If you kennel your dog when you go on trips. . .

[Alicia64]

We've had our adoptive dog for a year now -- he's three -- and we've used the local kennel which is small and family-owned and run. Clientele seem extremely loyal to the owner. She does both daycare and overnight and the yards are set up in a way that a few dogs can hang out together during the day, but they get their own run at night.

 

Even though the kennel seems fine, leaving my dog is so hard for me. . . it's almost ruining my trips. We've left him twice before, but only overnight. This time we're leaving for four nights which I know sounds like nothing, but it's tearing me up.

 

My dog comes from a kennel situation where he was semi-ignored and had never been in a house -- part of me is afraid he thinks we're abandoning him. I take his blanket, his bowl, his ball and a huge bone.

 

I try to remind myself that my two boys love to go places and do things -- and we're going as a family. But it's so hard to leave my dog at the kennel and my kitty at home. (Kitty gets a pet sitter and a teen to come in and cuddle.)

 

I know some people just throw food out and leave -- I couldn't do that.

 

If you successfully leave your dog -- how do you do it? What do you tell yourself to make it more pleasant for yourself?

 

:(

 

Alley

[zoobie]

We really trust our kennel, and our dogs always seem happy when we pick them up. They don't have a sense of time and will be just as thrilled to see you after 6 hours as 6 weeks!

 

Does your kennel have web cams or post pics? A friend's dog kept getting its picture posted on FB while my friend was on vacation. I'm not sure who had more fun.

[HappyLady]

If she does daycare, can you afford to maybe take the dog to daycare every-so-often so he looks at it like a fun place?  And then he'll know he goes there to have fun and you come back every time to get him.  I don't know if that's what any dog really thinks, but that's what I did for mine to sort of give *me* peace of mind.  I, too, had a hard time leaving him anywhere so in my mind, if he went to a place a few times for daycare and loved it there, he wouldn't have a problem staying there.  My dog seems fine every time we pick him up from our vacations and sometimes he's there as long as 12 days.  It gets easier over time, but I know how you feel.  :)

[Jenny in Florida]

It's hard for me to leave my dog, too. This probably sounds pathetic, but she is my best friend outside of my immediate family, and she is extremely attached to me and afraid of all kinds of things, including other dogs. So, not only do I know I will miss her, but I know for sure that she will be miserable while I'm gone, no matter how nice the place is in which I leave her. 

 

We've kenneled her in two different places. Most of the time, she goes to the kennel run by our regular vet. They know her, at least, and the facility is lovely. However, the fact that the place is familiar doesn't seem to comfort her. In fact, all that has happened is that now she begins to tremble in terror whenever we pull into the parking lot, even if she's just going for her annual check-up. The first couple of times we kenneled her there, they called me to tell me that she wouldn't eat unless one of the employees fed her one piece of kibble at a time from her hand.

 

So, yeah, that getaway was a little stressful.

 

We've also kenneled her  for a couple of short stays at the Best Friends center on the WDW property. Again, the place is lovely and the people are extremely nice. But my poor dog just hates it. They do e-mail photos of your dog while you are gone, which would probably be somewhat reassuring if mine didn't look miserable.

 

With that said: How do I do it? I remind myself that she is safe and in good hands, that I trust the people with whom I've left her, that they have my cell phone number and have promised to call me if they have any concerns. I remind myself, too, that she is not the only being I love and that the rest of my family deserves opportunities to have me with them while they do things that are fun or important to them but are not dog friendly. I try to focus on how happy she will be to see me when I get back, instead of letting myself wallow in visions of how miserable she is right that moment. 

 

And sometimes I break down and call the kennel to check on her.

 

It's not a perfect system. 

 

If your dog seems to enjoy the day care aspect of your kennel, maybe it would be a good idea to take him in for a fun day now and then when you aren't leaving him overnight so he can build up some pleasant associations. 

[elfgivas]

our dear daisy, a standard poodle, really doesn't think she's a dog, and so is astonished when left at the kennel.  our kennel has an option where we can pay extra for someone to play with her one on one for an hour.  that seems to make all the difference for her (and for me).  maybe you could ask about that?

 

good luck!  it is worth trying to find a way to do it well.  something else we have tried is trading dog care with another family. however, given that daisy doesn't think she's a dog, it is a little rough, so we have stopped trying that.

 

hth,

ann

[shanvan]

our dear daisy, a standard poodle, really doesn't think she's a dog, and so is astonished when left at the kennel.  our kennel has an option where we can pay extra for someone to play with her one on one for an hour.  that seems to make all the difference for her (and for me).  maybe you could ask about that?

 

good luck!  it is worth trying to find a way to do it well.  something else we have tried is trading dog care with another family. however, given that daisy doesn't think she's a dog, it is a little rough, so we have stopped trying that.

 

hth,

ann

My Ds works at his 4H leader's kennel and he is the one who plays with and walks the dogs.  He says there are some dogs who really benefit from the walk and play.  For those dogs, he says they are obviously affected by their time at the kennel and their entire personality changes once he gets them out and pays attention to them.  He estimates that about 1/2 of the dogs are out of sorts b/c they are away from home, the rest don't seem to be as bothered.  Of the half that are bothered, about half of them adjust after a couple of days.  They do have opportunities to interact with kennel employees as their areas are being cleaned a couple of times a day too.  

 

The kennel where he works is very clean and the dogs are well cared for.  Still, we have a friend who takes our dogs for us when we are out of town.  For two weeks at the end of the month, we will be keeping a friend's dog.  She is paying us about half of what she would pay the kennel.  Her dog has it really good compared to the kennel dogs, since we let her sleep with Dd and she gets walked and played with outside several times throughout the day.  Plus she comes with us to classes or when we are socializing.  

 

OP, You need to make a friend who really likes your dog and would be willing to take him when you are away.  I don't feel guilt over leaving our dogs b/c they regularly visit our friend's house with us, and they love him.  HE lets them get away with all kinds of stuff and ends up with them sleeping with him on the couch for naps!

[kewb]

I love the kennel we use. I know he is being well cared for but I still miss him tons. For me, the ability to leave him at the kennel has to do with trust. Since I trust where I leave him it helps a little with the missing him aspect.

[Musicmom]

We have a 5 yr old dog that we adopted from a breed rescue when he was 10 months old.  He was never neglected or mistreated, but had developed separation anxiety after his original owner had to give him up.

 

When we travel, we leave our dog at a small local kennel about 15 miles north of where we live.  Like yours, this is a family-run kennel which is clean and comfortable for the dogs, and the owners are very attentive.  They even have a room just off of the office where a dog who needs a little extra attention can spend time near them.  The building has individual kennels with raised dog-beds, which is heated in winter, air-conditioned in summer, and the yards are such that the dogs can either play and hang out together or go out in a separate run if they don't do well with other dogs.  

 

If you are comfortable with the environment at your kennel, and the care and attention that your dog (and others) receives there, then I don't think you need to feel guilty about leaving him.  We tell ourselves that our dog is going to his "doggy resort". :) In other words, he gets to go on vacation, too--to a place where he'll have fun with other dogs (he's very doggy social.) The other way you can look at it (which is what we did) is you are expanding your dog's world of safe and happy places to be. It is good that you started with a couple of overnights (we did too).  This helps teach your dog that you will come back. The 4 days is a good next step--not as short, but not too long. If you can do some daycare days at this kennel from time to time, that will help too. Our dog goes to a closer kennel for daycare and loves it, but we don't use it for boarding more than overnight because it's large and less personal (not to mention more expensive).  But if you can get occasional daycare and boarding at the same smaller place, that's great.

 

Cats are different--they are not social creatures in the same way dogs are and often do better in their familiar home environment with someone to come in and care for them regularly.  It's good to do for each pet what is going to be best for the pet (and best for your family) and it sounds like you are doing that! :) So I think you can feel good about it!

 

Anyway, I hope this helps!

[naturegirl]

What we've done the past few times we've gone out of town is pay someone to come to our house and feed and let our dog out. She comes several times a day and stays for a couple hours (she lives in our neighborhood, so it's not too inconvenient).

[Dory]

I have had people ask me if their dog can be part of our family for a few days instead of in our kennel. If I can make it happen, I have done that on occasion. Our dogs are ok with staying in the play yard and kennels for a few days so long as they get lots of play time with us. If the dogs that come here are fully vaccinated and are dog friendly, then after a little bit of settling in, we often let the dogs play together in groups. Lots of balls get thrown and for some dogs we'll put a little bit of water in a kiddie pool and let them play.

 

If your kennel is the type that lets the dogs play, and you know your pet is getting exercise and fun, then think of it as camp or a resort. You send your kids to camp and the conditions are often not something that we would be ok with for all the time, but for a week of fun in other areas, it's ok.

[QueenCat]

Still, we have a friend who takes our dogs for us when we are out of town.  For two weeks at the end of the month, we will be keeping a friend's dog.  She is paying us about half of what she would pay the kennel.  Her dog has it really good compared to the kennel dogs, since we let her sleep with Dd and she gets walked and played with outside several times throughout the day.  Plus she comes with us to classes or when we are socializing.  

 

OP, You need to make a friend who really likes your dog and would be willing to take him when you are away.  I don't feel guilt over leaving our dogs b/c they regularly visit our friend's house with us, and they love him.  HE lets them get away with all kinds of stuff and ends up with them sleeping with him on the couch for naps!

 

This is along the lines of what we do. We have a friend that will take our dog when we go out of town. We have a couple of friends that leave their dogs with us when they go. And our son also pet/house sits for people who want their dog to stay home while they are gone.

[Dory]

If your dog has been there a few times, he should recognize the place and either act comfortable with it, or excited. If he acts stressed when you get there, then I would look into why or check out some other kennels.

[shawthorne44]

I was in the same boat as you.  We have a shelter dog, and before that, the owner had left her in the backyard with my dog's brother.  She had never been indoors or even on a walk.  

 

The first time, was really really hard.  She was convinced that she was going back to the shelter.  But, the second time wasn't as bad.  By about the fifth time, I think it was just normal sadness.   I am truly the center of that dog's universe, because I was the one that picked her up from the shelter.  

 

[Joker]

You have to be comfortable with where you leave him. In the beginning we didn't want to leave our dog with our vet because they're in crates and it seemed the local doggy daycare/boarding places offered so much more. We never had a good experience with them, though. He loves our vet and is always okay when we leave him, so that's what we do now. I would sometimes worry about the fact he is in a crate but he is so well cared for there and is always 'normal' when we pick him up so that's what we do. I don't worry about it anymore. Our dog gets so excited when we turn the corner leading to the vet and he runs right in and goes to the employees so I know he's okay.

[ChristusG]

Can you get someone to come and pet sit at your house? Overnight too. That way dog will not feel like he's being abandoned since he's still in his own environment.

[Splash]

I had a weird dog who loved going to the kennel.  Slash would run in and drag the owner to the back where his kennel was.  He loved, loved, playtime daily.  Made it much easier to leave him.  Now we have a new puppy as Splash has died, I have no idea how he will react when the time comes.  We've discussed hiring someone to come stay at our house to care for him.

[Isabella]

We have quite a few animals (3 dogs, 1 cat, sheep, horses, cows) that need looking after when we are away, so we always either get someone to come and stay here, or if it is only a night or two, we put enough food out for the farm animals, and get our neighbour to come over and feed the dogs each day. 

 

We have been away for up to seven weeks at a time, and for these times, we've either gotten Dh's parents, our grown kids, or a person we've known that is at a loose end and would like a change of scenery.

 

We only kenneled our first dog (when we only had one), and we didn't like the experience, so have always striven to make it work some other way.

 

[Indian summer]

At some kennels, if you pay extra, they can sleep in the house with the family. The woman who owns the kennel we use is very sensitive to pets 'special needs' and will make each dog as comfortable as she can. She is awesome! Having said that, my dog is easy and content, so we don't do anything extra for her. She gets played with, loves being with other dogs and gets to be office dog for the day occasionally.

 

Leaving her has gotten easier - we do it once or twice a year anywhere from a weekend to 10-12 days. We get Facebook picture daily, too.

[Night Elf]

Once a year, we board our dogs for 1 week. Every year I cry when we leave them at the kennel. Every year I worry about them on a daily basis during the trip. My consolation is that this is a good kennel. It was recommended by my vet who I have been with for over 12 years now. She takes care of any dogs that need medical attention while in the kennel and she knows our dogs so that gives me great comfort. The ladies I've met at the kennel are all nice. They sit and talk/play with the dogs when we first get there rather than putting them straight away into their run. The have a daily schedule of eating, playing outside, and resting/sleeping inside. They have a separate yard for my dogs to play in because my dachshund doesn't like other dogs. They tell me they spend one on one time with the dogs each day, showering them with attention. I choose to believe them because my vet praises them so highly. I even call during the trip to ask how the dogs are doing.

 

It is really hard to leave them for so long. They were both rescue dogs and I worry they will think I'm leaving forever as well. But each year when we get them back, they seem healthy and happy.

[FriedClams]

I think this is similar to having kids stay with a sitter so you and DH can go on a date. Some people see it as a critical part of a healthy marriage and family, others are horrified at the idea. We kennel. It's a safe, nice place. The dogs like it. I worry about them but not to the point that it affects my DH and kids and their vacation. If the dogs need practice, drop them off for one night stays more often, or just for the day.

[Teacher Mom]

See if you can find a kennel with the cameras installed. That way, however many times a day you want, you can log on your laptop and see your pet. Some kennels even have "real-time" feeds but you have to log in at certain times to view those. It really helps lessen the worry and the guilt. We are military so moving and kennels are a big part of our life.

[J-rap]

If you lived near me, I'd offer to take your dog while you were gone!

 

First, I wouldn't bring the dog to a kennel that's associated with a veterinary clinic.  (Just so he doesn't have that negative "clinic" connection.)  If you can bring him to a separate place, that would be better.  Can you bring him there for just a day every now and then, to get him used to it and so he knows you're coming back?

 

And when you leave him there, leave him some good treats and things that help him build up a positive association of the place.  (You can even leave a treat bag with the caretaker and ask her/him to toss him one, often!)

 

I know in bigger cities, they have very fancy ones now where you can pay extra to get someone to play with your dog, take him on a walk, etc.

 

Or, could you ask someone to stay in your house during those days? 

 

Is your dog a runner?  (I mean, does he run away when loose?)  A few times, we've left our dog with a farm family who just takes him on as one of their own when he's there.  He runs around outside with the kids and other dogs all day, and gets to sleep in their house at night.  (But he would never run away, so they never had to worry about him and therefore he was pretty easy to take care of.)

 

It seems like a lot of adoptive dogs are very sensitive, so I can understand your concern.  My daughter's sweet dog is that way.  Fortunately, her MIL lives right across the courtyard so he gets to go over there when my daughter makes the long journey to visit us.

 

 

[StephanieZ]

We hire house/dog sitters. :)

 

We own a vet hospital that offers boarding, so free boarding at our very nice hospital with great staff who'd pay extra special attention to our family dogs . . . is STILL not our first choice. IMHO, boarding is just not a first choice option for most pets. We board them at work if it is just a night (or two) to avoid the hassles of cleaning the house for a pet sitter, but for anything longer than one or two nights, we hire someone to stay at the house with them.

 

So, we find trustworthy housesitters to care for the critters in our absence. We live in a college town and generally have lots of 20something employees at our work, so it's usually not too hard to find a good one. Recently, a new housekeeper I hired let me know she does pet sitting, too, so that's another option in any area. The trick is to find someone who doesn't have pets or young children, and to whom a space $40-50/day would mean a lot.

 

It is expensive. We live in a low wage, modest cost of living area, and we pay $50/night for pet sitting for our pretty demanding horde of pets, we also live 20 min outside of town, so gas and transportation hassles add up. We aim to pay generously enough that people really WANT the job. 

 

Yes, it is expensive, and it adds to the cost of the trips, but we figure we look at it as a big picture, and then there are generally only about three total weeks per year when our entire family is gone and we need a pet sitter. So, those 21 days at $50/day is still under $1000/yr. That's just one of the costs of having pets, and it is worth it to me.