Pets when away

[dawz1026]

WHat do you guys do when you go away with your pets? I have one yorkie and have been lucky enough yo have had my mil stay while we went away and now she has moved.My friend and neighbor says she will let him out and check the house but I am still worried about him being ok all night. Am I overeacting?

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

no I would be worried too. Any freinds willing to let him take a mini "vacation" to there house?

 

[NeverlandClub23]

When I leave my first go-to is my parents, second is my brother. I don't worry about her because I know they love her and she knows them so she's fine. She has severe separation issues so I've yet to do a kennel. I'm somewhat dreading my trip to WDW in December 2011 as my parents and brother/gf are going so I will have to put her in a kennel. We drive so I'm planning on taking her with us and finding a nice kennel/pet resort there to put her in. That way if she stops eating (like some dogs with separation issues do) I can get her in the evening and either stay at a dog friendly hotel or we'll all ride down in the motorhome and I can stay in there at night with her and she can stay in the kennel during the day.

I love my dog to pieces and I wouldn't trade her for the world but dealing with the traveling can be a hassle. I'm not so worried about her being nervous or not liking it but if she's not eating or isn't doing well health wise I don't want her all the way back in VA while I'm in FL.

All of my other dogs I've had (a yellow lab and a cocker spaniel) we've never had these problems. Both of them were in love with anyone who petted them and had a great time at the kennel/pet resorts they were left at. This one isn't so easy.

 

[pigletgirl]

We have pet-sitters who come to the house and stay while we are away. They will also look after the house, collect mail, water plants, ect.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We have pet-sitters who come to the house and stay while we are away. They will also look after the house, collect mail, water plants, ect.

Do they sleep over? If so, do they let the pets snuggle with them? I may have to look into that!

 

[Luvchefmic]

WHat do you guys do when you go away with your pets? I have one yorkie and have been lucky enough yo have had my mil stay while we went away and now she has moved.My friend and neighbor says she will let him out and check the house but I am still worried about him being ok all night. Am I overeacting?

I have taken a dog with me so I would need more info...going to WDW? No ? Staying on property ? or is this a completely different trip...there are pet friendly hotels ^ house rentals all over the country.

 

[mrsstats]

No, I dont think you are over reacting. I have the dog sitter during the day and am lucky enough to have my sister stay at night. However, there are several places on LI where the people will allow your dog to stay with them in their house.

If you need a good dog sitter send me a pm and I will give you my siter name & #

 

[Colleen27]

We used to have one of DS's friends come over morning and evening to tend to her and that was just fine, but they moved, we moved and there's no one that I'm comfortable giving a key to in our new neighborhood yet (we haven't even been here a full year). So now our dog goes to stay with my mother when we travel rather than staying home alone, and that has worked out really well. My brother still lives at home and likes having a dog around, and she seems to like staying there better than being home alone with someone checking in on her.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

My parents are going out of town next week, actually, and they'll be gone for two weeks. I live with them, so I'll be home to take care of the dog and fish and plants and check the mail and such. I'm not going because I can't get that amount of time off of work, but if I was still living out of state, they'd be having my brother and uncle come by to check on everything.

 

[marcyinPA]

When we go away, my neighbors usually take our dog in for the week. He loves staying at their house! I pay them (they don't expect it, and it's not a lot...usually $100 for a full week).

Sometimes, if we are only going for a short weekend trip somewhere, my dad will come up and stay at our house with the dog.

He has a friend who started a pet sitting business. She is pet first aid/CPR trained, bonded, licensed and insured. She stays in the client's home, house sits, waters plants, etc. and takes care of the pets. She has a schedule of how many walks per day, play time, etc. She makes a bundle, and stays in some beautiful homes...most nicer than her own....most of her clientele are wealthy!

My DS11 has become the pet sitter of the neighborhood too. Right now, he is watching our friend's lizard eek. He's in my DS's room, and he has to feed him live crickets twice a day. He is also cat sitting for a neighbor down the street. He goes down twice a day to feed them and make sure they have water, and he takes in the paper. They said not to worry about the litter box, as they will only be gone for a few days. He's thrilled to be getting $5 a day, although he enjoys the responsibility so much that he'd do it for free!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

When we go on vacation this year, two bunnies will go to my parents' house and two bunnies will go to my sister's. Once when we all went away together, I had the girls across the street come in and feed them. The girls were 14 and 11 and their mom would come with them and make sure the house was locked when they left. I had them leave the bunnies in their cages since they can be tricky to catch if you don't know their moves. We made sure they each got a good, long exercise period when we got home.

 

[Art 1]

We take them to the kennel. When we pick them they are clean, have their nails cut and happy to see us.

 

[minkydog]

I completely understand. Our Minky gets very anxious when he has to be left for any time, so if we can't take him with us he goes to the groomer. She boards him with her dogs in a cage-free home setting and he loves it! She bathes him up and gives him a good haircut before sending him home and he thinks he's been to the spa.

 

[simba928]

my dogs go to a kennel. My one dog has anxiety going but she is a VERY difficult dog and i would not trust her with a pet sitter so a kennel is the safest thing for the humans involved.
I dog sit and that is also a good option. The first people i dogsit for found me through my aunt. The wife and my aunt were working on a charity event together and they the wife mentioned how hard it was to find someone willing to deal with 3 big dogs when they went away. My aunt told her that i worked at a shelter and had 2 big dogs of my own and i would have no issue with 3 dogs. The wife sent me an email a few days later, i met them and saw one of their dogs was a husky (i have a soft spot for huskies) and that was it. I'll be there for 10 days dogsitting this summer and was there a few times last summmer. If you were interested in that, ask your dog loving friends. Maybe they know someone who would be interested in hanging out with your furbaby. Or maybe one of them witha friendly dog will add yours to their pack for a few days.

Do they sleep over? If so, do they let the pets snuggle with them? I may have to look into that!

I would absolutely let the dogs i petsit for snuggle with me at night. I've woken up to a giant black lab (she has to be over 100 pounds) curled up ON my feet with her husky sister sleeping curled up next to me. I've woken up to 2 german shepherds giving me good morning kisses all over my face. A little tiny pup curled up next to me would absolutely not be an issue for me.

 

[locolala]

Depending on how long we're gone for.. if we're only gone for 3-4 days, we just leave the cats plenty of food and water. One of the reasons I love cats.. they don't care! If we're gona much longer than that, we have a friend come by every other day or so the check on things, grab the mail, feed the cats etc. We'll put beer in the fridge for him, he's happy.

 

[Sparx]

I leave mine with my mother. However, if I had to board my two cats I would be very critical of the place that I leave them. I'd want to visit and see where htey would be staying, know exactly what happens, etc. If the place I was considering wouldn't let me see/know these things I would absolutely not consider them at all. My cats cannot speak, they cannot tell me if something has happened or someone has hurt them. I have to take the responsibility and leave them in a safe place where they will be well taken care of. I would also never leave them unattended without someone coming in for more than a day.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I think cats are okay for a couple of days on their own, or even if someone comes over and checks on them for a longer trip.

I won't leave my dogs overnight without someone staying here - not just coming by the house and letting them in and out.

Our primary dog sitter is my dad; he will stay in my house and let's them sleep in their normal spots (even if that means the Shih Tzu sleeps with him). We've also had my MIL come and a college student from church. If that doesn't work out, they stay with some friends of ours who LOVE our dogs. They spoil them rotten and give them run of the house and yard. She is crazy and puts down a queen size mattress and they pile in the bed with her. They are an older couple who don't want to commit to a dog again after theirs passed but love having doggie guests.

Works great for us! We've never had to pay a kennel, and with 3 it would be more than our hotel room!

 

[minniecarousel]

I'm checking on our DS & DDIL's cat while they're gone this week. I go over every other day and give her more water and make sure the self-feeder has plenty of food. (she cries when they come home, because the self-feeder gets put away!) Their dog went to the home of a coworker. They've yet to take him to a kennel.

When we're gone, one of our DS's or DDIL's come by & check on our cats.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

We board our dogs (two German Shepherds) when we go away. I can't imagine leaving them alone all day, with just a sitter to look in on them - they would go crazy! We do have a friend who has offered to take one of the Shepherds (the easy-going one - our female Shepherd is in love with this friend!) but she doesn't feel like she could deal with our high-energy male Shepherd as well. So, they get boarded. I'd rather board both than separate them while we're away.

I am very picky about where I'll board our dogs, though. Their normal place is a kennel-free facility where the dogs essentially run around a farm (in fenced enclosures) and play with each other all day. The owners really love the dogs and bring in a few at a time to hang out with them in the office and give them toys/bones to chew. My dogs LOVE going there and when we come to pick them up they greet us, and then run back out to play.

Unfortunately, we have to unexpectedly travel for a week next month and our usual place was all booked up. We managed to talk our dog trainer into taking them (despite the fact that her kennel-free boarding was completely filled up - what can I say, she loves our dogs!) and I'm very comfortable that they will get much love and belly rubs from her. Both dogs know "their" trainer well, and I know that she will make sure that they're perfectly well-behaved while we're gone!

 

[sunlver]

Since we only go away once a year, I make sure I have friends my dogs can see with.
I am a dogsitter. I have been watching other people's dogs in my house for the last 15 years. Since I am a sahm, this has been great for me. I own 3 of my own dogs, and it is common to have dogs coming and going out of my house.
I have had long term customers who call me first before making vacation plans, just to make sure I am in town to watch their dogs.
I treat all my doggie customers like my own..they are free to lay on the couches, sleep in bed with us, or just roam around. They are only crated, if owner brings a crate and tells me thats where they sleep at night, or thats where they go when I leave the house.

People love the fact that I am home most of the day, and their dogs arent left alone all day