I actually think it would kill my dog to be left in a kennel for a week if we did not come to visit with him. I don't know how he would fare if we did visit with him in a kennel every day. I do know that my dog has terrible separation anxiety and would be physically sick (with constant diarrhea) if I put him in a kennel for a week and we could not see him.
He seems to be best off if we have a close friend pet sit for him in our home. The first time we did this, he was fine until my friend had to go to work. When she got home from work that night, he'd exploded all over the apartment, and I know it was from stress and anxiety. He thought he'd been abandoned. Ever since that time, he's fine with her, and she can go to work all day and it's no problem. In an emergency (that President's Day blizzard a couple years ago) he was left for a couple of days at another friend's apartment (thank God for friends!) because we couldn't get home to him) and was fine.
Even though we don't "need" it, we have a dog walker come walk him a couple of times a week, so that he has a relationship with that person. That way, in an emergency, even if we could not make it home for a couple of days, he would know that he was being taken care of by someone he knows. We once went away for a long weekend, and had our dog walker come in three times a day to walk him, feed him and play with him. He was just great when we got home!
We've had to come up with these alternative solutions, because it would be really difficult to travel with a Rottweiler. Just getting him on an airplane would be a feat! Plus, I'd be worried that he'd be scared on a plane. So, we came up with these ways to travel without bringing him with us, and to tell you the truth, he really enjoys hanging out with my friend.
But, every dog is different. Some dogs love the kennel, but my dog would be a wreck. If your dog is happy in a kennel, consider yourself lucky and make sure he's immunized against kennel cough (mine is because we bring him to a groomer for baths).
Good luck with your Pom!
