Should I board my dog? Pet sitter? Stay with a friend? (vet, kennels)

[bande1102]

We are taking a family vacation and will be out of town for 4 days and my 6 year old golden can't come. I am so conflicted trying to figure out what to do with him. I also love my dog to pieces and I hate leaving him.

Background: He lives with a family of 5, I work from home, he is usually with at least one of his family members. When he is left alone, he does fine. We've never had issues with him getting in the trash or chewing things, for example.

Here are my choices:

1) Neighborhood "kid" (he's 20 and a good kid) who has known my dog since he was a puppy and my dog loves him. He will actually stay at my house. He works so my dog would be alone for 8 hours a day, but my dog has been okay with that. This is my first choice, but this person may not be able to do it.

so.....

2) Board my dog at a doggie hotel. The one in my town is really more like a country club for dogs. He would have his own room with couch and tv, access to his own outdoor patio and grass, activities(they have dog swim time, obedience, trail walks, etc). I'd be able to see him online. I was thinking all the stimulation would distract him from missing us.

Cons: this place requires all sorts of vaccines (bordatella, dhlpp (combo vaccine), rabies). I am totally against vaccines except where legally required. My dog is currently in excellent health and we only use natural products, etc. My dog is up to date on rabies, but I would never even consider a combo vaccine. I haven't had a chance to tour the place, but is my refusing vaccines even an option?

Another con is that the place is left unattended at night.

3) My former neighbors (husband and wife, no kids, no other pets) have a dog sitting/boarding business. They could come to my house, but my dog would still be left alone for long periods of time. His last visit would be around 7pm and he'd be on his own for at least 12 hours. Even then, he'd have walks, but I worry he'd miss human companionship and he really would be on his own most of the time.

They would also allow him to stay at their house. He'd be in a strange place and he'd be on his own for 8 hours a day. I'm really not sure how he would do in a strange house. I mean, will he fall apart? Turn into a crazed maniac?

He does know both of my neighbors and he loves them. They love him, too.

Anyway, what would you do?

[Katie1]

Change your plans pick a place where you can take him!

[CSD610]

We would use the neighbor kid as a first choice and take him to the other neighbor's home as a second choice.
We do not give Walter the bordatella vaccine either because he is never boarded.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Change your plans pick a place where you can take him!

Honestly, how ridiculous. Sometimes plans cannot be changed. This is not logical or practical advice.

[VTYankinME]

I would go for the neighbor kid, too. If he is not able to do it, ask around. With any luck you'll have plenty of time to interview people, have them over to see how they interact with your dog, show them how the house works, etc..

That's what we've been doing for years, and it works better for us and our pets than boarding does. Also, I like knowing that the house is inhabited and that the animals have company most of the time.

Oftentimes our vet's office has vet techs who will do it, and/or has recommendations. Do check references, of course.

I wish you a lovely vacation and a happy dog!

[twelvepaw]

I wouldn't use a neighborhood kid- ever. Primarily because what happens to your pup if kid gets busy, distracted, forgets, or is with his friends and doesn't show up? What would happen if your dog got loose while on a walk or ran out of the house? I wouldn't take that chance. I would never leave my dog with anyone who wasn't dog savvy/experienced or who wouldn't know what to do in an emergency.

I agree with your assessment of leaving him in a strange house- and also wouldn't leave pup alone all day and night in your own house.

The ideal is to find a pet sitter who does overnights- my sitter sleeps in my bedroom and visits the dogs at least 2x during the day.

So, in this situation, with these alternatives, I would leave pup in the canine country club. Make sure you talk to someone there about anything specific that they need to know to provide a good experience- and take your own food.

Edit: Whoops, sorry I missed that you don't want to vaccinate- Have you called the boarding facility to see what minimum vaccinations are required? If you are adamant that you don't want to vaccinate, then I would have pup stay with your neighbors in their house. It would be a strange house, but he wouldn't be alone so much, and I would ask neighbors to do a trial run for a short period in their home prior to vacation to help him feel comfortable.

[cheesenugget]

I had a similar problem earlier this year with my 2 big dogs and it wasn't easy. Boarding then requires proof of vaccinations including bordetella so boarding was out of the question. I also went around talking to other pet sitters but at the end, it was better mentally for the dogs and financially for us to change plans and take them with us.

Unfortunately, you don't have that option here so if I were you, I would not consider option #3 for boarding because of the vaccination requirements. Fyi, it's not unheard of to find your dog sick from the boarding facility, and they have their shots. I wouldn't go with option #1, the kid. He is 20. It's the Holidays. I'm sure he is a good, responsible kid, but I wouldn't risk it unless he has no friends his age that likes to go out around this time of year.

Option #2 with the sitter IF your dog stays with them. I know it sounds scary for your dog to live in a strange house for a few days. Keep in mind, if your dog knew them well, especially have visited their home recently, he should be fine. "Strange" in dog terms means he doesn't know the smell of the new environment. If he knows these neighbors for years, hence "know their scent", he should be able to cope better than a place with new unknown smells. Remember, dog senses first with smell. That also means when you drop him off, you should leave his bed, his toys, your most recently worn shirt or any cloth that you wear a lot and leave it with him. A crate will be great too. If my dogs can be trusted to be without us for 4 days, and we have neighbors like yours, I would've picked this option.

Don't worry, 4 days come and go and he will be back home.

[TerraDown]

I'm for the neighborhood kid.
Every time my next door neighbor goes on vacation, I look after his dog. Dog stays in his home, is fed, taken outside, etc. Dog is fine. If you trust the kid, I'd go with that.

[bande1102]

Thank you all so much for your comments. I usually travel with my dog. I'm really bummed that I can't take him with me this time.

I do trust the neighborhood kid. He's actually my son's best friend and I've known him for years. If he can do it, I'd feel comfortable with that.

I do have other neighbors that would come in and let my dog out and feed him; however, my dog needs more than that. He needs walks/play/human interaction.

I'm doing a surprise inspection of the boarding place just to see what my option is. If they don't budge on vaccines, that's totally out.

I think my former neighbors will probably be my second choice. My dog has known them both since he was a puppy. He's been to their old house (when they lived next door); but not their new. My dog especially adores the husband.

I checked with my vet and my vet offers boarding at the vet offices; but I would never do that to my dog. It was horrible in there.

However, I hadn't considered having him stay with a vet assistant or someone like that in their home. That could be a possibility.

Anyway, thanks everyone.

[Tuck's Dad]

We have three dogs, and we use the neighbor kid when we travel. Dogs do very well staying in their own house with a person coming and going, and sleeping in the house at night.

I looked into kenneling once, and found a great kennel, but the shot requirements and the fees (good kennels are pricey) for three dogs made it unfeasable. Also, I am not comfortable leaving my dogs unsupervised in the house overnight - not that they would do anything but sleep, but still, I am not comfortable with the idea, so a pet walker/sitter was never an option for me personally.

We don't travel a ton, but using a neighbor kid has really worked well for us.