Dog sitting question

[marbel]

Looking for advice from people with more dog experience than I have.

 

My family is going on vacation soon.  Our dog goes to a kennel while we are away.  He is the only dog I've ever had (my husband has had a few.)  So I am no dog expert. What I do know is that our dog is very anxious and nervous.  He takes medication every day and gets extra during stressful times, like thunderstorms and if we're having a lot of company.

 

Someone we know and trust has offered to housesit for us and stay with the dog so he doesn't have to go to the kennel.  I have mixed feelings about it. This person has only met the dog once.  He does not know her.  She doesn't know him, either.  There is not much time for them to become better acquainted - the trip is coming up really soon.   Of course we'd leave her with his medication schedule, all instructions and such but I'm more concerned with some of his... things.

 

Like, if he is outside barking at squirrels, it is hard to get him in the house.  Very hard!  He will bark and bark and run away if we try to get close.  He has caught a few bunnies and one very stupid squirrel.  Ick. 

 

If we are out walking and another dog goes by, he will react and he can be hard to hold. 

 

Now, he is nervous when we take him to the kennel.  Just like at the vet, he doesn't want to go in the door and once in, he shakes and stays close to us.  However, we've noticed that once the kennel worker (or vet tech) takes the leash and walks him away from us with his back to us, his tail and head go back up and he walks easily with him or her.  In other words, it seems that he is scared until we are out of sight, and then he's OK.   Maybe this is typical?  Out of sight out of mind? 

 

It's true that we would save a lot of $$ by not kenneling him.  So that is attractive.

 

I will also admit that the thought of cleaning the house so someone can stay in it for a week is a bit daunting to me.  (The fridge!  The laundry room!)  I am not sure I can deal with that and prep for vacation.  But I'm trying not to let that get in the way.

 

What do you dog lovers/experts think?   Am I just being an overprotective dog mom?

[Momof3littles]

I have an anxious dog and we don't board him. Fortunately, we mostly have managed to vacation with him or have him stay with my MIL.  We boarded him when we had a second dog, but when she died, his anxiety went even higher.  We worked with a behaviorist and she basically said not to ever board him, as she was certain he probably didn't ever eat while we were away, etc.  Even when just DH is traveling for a work trip, the dog gets incredibly anxious just seeing the suitcase out :/

 

I would only have a dog sitter if I knew the person was familiar with dogs like ours specifically.  I am on a raw feeding yahoo group (even though we aren't raw feeding currently) and would ask there for a recommendation.  You might be able to find some sort of similar rescue, raw feeding, etc. group where someone might know someone with experience with anxious dogs.  Your vet?  A behaviorist in the area?

 

I understand the stress of having to prep the house beforehand.  I feel that even with no one staying here, as I hate to leave the house needing cleaning before vacation.  It is awful to return and have to clean, but awful to try to get it all done in advance.  Any wiggle room in the budget for hiring a one time cleaning person?

 

 

[texasmama]

We are new to the dog/vacation deal, as well, but I know our dog (youngish Great Pyrenees) would not do well in a kennel so our adult niece is coming to stay at the house for a week while we are gone to care for the dog and the cat.  The dog does not know my niece and has only met her once, but she (the dog) is not a nervous type and likes everyone she meets.  I think they dog will feel more comfortable in her familiar home and surroundings rather than somewhere else in a kennel.  Plus, ours does not do well with other dogs.  The cat would do very poorly in a kennel.  She is quite a nervous, older cat.  I am glad our niece is willing to stay at our home.

[Pawz4me]

How dog knowledgeable is the person who may pet sit?

 

A lot of what you describe is typical untrained dog behavior.

[marbel]

How dog knowledgeable is the person who may pet sit?

 

A lot of what you describe is typical untrained dog behavior.

 

We're going to talk to her tonight.  Her fiance - someone we know better and who knows our dog better - will probably spend a good bit of time here too.

 

He was a rescue dog we acquired as an adult and though we've had him for a few years, none of the training programs we have gone through has helped us with those behaviors.   So yeah, I get you on that.

[JustEm]

I've been running my own pet sitting business for 10 years and have also worked in a kennel. For an anxious dog kennels are usually a much worse choice. They are very loud and the person taking care of them changes regularly. From my experience meeting a dog once has been sufficient. Do you have a fenced in yard? If so, ask that the pet sitter not walk the dog. This takes away the chance of encountering another dog and things getting out of control when you are away. I wouldn't worry about the not being able to get him in when barking at something as long as you tell the person ahead of time.

[Samiam]

I also work part time for a professional pet sitting business. We do a one time meet-n-greet, to meet the animals and go over specifics with the owner. I've sat for dogs that never met a stranger, and I've sat for dogs that literally wanted nothing to do with me, for the first day or two. I remember a little Yorkie, I literally had it trick her with a treat x4 a day, for the first two days to get anywhere near her to get in the leash. By the end of the week, we were best friends, and she'd meet me at the door. I'd think that if the sitter was staying in the house with the dog, the dog would get comfortable even quicker. As far as the dogs quirks, just be sure to discuss AND write it down, so the sitter is reminded.

[Chris in VA]

I'd go with the dog sitter. Other dogs, constant noise, limited outside time, unfamiliar surroundings...I wouldn't put an anxious dog in a kennel.

 

Hire someone to clean your house. It won't cost as much as the kennel--you will still save some $. You can work alongside that person and get twice or even more as much done!

 

Write EVERYTHING down for the pet sitter--routine with times, if food in fridge/pantry is ok for him to eat, dog quirks, how much to feed and when, where to throw away poo (yes, have the pet sitter bag up the poo, even in the yard--you are paying for a service and that should be included). Also should he bring in the newspaper and the mail? Are you expecting anyone--is the trash scheduled to be picked up at a certain time and so should be out?

If you want him to log in each day so you can know what happened, leave paper and a pencil on the counter and tell him at the visit. This is not unusual and helps you if something should happen and your vet needs to know anything he may forget.

[marbel]

OK, this is really helpful and making me feel better.   We didn't get to talk to the potential sitter tonight but are going to invite her over for dinner on Friday to spend some more time with us and we'll leave her alone in the house and have her sit on my daughter's bed to see how the dog reacts.  The sitter will be using her room.  She was friendly and interacting with the dog the other time she was here.  

 

The things everyone is saying about the kennel make sense.  I really knew that - about the noise, etc. - but it also seemed that in that environment if something went wrong, there would be professional dog people around to deal with it.    But the vet is close.  (OK, I'll also confess that I am a catastrophizer and imagine something happening to the dog and my kids hating the dog sitter forever because of it. Where it wouldn't matter if they hated the kennel.   Anyone KWIM?  Goofy I know.) 

 

Our daughter is not on board. She has a lot of objections. I am very good at leaving lists so we will start brainstorming and working on that today.  We will lock all the gates so there is no chance of the dog getting out of the back yard and encourage the sitter to play with him in our yard.  He doesn't get walked every day as it is because we spend a good bit of time outside playing with him (or lounging with him). 

 

As for the house, it's really two "non-public" areas I'm worried about.  The laundry room is one of those catch-all rooms where everything that has no place goes. I have to maneuver around things to get to the washer.  Obviously then it is dusty and the floor is dirty. Today the kids and I will deal with that.   The fridge has needed cleaning and it isn't that bad.  I just had that moment of panic, the thought of someone needing to do laundry or putting food in the fridge scared me.  :lol: :lol:   Obviously she will need to use the fridge! 

 

Thanks for the comments!

 

 

[JFSinIL]

Our Labrador was attacked by a pit bull when Captain was barely two years old. While he is fine meeting dogs on WALKIES and at dog park, the one recommended kennel we visited was so LOUD with barking dogs that I could not leave him there. Our vet does have nice facilities and a dog run and she does board known pets of good customers. It is quieter, and we have successfully left our dog with her a few times.

 

When we are simply gone a whole day we have a neighbor or friend who the dog knows come over to let him out back or walk him.

 

While hubby and I are both recuperating from a car accident ( I am still chillin' at rehab) neighbors show up and simply come in, get lease and very happy dog and do walkies.