Who took care of your pets while cruising?

[CruiseSlacker]

I loves dogs but don't have one, because I'm hardly home on weekends. When I go on a cruise alone, I always ask fellow cruisers how are their pets back home? Sort of an ice breaker after asking where they are from.

 

I remember one couple saying they took their old dog to stay at a friend's house two miles away. The dog ran home. Now whey they go on a cruise, the dog stays home but someone will come in to take care of it.

 

So who looks after your pets? And do they give you an attitude when you return?

 

I don't mind see some pictures too.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[frito58]

Thats a great question as we love to cruise , and when I went on disabitly I decided to get a dog as companion , and couldnt stand the though of putting him in a kennel , so after browsing ads on craigslist ,we found a lady/ family that kept him at her house . She is about 30 miles away but we call it Camp Tiffany and Cosmo knows where he is going , he loves going there , he evens sleeps in thier bed with thier dogs . She charges me $15 a day and I usally bring her back a bottle of Rum LOL April 4th he heads to camp .

[Eriksgarden]

My partner's brother moves into our house when we travel. The dogs and cats love him!

[Just The 3 Of Us]

I take DH with me (LOL)!!! Kidding - no pets here, just couldn't resist...

 

;):p:D

[GaryfmCol]

I loves dogs but don't have one, because I'm hardly home on weekends. When I go on a cruise alone, I always ask fellow cruisers how are their pets back home? Sort of an ice breaker after asking where they are from.

 

I remember one couple saying they took their old dog to stay at a friend's house two miles away. The dog ran home. Now whey they go on a cruise, the dog stays home but someone will come in to take care of it.

 

So who looks after your pets? And do they give you an attitude when you return?

 

I don't mind see some pictures too.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

 

We decided NOT to have anymore dogs AFTER retirement.

Guess what? Number 1 daughter ends up with 2 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels...(long story) With 2 little girls, they can not handle 2 dogs PLUS, 2 little girls.

 

Well, we ended up with both dogs...no way to part with these 2 cute critters so, now in retirement, we have 2 of the sweetest, cutest, friendliest dogs ever...we took them in, with the proviso, that they take care of them for our cruises..which they have agreed to do..so, the doggies get to go to the "country club estate" out in the boondocks while we are away cruising..Now, I worry about other critters in the wild out there...(coyotes, foxes ect.) At least they have a nice place to stay, for a couple weeks at a time...but, they are ALWAYS ready to come home..and, we have something to look forward to on our returns. :p

[printingchick]

My dog passed away a couple of years ago, but prior to that I always had one of my adult daughter's friends stay at my house to dog/house sit while I was gone. My elderly dog wouldn't do well with a kennel. Staying at her own house was less stressful for her and she came to know the dog-sitters, so I think she felt comfortable with them.

[srvdmy4usn]

I leave Melman with family, depending on who is going with us. I am lucky enough to have plenty to choose from that lives near me.

 

 

[TBone2K]

I had a larger dog (Border Collie) that we used to take to a boarding kennel. He loved spending the days playing with the other dogs, but was certainly happy to see us when we got home. I would always come home a mess after picking him up, because he would "kiss" whatever part of me he could reach from the back seat, which was usually the back of my head!

 

My wife's chihuahua would go and visit "Grandma" while we were away. When we got home she would stick to us like glue to the point where we would trip over her because we couldn't see her since she was so close.

[cello56]

We have a woman in our adoption group who does Greyhound pet sitting in her home. She charges $20 per day per dog! So at $80 per day, it is almost like we are paying for our dogs to cruise with us!

[molly361]

My friend who lives less than a mile away brings her dog over to our house and sleeps here and watchs our two dogs. During the day she goes back and forth between her house and ours.

 

We have a fenced yard and doggie door (best invention EVER):)

[Mykitteh]

My neighbour comes over once in the morning to feed and water the cats. Then she comes over at night to scoop the kitty box of doom and spend time with them. I'm getting her a nice thank you basket when I get paid. :)

[babyher]

We still have 2 of our kids home with us , plus my other DS is only a few minutes away . So there is always someone around for them.

[cruisin_cutie216]

we have two dogs, a shih tzu and a jack russell/rat terrier mix and anytime we go out of town, we send them to an awesome kennel here in MI (anyone in the Detroit area check them out!) called The Barkshire: Resort for Paws. Its not like your traditional kennel (put em in a pen and let them out every half hour), its open space where like dogs of like size are in the open space (i.e. the little dogs have their own play area with a sofa they can climb and sleep on and a TV, plus there's outside access to the yards outside so they can enter and exit from the indoors to the fenced in yard as they please). There's also swimming as well for the dogs (my older dog at my parents house loves this, its been theraputic for his hips as he's 12 and has arthritis). They have taken fantastic care of our four legged kids and the dogs LOVE it there! They get an entire week of vacation while we're gone!! Here's the link for anyone who wants to check it out!

 

http://thebarkshire.com/

[batoryfirst]

Our Border Collie mix, as I like to say, goes to camp. My husband calls it prison. It's a wonderful kennel where she gets to run with other large dogs. Of course, that playtime activity costs extra! It is not a bargain for this dog sitting, but we have done it many times and she always seems to do fine.

 

I must admit when we get her in the car after picking her up, we are snubbed until we get home:) and for the first day and night, she does a lot of sleeping.

 

Nancy

[Raptor2010]

Because all of our cats are rescues and most are special needs, we pay someone to come live in our house and take care of them just as we would while we are gone. It is pricey but well worth the cost to know that we don't have to worry about them while we are gone. :)

 

There is a place down the street that boards cats but we would have to rent out the entire place and that is just cost prohibitive. We also have four fosters right now so it's just easier to have someone live at the house. :D

[Emmee D]

We adopted a cat last year and our upcoming cruise will be our first vacation since we've had him. He's staying home and we have friends coming in each day to check on him. We didn't want to board him or have him stay with someone because he's a little on the skittish side so we figured its probably best if he stays in familiar surroundings.

 

I know he's in excellent hands & will be well cared for while we're away, but I'm still nervous about leaving him, probably mostly because this is the first time.

[purescottish]

we send out little boys to the kennels, and they don't talk to us for at least a week when we get home

 

wendy

[PH]

I have friends that live 2 blocks away. They have two papillion and we have two toy poodles.

Any time one of us goes out of twon the other keeps the dogs. We have done this for 25 years and many dogs. Our little dogs are a pack and get along because they have been together all their life. We even have a rule that no one can get a new dog without everyone's approval. No big dogs and no dogs that shed. We are planning to move in about a year. I don't know what I will do then.

[mikechass]

We have a Rottie/Hound cross.

She stays with an 18 year old who we trusted to babysit our kids when she was younger stay with our pup when we are gone.

IF she is unable, the inlaw's keep her as they have our children too, and the dog misses her kids very much when they are apart.

 

My dog is very grumpy when we leave.

Doesn't eat, don't sleep for the first several days

but eventually, she gets tired and hungry and then once we are home... she is back to normal.

[fireman3632]

Our little princess has a dog sitter who will stay at our house with her.

[sxphil]

If none of the kids are at home he gets treated to Barneys Bed & Breakfast

A family who have two Italian Spinonies sp? He usually sleeps with there youngest Son costs £18 per day but is worth it knowing he is with a happy family. they txt us daily with pictures of them enjoying walks

 

Phil

[zekekelso]

We used to send the dogs to kennel. If you can find a good one, it works out great. The dogs enjoy it... and it gives them some healthy socialization.

 

But when one of our dogs got really old, we decided it best to bring in a dog/house sitter. The nice thing with the sitter is that the dogs are waiting for us when we get home. No more returning to an empty house and having to go get the dogs the next day.

[crenntive]

We have a husky . A friend of ours comes over and house/dog sits while we are gone. We stock the kitchen with all the food he could want and make sure the guest room is set up . Its worked out so far .

[Mary1951]

I have a babysitter for my baby , it is in a family surrounding with no cages and dogs rule , she loves it and I can enjoy my vacations knowing she is at a Hotel !!!and loving it as much as I am my cruise .

[LBB]

I have a German shepherd. She goes back to her breeder. Her real Mom and Dad are still there along with some other relatives. She gets to hang out with them and is very well taken care of. She is excited to go there and seems happy.