s/o - who watches your dog(s) when you travel

[Melbel]

As detailed in my other thread, our puppy was seriously injured by another dog at our baby/pet sitter's house when we were traveling.

Our pup LOVES our baby sitter (a college student) and she has experience with dogs. We have trusted her with our kids, so it made sense to also trust her with our pup. She has been trustworthy and responsible for years, and we look at this as a very unfortunate, painful accident, even though her judgment was not perfect in hindsight. We preferred to keep our pup with someone she knew, liked and trusted rather than using a kennel. We also thought it would be better to have her go to the sitter's house, rather than be left alone for most of the time (our pup is very social and loves people).

The problem is that most pet lovers already have pets of their own (or live with someone with a dog in our sitter's case). Our other option that we know of is our groomer, who our pediatrician uses to pet sit. However, the groomer also has dogs of her own. I believe our vet kennel's dogs, but there would still be exposure to other dogs.

We do not have any plans for travel for many months, but I want to explore options going forward.

[Liziz]

For short trips, we pay a neighbor girl to come over to our house and take care of our dog. For longer trips, we use a kennel. We used our vet the first time, and now we use a boarding center (i.e. - that's all they do, not a vet/boarding combo). I like the place we use because each dog has their own indoor/outdoor kennel. There is no contact with other dogs (they can see/hear each other, but they're all in their own kennel). I actually wish she did get to interact w/ other dogs, but they don't do that for risk reasons (as I'm sure you can appreciate).

[smilequeen]

We use a great kennel. My dogs love to be around other dogs though and the kennels we use always have significant amounts of playtime, outside time, and social time and big rooms for the dogs instead of cages. The dogs go crazy happy when we go. And they wash and groom them before we pick them up.

My parents have watched them before, but we had a similar incident with their dog. My one dog is blind in one eye b/c their dog snapped at him. It's the only time their dog has ever snapped, but I don't trust that dog at all anymore.

[twowhat?]

When I've dog-sat in the past, I've done a combo dog/house-sitting. So I would go over to the dog owner's house after school and stay the nights there. Would that be an option for your college sitter since you otherwise like her a lot? It's also the least-stres option for the dog. I've also dog-sat for a neighbor but he was literally right across the street and I was a SAHM so I could go over there first thing in the morning, a couple of times during the day, and right before bed.

When we have needed dog/child care we have the grandparents come to our house. Pre-kids we would take the dogs to the grandparent's house but post-kids it's easier to have the grandparents come over and stay since we need them for both kids and dogs.

[Momit]

We have both a dog and a cat, so finding people to watch them has always been tricky. We've had a number of different arrangements over the years.
-Separate friends watched the cat and the dog, both at their houses. The person who watched our dog had 2 dogs and the 3 of them would happily play for hours. We also watched their dogs when they went out of town, but that meant sequestering the kitty upstairs because the 2 visitors did not do well with cats.
-Various neighbors who would come to the house multiple times a day to feed and care for both pets. In some cases we reciprocated and watched theirs, in other cases they never asked us to because they had family close by or whatever.
-A coworker who came and stayed at our house for a week while we were out of town.
-Driving 8 hours or more to my parents' house and leaving them there and flying in and out of the major airport near them. Or asking them to come to our house.
-Boarding at one of those pet resort type places a couple of times when we had no other option.
-One of my favorite arrangements for the dog was a retired couple who would take one dog at a time in their home. They loved dogs but didn't want the long term commitment of pet ownership anymore given their age, desire to travel etc. They were literally booked months solid but they were so sweet. We just found them by word of mouth.

Both of our pets had a rough time (repeated diarrhea) the last time we left them home and asked the neighbor to look after them, so I don't think we'll be doing that again. It's too bad, because we had a nice reciprocal arrangement with them. I would love to find a responsible, older high school or college student to stay in our house with them next time we travel.

[KLD313]

In the past I have boarded them at the vets. Currently I have a tenant living below me and he watches them, I like that they can at least stay home.

[MamaMolly]

When we moved we had to put our pup in a kennel for about 3 months until we found a house. We visited him daily. It was a local mom and pop boutique pet store type place. When we left town for a long weekend we kenneled him in the local PetSmart. It cost more but was a lot closer to our house. Next time I'll consider doing it with the vet, it was the same as the mom and pop store and is also close. But IMO the mom and pop was wonderful. They loved him, were totally patient with my kids coming in (and fooling around with all the toys and doggie outfits, etc) every day.

ETA: When I had cats the vet had a sitter (who also worked at the cat-only vet) who would come to the house. It was awesome.

[Snow mom]

We've had friends stay at our house to watch our dogs but ultimately they all ended up with commitments (significant others, pets of their own, etc.) that made that not feasible. Then we went to boarding at a doggy daycare ranch. We actually really like that. The dogs get so much exercise and I like the people who run it, although I guess there is always risk of a freak accident between dogs. Most doggy day cares require a personality assessment/ trial before letting dogs go regularly or board. While a dog could still be randomly aggressive the people who work there understand dog behavior and body language much better than the average dog owner. We just recently got chickens so found another friend to stay here for our most recent trip. It's actually a lot less expensive to pay a friend to stay than to board the dogs but I do like that the dogs get all the exercise and come home super happy so I would probably still do that in the future if we can make easier arrangements for the chickens with neighbors.

[AngB]

We have two big dogs, but my siblings are both in their early 20's and live at home, so we usually pay one of them or the other to take care of them for us. Usually we like for them to stay overnight but we are only 5 min away so it's not that big of a deal if they come and go. We've also had the girl who lives across the street from my mom come stay and dog-sit (especially when we were in the hospital having DS so DH didn't have to worry about coming home to take care of them.) We grew up with her-she's a couple years younger than me and still lives with her parents too, so between the three of them we usually have it covered.

[crl]

I pay our twenty something neighbors who do not have pets to take our dog. But I know they take him everywhere with them. Which he loves. But something could happen. I haven't previously worried much about another dog attacking him, mor that he might get away and not come back--he doesn't have solid recall, sigh. He is tagged and chipped and I just accept the risk.

If they aren't available, I have a thirty something babysitter who will come and dog sit at our house. But she charges more, has a day gig so I have to arrange neighbors to let the dog out once mid day and it means I have to clean up my spare bedroom while I'm trying to get us packed to leave. So she is my second choice. And she also takes him down to the beach so again there is a risk of another dog attacking him or him getting lost.

If neither of those worked, I would take him to a doggie hotel type place. It would be much more expensive though. And they do have the dogs play together, under supervision supposedly, so there would be the risk of another dog him there as well.

I think that any situation that keeps the dog reasonably happy is likely to involve at least some risk of the dog getting hurt or lost. Just like there is that risk while I am taking care of him. I let him play with our neighbors' dogs. And he could get away from me while I am walking him (and pushing a stroller).

I am really sorry about what happened to your dog, but I don't think you made a mistake. I think the roommate made a mistake in judging her dog. And I think both the dog sitter and the roommate made a mistake in leaving the dogs alone together.

Catherine

[khm]

We live in a low COL area (midwest), so boarding is pretty resonable. We heard about two great places from neighbors. We've used one of them so far. They are out in the country and he is a former breeder/trainer of hunting dogs. He'd done that for over 25 years. Now, he just boards.

He has a great kennel building with a huge area fenced in. There are multiple fenced areas, for dogs who are alone or for dogs being boarded with their housemate - there are "private" fenced areas, for dogs that are super well socialized and he lets them run around together. He really does seem to have a great rapport with the dogs, it is interesting to watch in a "dog whisperer" kind of way!

We have a few people we could ask, but honestly, I feel very comfortable with the boarder. Our dog is a puppy still and I just don't want her wearing out her welcome with any friends / family. ;) I also wouldn't yet feel totally comfortable hosting another dog in our house when the time would come to return the favor!

[specialp]

I'm researching pet hotel/kennels right now for when I'm in the hospital delivering. (Or secretly trying to figure out how to sneak my 6 lb. pup into my hospital bag.) I wasn't really happy with boarding at the vet's office with our last dog so we are going to try the boarding kennel this time around.

[TwinFoxes]

We have a pet sitter come over. She comes several times a day, and hangs out. We also have two dogs, so they don't get as lonely as they would if they were solo. When we lived in LA we took them to a great doggie daycare/cage free kennel.

[scrooks]

We have take our dog with us when we visit the Inlaws or other family members. Otherwise she has stayed with a trusted friend (who also has a dog but our dog has been exposed to this dog many many times before without incident) or a kennel at a near by vet hospital (our vet doesn't offer boarding).

[carolinamama]

We use a local kennel that we really like. Our dog is young still and requires a good amount of stimulation and exercise. I'm not sure how much direct interaction occurs between dogs at the kennel so I wouldn't worry about that. They do have a daycare option that requires a detailed eval but I've never signed up for that one - just the extra walks. When our old dog was geriatric, we used a local pet sitter that we have a relationship with come into the house 3 times a day.

My parents also live close and have a dog that is similar age and size as ours. They are great friends so we swap dogs occasionally.

[acmom]

We have done a variety of different things with our dog. She was kenneled one night (our wedding night) and rubbed her nose raw so we haven't had the heart to kennel her again.

When we didn't live close to family, we had friends/neighbors that used to come over to our house several times a day to let her out and feed her. They all had dogs, so we could reciprocate. Often one couple/family would come in the am and a different one in the pm so no one had to come multiple times per day. They were really good about playing with her in the backyard if possible.

Now that we live close to family, she goes to my parents, my inlaws or my aunt's house. Neither of our parents had dogs and my aunt had a dog that she has always gotten along with and known since she was a puppy.

[amldaley]

When we traveled on short trips (10 days or less) we put our old girl in GOOD boarding. When we went overseas, my MIL watched all of our animals for us at her house.

[Pennylane]

We put our dog in a kennel. Honestly, I just feel safer knowing he is being watched 24/7.

Ann

[doberbrat]

Generally speaking, if we go, the whole family goes. Honestly, I can count on my fingers the # of times we've left the dogs at home.

We used to have a house sitter in college that came highly recommended by someone in my dog club. She stayed at the house. Then one day she had to cancel at the last minute and we were stuck. DH found out about someone at work who did petsitting with his girlfriend. We had them come over that night and they really clicked with my dogs and we've used them since. The dogs stay at our house during the day while they work and then they pick them up on their way home and they spend the night there. They do not have a dog and only take 1 client home at a time.

I would not leave my dogs in an in house situation where there were other dogs present unless the caretakers were true dog people who could accurately read body language and was willing/able to keep the dogs seperated 100% of the time. But then again, I'm a slightly paranoid dog person who spent years training and competing with some difficult dogs

[mackmama]

This is a hot topic for us right now. Until now, our dog has been small enough to fly with us on the plane. (We won't fly with him under the plane in baggage.) Now that he's too big, we've been exploring our options.

We have family nearby, and they watched him for us once. They have a dog who our dog loves, we trust them, so that is a good option for us. However, they travel a lot themselves, so they are often not available.

We were considering the posh dog hotels/kennels where each dog has their own "room" for sleeping, lots of safe outdoor play with water holes, matched by size for playtime, etc. Our dog has a lot of anxiety, though, so we decided a small home environment would better suit him. We found one dog sitter that we liked but, as you mentioned, she also has her own dog and usually sits for 3-4 other dogs at a time. I think that would overwhelm our dog, and I'm not comfortable with not knowing/meeting the other dogs to make sure the temperaments match (although, in some ways, I wonder if it'd actually be good for our dog - help him to feel part of a pack, lessen his anxiety, etc).

Ideally, we are trying to find someone who doesn't have their own dog or at least has a very very mellow dog that we could meet beforehand and who wouldn't dog-sit for other dogs at the same time. In some ways, we'd prefer someone who would stay at our house. In other ways, we'd prefer our dog stay at their house. We're still trying to figure it out. It's so tough!

For now, honestly, we pretty much drive everywhere (8-15hr drives!) so that our dog can come with us.

[gatorsmom]

For short trips, we pay a neighbor girl to come over to our house and take care of our dog. For longer trips, we use a kennel.

:yeahthat: that is what we did when we still had a dog.

[khalloc]

We always leave our dog with Dh's parents or one of his sisters.

[hillview]

Our dog labradoodle stays with his dog walker who has other dogs (dogs that our dog plays with every day).

[vonfirmath]

When I was single, I lived in a complex that did not allow dogs.

I would go and house/dog sit for friends when they went on vacaton.