probably going to go with a kennel again.

My niece has a very old dog. Last year she talked my son into staying at her house while they went on vacation for nearly 2 weeks. He’s not really comfortable with dogs because he’s never had one but the dog liked him fine. She couldn’t find anyone she knew to do it even though she was willing to pay. They travelled with her whole family so she couldn’t use her brother. She was desperate. She was going to use Rover but it was very expensive. With such an old dog, a kennel was out of the question. I worried the whole time that the dog would die while my son was taking care of her. He was gone a lot for work. It was stressful. She did pay him for staying there.

This year they are going away again and the dog is still alive. My son will be working out of state so I don’t know who they will get. I’m not going to sleep at her house.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Not to be outdone...
View attachment 756137

Gus

 

[princesscinderella]

Could you try the pup for a bit of time at the willing neighbor’s house with the cat to see if they get along. Who knows they may become the best of friends. My dogs go to my neighbors house when we go out of town and her dog loves play dates with ours.

 

[Disneyland1084]

Could you try the pup for a bit of time at the willing neighbor’s house with the cat to see if they get along. Who knows they may become the best of friends. My dogs go to my neighbors house when we go out of town and her dog loves play dates with ours.

Considering last summer when we came back from camping, thinking I could trust my dog to walk without a leash from the car to the house, when all of a sudden she darts away FAST chasing a cat, (the cat got away, but no doubt my dog would have seriously injured or killed it if she caught it) the answer is no. Lol.

 

[White Cat]

No.

 

[anniemae]

I would not be comfortable with that at all. If I were you, I would talk to your vet to see if they board animals. If they don't, I'm sure they have a recommendation for a good facility.

 

[gncntry]

We use rover.com but prefer to leave our dog at the sitter’s home. We do a meet and greet beforehand and usually do a shorter trip the first time we use a sitter. We found someone last year that we use exclusively, but have several backup sitters as well. Our dog loves visiting her because she has a fenced backyard (we live in a condo).

 

[Traveling on cc points]

We did rover with our last dog when she got older.
When she was young she went to a doggy sleep away camp when we were on vacation but when she hit 14 years old, she couldn’t handle the hyper younger dogs anymore so we hired a college student to stay at our home that we found on rover.

We were definitely a little apprehensive at first but everything turned out great. She texted photos every day and our dog was happy and healthy when we returned home.

I know it’s a tough decision. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[Magical2017]

We found a family using the Rover app and we have our dog stay with them. They also have a pet. Our dog is always excited to see them. We did a home visit and an overnight stay the first time. They send us pics of our dog while we are away. We chose someone with a very high rating and have been happy so far.

 

[barkley]

if you hire a house sitter or pet sitter make sure either they have the appropriate insurance or that your homeowner's will cover them b/c you could be on the hook for some extensive liability (the ones that charge more tend to b/c they cover all the bases of background checks/liability insurance....you pay for what you get).

 

[disykat]

Our dog has anxiety too, so we usually find a young adult from church that is still living with their parents to come stay with her. We know several right now that are living at home since housing costs are so high in our area. That said, the money adds up fast because we always pay them plus stock up on food for them, etc.

Now that my sister is retired and our mom lives near me she sometimes comes to pet sit for us and visit mom while we're gone. My sister doesn't have a dog and doesn't want the responsibility of one but enjoys being a temporary dog mom. She's free (though we do stock up on food for her) but doesn't like to do longer than a week.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Years ago my pet sitter was a co-worker's friend who watched her dog. She'd stay at my house. I would not put my dog in a kennel, glad I found her.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

No, we use a kennel and our dogs are just fine there.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I'd look for a pet resort.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Best results for us were a combo of trusted people to make it easier on everyone. We had a doggie door so typically one person first in the am for out, breakfast out again then back around lunch time noon and a second person around dinner time, out food then out again & again before bedtime. I always had the friends exchange contact info in case of a delay or something, happened once or twice. I always reciprocated for friends as well & never in all the years was this an issue for any of my pets or anyone else's pets. I suppose it is fine to use a kennel if your pet has done it before but if that's not your thing maybe stick with what you know. Everyone I know who uses a kennel has to deal with anxious pets when they come back, belly issues and such so that never appealed to me. We usually leave the TV on and had lights on timers. Maybe if you would feel better pick up a camera so you can check in and see your pet doing what they always do.

 

[Kirby]

so we usually find a young adult from church that is still living with their parents to come stay with her.

This! Some friends of ours used to have an older teenager come and stay at their house with their dogs when they were out of town. They allowed her to ask a girl friend to stay too and the two of them did it for several years. The girls loved coming over and staying at their house, it made them feel grown up. They would even call my friends to ask when if they were going on a trip any time soon.