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I think it depends more on the area you're in. Here in San Diego, our friends pay $60/night to board their Yorkie. We will never use a kennel, since it's almost guaranteed that he'll come back with some disease (he tends to get sick when in an enclosed spot with many other dogs, esp. when sharing water dishes) and use friends instead.
We board at our vet. He is not a normal boarding facility, but will board his patients. I feel secure in knowing our vet is right there should any emergency come up. With him, it is according to the weight of the dogs. Cats are a set fee. We did board at a normal boarding facility when we first moved here, and there too depended on the weight of the dog.
I've never boarded or left mine. We plan trips that allow for our pets to go with us. Can't imagine how mine would react to being boarded. It's always been a non-issue. We go-they go.
If we can, we take him with us. If that is not possible, either our next door neighbor, who has just completed his masters degree and watched Simon for years, housesits, or Simon's daily dog walker comes in several times a day. Both of them bring in the newspapers and mail and take out the trash. Since Simon is half Border Collie, these are part of his daily jobs.
I can't vote for one because we've done all of them at one time or another. If we are going to visit family, we take the boys with us. If we are going somewhere else or are flying, our neighbor usually watches them, sometimes supplemented with a dog walker to come by once a day. We used a kennel previously with our other dog when we lived somewhere that we didn't have anyone to watch our dog. I always hated doing it, but sometimes there wasn't a choice.
If one of us isn't staying behind, we take her with us. We have one boarding facility here that I TRUST and we'd use her in a pinch. Fortunately for us, we have relatives who LOVE having her visit and that's where we're going next month.
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