Pet Owners - Do you board your pet when you vacation?

[lacy1101]

We will be taking a week long vacation in June to Destin, FL (not Disney, unfortunately!). We have a new Sheltie (2-3 years old) that we got about 6 weeks ago and are wondering what we're going to do with her while we're gone. I had hoped that my parents might be able to keep her for us, but they won't be able to. Do you normally board your pets when you are vacationing, leave them with someone you know, or hire a pet sitter to stay at your home?

 

[makinorlando]

For my last vacations I have used a pet/house sitter who stays in my home. It is the best! She charged only $20/day - for 3 cats/2 dogs.... before I found her, I had boarded 1 dog (before we got the 2nd) and had a pet sitter came once a day to feed the cats (2 at the time). I paid the kennel $17/day and $16/day for the pet sitter to come to my house for 45 min - 1 hour.

I found the pet/house sitter through a web site calle Housesitter.com - I believe, and got really lucky. I had many replies from folks from all over the country who wanted to visit Florida. I guess this is something that many folks to as a way to be able to afford to travel?

Anyway, the sitter that I found is a local young woman, who I liked from our very first meeting, and who loves my animals! I did not feel apprehenisve about a stranger being in my home at all. I rather liked having someone in and out of the house throughout my vacation - as I work from home, it would be quite apparent if we were gone for an extended period of time if someone were "watching'!

I have used her for 1 week at a time, and one night at at time. I found my house in immaculate order when I arrived back home on all occasions.

I think it is the best solution for my pets!

 

[carone0318]

We alwaya board our dog. She is a cocker spaniel and she is 10 yrs old. I would love to have a neighborhood kid come take care of her, but she is high maintainence. She gets thyroid medicine twice a day and her eyes need to be taken care twice a day also (drops and ointment). I can't trust a neighborhood kids to do all of that. We board her right where her vet is, I know that she is getting proper care, but I feel so bad for her. It gets loud there and I know she would prefer less noise, but at least I know that medically she is properly being taken care of. It is expensive though. She is can go in a smaller run which is $18 a day + $2 a day for medication, so it cost $20 a day and we usually board her 9/10 days.

Good luck! IF I didn't have the medical concerns, I'd probably find a dependable neighbor.

 

[snappy]

My next door neighbor and I trade taking care of our pets, she takes care of Snappy, and I take care of her cats. her dogs she boards though because two of them are MEAN!!!

it works well, because her cats eat twice a day, and comes over and lets Snappy in and out the house several times a day. Also, we take care of mail and newspaper. It's a good tradeoff since we keep an eye out for each other all the time anyway.

She is a real peach.

 

[DVCLiz]

I board my pets (1 dog, 2 cats) at our vet while I am out of town. I would never feel comfortable having someone come into my house - I like it locked up tight with the alarm on before I leave the driveway!!!! It is expensive, but I like knowing they are safely cared for by people they know.

 

[kimmikayb]

We board. Gives me a sense of security knowing they are being taken care of.

 

[lacy1101]

Not ever having had to board a pet before, I was surprised when I called my vet to find out that they only charge $8.50 a night and they give them a complimentary bath before we pick them up! We are going to board her for 2 days (Thursday/Friday this week) and we'll see how that goes. I just hate the thought of her being in a strange place for 8 days, though, when we go to Destin in June. My first choice would be to find a college kid we know that would be willing to come and stay in our home, but I don't know if I'll be lucky enough to find one. For those of you who just have someone come in a couple of times a day, does that seem to work pretty well? I don't know if Scarlet could stand not having more attention and time from someone!

 

[JCJRSmith]

We always board our animals after learning a hard lesson. We dropped our dog Bailey with a friend of my Sis-in-law in Baltimore once when we took an overnight trip up to Connecticut. When we returned the next day we were informed that Bailey disappeared about a half-hour after we left the day before. We never got a call from this lady about it. She told us, "Your dog took off. I don't know where she is." We never even got an apology.

We got Bailey from a pound in Virginia when we lived there and we had recently moved to Pennsylvania. Bailey still had her tags from the Virginia pound, so I called them the next day and gave them our new address and phone number in the hopes someone would call them. About 4:30 that afternoon, just about the time I had given up hope of ever seeing my dog again, I got a call that she was in the Glen Burnie pound and that she was injured from being hit by a car. I picked her up the next morning. $375 in fines and costs, and another $1500 in medical bills later she was okay.

She is 9 years old now - she's lost more than a step from arthritis, but she is otherwise healthy and just a beautiful and loving as ever.

Our vet boards our dogs for us - they only take dogs they know as patients.

 

[ReggieB]

We usually get our neighbors to come in and feed our cat. However to do that we have to get a steroid shot for the cat, as he normally uses an inhaler for medication, and I just don't like to ask my neighbor to chase him around the house to give him that! So as we are away a few more times than normal this year, I don't like to take advantage of my neighbor, he will be boarding at a local vet/boarding place. That way they can give him his medication, without the worry of side effects from another steroid shot. Hopefully that will all work out.

I could not have pet sitters, it would completely freak me out to have someone stay in my house without me there. I'm weird like that I guess!! My Mom does it all the time, and she loves using pet sitters. She lives in a big city, so I think she sees it as added protection for the house too.

 

[Pixiedust34]

For our former dog, we had a petsitter come to the house 3 times/day. This worked well for her and for us.

Our current dog has a personality that is not the same as our former dog. We think that she would be miserable alone at home. We take her to the kennel when we travel. We use the same kennel our vet uses when he travels, and I figure that if he uses it then it must be a good place. It is expensive, though. I think it's a base rate of $18/day, plus we pay an extra $7.50/day so she gets a "fun and games" time.

If you do decide to use a kennel, shop around. Quality seems to vary from kennel to kennel. Pick one that will allow a "surprise visit" at any time and let your nose decide how clean they keep it. Make sure that they will exercise your pet.

 

[salmoneous]

Finding a good kennel is one of the best things you can do for you, and for the dog. It took a while (we have a tempermental pup) but it was so worth it. They love the kennel and start going nuts as soon as they see suitcases. And we can go away and not worry about what to do with the dogs.

 

[gris gris]

Someone in our family or one of our single friends stays at our home with our dog when we go away. He doesn't like too many people and I'm afraid to put him in a kennel where he won't know anyone and I'm not sure how he'll behave. I left him in a kennel for a day once and it was a nightmare trying to get him out - they closed early and never called me to tell me. By the time I got them to open the place up it was 10 PM and he seemed skittish & scared. We were out of town and the kennel was where a friend kept his dog so I thought it would be okay but it was gross.

That being said, when the day comes that we get a new dog, I would like to find a kennel and get him used to being kenneled right away. It's nice that I have family/friends who don't mind watching our dog, but they won't be able to do this forever. We made the mistake of not kenneling ours as a puppy and I'm too afraid to do it now that he's 6.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We board our pups for now. They get into too much mischief.

 

[DVC-Don]

We board our dog, but it is kind of a pet resort. He gets a suite that has TV playing during the day (usually Disney movies), AC and a heated floor (depending on season), picture window and private run outside the doggie door. We also sign him up for hikes and play time. You can also sign them up for swimming but we pass on that one. We also sign up to have him groomed before we pick him up.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I boarded mine for a weekend and had a bad exp... but, I have been looking into places near us now and it's PRICEY! About $50 a night is what I'm finding for a place worthy of my two, LOL. They are pampered pooches and my standards are too high ROFL.

Anyways, thankfully my dad is planning to just housesit the week we're at WDW this time around and stay with them. He has watched them before when we went to WDW except at his house. I think it'll be even better to have him come to us and they'll be happier.

I have considered hiring someone to housesit, though. We'll see =)

 

[Just2554]

Well, we just had to put our dog to sleep on Friday (), but before that, we boarded him when we were away. He was a 100 pound black lab who had Cushing's (sp?) disease the last 2 years of his life, so his joints were getting to be pretty bad the past year or so. We've also had to drug him during thunderstorms since we've had him (about 8 years we'd been doing it), because he was terrified and did extreme damage otherwise.

We boarded him because it was best for him and easiest for us. It was about $15 a day and they walked, fed, and played with him and even gave him a bath at the end. He was well taken care of at the kennel we sent him to; the people were professional dog trainers and loved animals and Baxter always came home so happy.

Good luck to you!

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

As the owners of 2 Boxers under the age of 2, none of our famiy and friends have the energy to watch them anymore, never mind the slobber factor!! We board ours at a kennel that has plenty of room for the 2 of them to stay in the same pen together and share the attached dog run, day and night. They love it when we go on vacation!!

 

[theprincess]

Our Bichon Buster will be 1 when we make our trip to Disney this year and yes I think we are going to board him for the 11 days we are gone. I hate doing that but I do not like people coming in and out of our home or having someone stay here. It will be an added expense but we have no other choice.

 

[MoniqueU]

Well I have never made the choice before. But with our trip to Hawaii, my Lab boys will be staying at home with my husbands neice who will spend the night and take good care of them just like we do. She is not a stranger so the choice was easy. In the future we will consider a boarding option. But my dogs HATE to be crated with a passion so I am not sure how well this will work. We will try it on a weekend trip first.

 

[Debbie Jean]

I board Happy, my 4 year old Tibetan Spaniel , at the Vet. She's had some health problems , including seizures for which she takes medication. Although the charge is $44 a night it's worth it to me. They take such good care of her and Happy loves to go... she gets so excited and bolts for the car when I say "want to go to doggy camp?"