Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you are travelling by car, you can take them with you...many hotels will allow you to bring a pet if you are with them at all times. If you want to go out during the day to do some sight-seeing, you can find a dog day care to take your pup while you are away. Try to get reviews of different places by doing searches online and checking local resources like The Washington Consumers' Checkbook and local newspapers and magazines for consumer ratings on specific businesses.
Dropping your pup off at any facility will require some advance planning and current vaccination records. Make sure to call the facility ahead of time to make sure that they have the space and are willing to take your pup.
I have two rescues, and one of them freaks in kennels and a kennel environment. It's already been mentioned by a couple of posters, but an in home dog sitter may be the best solution.
We have a woman from our church that comes and house sits, dog walks and dog sits. We have travelled for a week at a time ~3 times since we adopted, and the dogs do well in our own home, even though another person taking care of them. She spends the night at the house, walks them in the AM, goes to work, and walks them when she gets home, and again around 8PM (doggy bedtime).
Cost is about 1/2 of a quality kennel stay, and dog stress is significantly lower (although they do still stress some).
I was SO WORRIED about leaving my dog at the kennel the first time. I knew she would be miserable and so forth...
I found one which allowed the dogs to play with each other everyday and also had heated floors. Thought that might make her stay a bit less troubling...
Anyway I was gone a week and then returned. I went to pick up my dog and expected to find the SADDEST POOR THING ON EARTH!
Well that was NOT the case!!!
The dog did not want to leave! She was happy as heck there - playing with all the other dogs and so forth! She barely even noticed I was there. Not to mention that as I took her to my car, she wanted to go back!
(I did get a LOT of kisses once we got into the car and she was no longer distracted by the other dogs.)
Anyway that saved me a whole bunch of worrying the next time I went out of town.
We looked for a sitter to come to our house, but the people we knew and trusted and would have been willing to come take care of her all had conflicts. We looked into services that would have her join someone else's home for a few days, but they all either had a 'no large dogs' clause or had cats, which was a no-go.
We looked into a couple of doggie day cares that offered overnight boarding. Took a tour of one today, and she got to go to the playroom so the staff could see how she would react. She did very well, seemed to have fun, and was amenable to being crated, which is where she would have to spend the night. It all seemed to go well, so she's booked to go next weekend.
I think she'll be fine. I'm not so sure about me, but she'll be okay.
The place we board the dog is a partner with our vet's office but also happens to be used by many of my neighbors and they gave it rave reviews That upped my comfort level.
That said when we've taken long trips we've taken the dog with us and boarded him where we are to cut down on the amount of time he's in the kennel. He's spoiled rotten because someone is almost always home.
I agree with touring the kennels or doing online research. We had picked out a kennel in NY last year and at the last minute (literally, the day before we left) I decided it wasn't gonna work out for us. They wanted the dogs to poo and pee inside - I had just gotten my puppy house trained. Also agree with touring the kennel and/or leaving the dog for a day of doggie daycare if it's offered.
I'm a pet sitter and most of my clients come from pet owners whose pets are tender and sensitive and don't do well in even the best of kennels or boarding facilities.
Either the dog comes to our house and is treated as a member of our family or I go to the pet owner's home and care for the pet(s) there. This works well when there is more than one animal in the house so the pet isn't left alone. Dogs are pack creatures and can mourn when left alone too much. Cats prefer to stay in their home surroundings.
Tender dogs don't do well in the often noisy surroundings of a kennel and come home sensitized and/or traumatized. Other dogs aren't bothered by the new routine and noise and do just fine. They often enjoy the socialization of playing with other dogs.
It is a good idea to try an overnight visit to a potential boarding facility to see how your dog does there. Cats always (in my experience) do much better in their home environment than in a boarding facility. Cats tend to be very territorial.
With a new client, I ask them to come over for an in-home "meet and greet" so the dog gets used to the scent of our home--and of us. So when they come over to stay, they are not strangers to a new environment.
Every dog guest (except one) we've had did very well--and enjoys coming back the next time. We tend to spoil them shamelessly. As I type this, a doggie guest is snoozing on the bed in the office next to me. We let our guests have run of the house -- unless the owner advises us to crate their pet when we go out due to the pet's separation anxiety or potty issues. And only if the dog is crate-trained and their own crate is provided.
The one challenging dog we cared for went on a semi-hunger strike while his humans were gone...this despite me trying my very best culinary skills on him, an older mini poodle. As he was chubby and was drinking ample water, I tried not to stress (too much). He finally started eating when fed by hand from our dinner plates (not something I recommend).
When his humans came to pick him up, they told us he always went on a hunger strike when he was away from them...I wish they'd told me so I didn't spend so much time cooking up special dishes for him...at which he turned up his nose...
So relax, you'll no doubt find a perfect solution for your dog--be he tender or social...just about every dog responds to TLC. They might go off their feed for the first day--but then they dig in and have fun with their care-givers. They know who loves them.
Understand that it is mostly YOU with the separation anxiety issues, not the dog. I generally don't like leaving my dogs in a kennel either, even though I know they do OK there.
I do dog rescue/fostering, etc. Many dozens of times over the past 15 years, I have had a dog dropped off in my home by the people who were surrendering it, so I have witnessed how the dog responds & adjusts. I used to sit there & cry once the people left, and the little dog starts running around my home looking for them, but I've found the reality is that no matter how special we humans believe our dogs view us & the bond, within about an hour after the dog's former humans have left, that dog is now in exploration-mode & eventually focuses on me. Within a couple days at the most, it's started to bind with me. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be excited to see it's former humans again, and I don't know if my home was better in some ways than the former home or not, but that dog has adjusted & is happy to received attention & affection from me, sleep on my bed, etc.
Likewise, I've dealt with thousands of dogs at shelters over the years, many times witnessing the sad, often disgusting sight of an entire family coming-in to surrender the dog (because they're "moving" or simply don't want it). No matter how caring the staff & volunteers are, a shelter environment is similar to a decent person suddenly being in prison. Yet again, dogs are a lot more pragmatic than us people, & most (but not all) adjust to it.
I generally avoid overnight trips due to my multiple special-needs dogs, and my own dumb psychology makes me uncomfortable with a dog sitter in my house, so on the rare occasion I really need to get away for something, I did my research & found a kennel that I can trust, wrote up detailed info & comments about each of my dogs & spoke with the staff that will work with them at the boarding kennel, and then I go away & try to have FUN, trusting that at a minimum, my dogs are safe, and understanding that just like it is possible for me to love them immensely but enjoy some time away from them, they can have fun too!
Think of it just like you would if you had a son about to start kindergarten --if you start wailing & worrying about his first day away from you, that's doing him a huge disservice & he'll assume that you're anxiety is because kindergarten is a bad, dangerous place, so now he's not going to want to go. You'd either have to drag him there, or you can shelter him all his life until you die & then he's suddenly exposed to the real world. With the dogs, you safely exposing them over time to new situations helps build their confidence. The first time they go to the boarding kennel, they may be a little nervous (or extremely nervous & depressed, if they pick up those emotions from you), but the second time they go to the kennel, they may actually be a little happy.
Drop them off with some of their favorite toys & treats, and ideally their bedding that already has their scent on it, and maybe a t-shirt or something that has your scent on it. Don't make a big production out of your leaving, or they will think your leaving them there is a big production that they need to worry about.
One thing that works well, is to look for kennel that offers more than just boarding. Some kennels also offer doggy day care, or supervised, free running time in a large exercise yard or leash walks, etc.
Boarding plus doggy day care is great as your dog will be out of the kennel run most of the day. If you have a nonsocial dog, then try for someplace where a kennel assistant will play with the dog alone or with one other quiet dog, etc.
Yes, it gets expensive but it does keep the dog more relaxed and less stressed than simply being stuck in a kennel run all day, surrounded by lots of strange barking dogs.
Good boarding kennels will be happy to give you a tour and set up an individualized boarding program for your dog. Make sure wherever you go will let you bring in your own food, plus a dog bed, toys from home. .
That is what we do. We also take them one day every other week to day camp as well. When I drop them off, they are ready to go and seem to love it there. They are always happy to see us when we get back, but I am not worried that they are going crazy either with so many other dogs to play with.
It really depends on what you want. You could check & see if there are any local 'doggie daycare' places. Most of them offer overnight boarding, and during the day your pup will be with other dogs, instead of in a cage. We used to use a place who kept them in a crate, however, the crate was huge (floor to ceiling) and we paid extra to get them field play time every day (not with other dogs, they were kept separate the entire time).
We had a bit of a stressful weekend with boarding. Friday morning, we come back from breakfast and we had voicemails from doggie daycare-our border collie has worms, he can't stay here come pick him up. Of course, we were away, and couldn't get there. They were kind enough to take them to a vet where they could be treated & boarded until we got home.
I board my multiple senior/dysfunctional adoptions at the kennel at my vet's. It's not the fanciest, but the girls are very kind to them and the vet is right there if anything happens or comes up. I go away for a couple of weeks a year to guest ranches 2,000 miles away so there's no way they can vacation with me, and they all have "issues" that a dog sitter might not want to or be able to deal with- I'd rather they were "institutionalized" safely. Now, I have a recent adoptee who I think might have a hard time being away from me (he's only starting to settle down at my house when I go to work, and I work nights) but he had to be rescued ASAP. The way I see it, I'd rather feel bad about boarding them a couple of weeks a year than not adopt them at all (and they're often quite less adoptable than the average dog, for age or issues).
Still I'm worried about Bentley on my next vacation, starting Thursday.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not to mention that as I took her to my car, she wanted to go back!
