Cruise/Boarding Pets

[NJcruisenewbie]

We've boarded our dog at a crate/kennel free place a few times but it was only for a few days at a time. We'll be going on a longer vacation this summer and will be havng one of the techs in our vets office staying at our house to care for him. The price is the same as boarding him but s/b a better experience. Maybe you could check with your vet. I love our dog but honestly I need a break from him once in awhile.

The boarding place we use carefully screens the dogs and has someone on site 24/7. Edited May 12, 2014 by NJcruisenewbie

[Let'sGo!]

We have a couple of older dogs that have been spoiled by having a pet sitter come stay with them when we travel for longer periods of time. For short weekends, I hire the daughter of a co-worker to come feed/water them in the mornings and again in the evenings. We have a dog door and they let themselves in and out. I've left them both at the vet's office kennel a couple of times. Once when our AC was out and it was 107 degrees here. My husband and I went to sleep at a hotel for a couple of nights until the AC was repaired, but there was no help for the dogs - so I left them with my vet. I heard they did just fine and were probably happy for the AC! Yet the 2nd time I tried kenneling them for a couple of days, I got calls from the vet techs telling me one of them was sick and obviously stressed.

Last August we took on a full blooded Golden Retriever puppy. No one really prepared us for the boundless energy that little girl has! We invested some time finding a day camp for her to go, where she plays with other dogs at her size and energy level. Since we don't really trust her at home alone, we opted to put her in overnight camp at the same place. They put the pups in their "cabins" about 7:30 each night to eat and get into rest mode, then let them out again in the AM to enjoy daycamp. Since she was so familiar with the daycamp, they told us she settled in for her overnight stay just fine.

My vet has told me a number of times that while the kennel is stressful for the pets, its even more stressful for the pet parents. To the OP, I would have an honest conversation with your vet to see what he/she says. They may have options you haven't thought of.

Ann

[Justmekaren918]

I would suggest whatever choice you choose I might suggest a very quick time away to do a trial run. It helps the dog to get used to a new environment or person or persons. It will give you both a better feeling when the real trip comes. If you choose a place you can see how they operate.

[Psycopuppy]

We have used kennels and pet sitters and my dogs enjoy the sitter. I will disclose that both are rescue dogs and the older one had several nights in the shelter on a few occasions before we were able to adopt her. While she is still crazy to see me after just a day at work, we noticed that she is more relaxed in her environment. A test night at a kennel might work, but I prefer a sitter and the cost is actually cheaper for us compared to boarding 2 dogs.

[temple1]

We use a house sitter. She comes several times a day - feeds, lets them out to run, checks the mail, etc. We used to use someone who would stay overnight, but she moved away. I would love to find someone to stay over when we take our Panama Canal cruise but that is a long way off.

[AussieVisi2r]

I use a house sitter. Who comes and stays in the house.

If I cannot find a friend to come ad do it I use a site/company called House Carers. [url]http://www.housecarers.com/[/url] They do operate in US. I have had great people come and stay. Highly recommend having a look.

Pets are happy, House is not left empty!

Raina

[Dreacrusingaway]

We board at our vet. They take good care of them. They have doggie daycare too so plenty of dogs board there. My dogs always seem happy there.


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[TheBuick]

[quote name='matj2000'][SIZE=3]Sneak him on....[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

:) :) :) Don't tempt me. We are so heartsick when we leave them - Manly & Bobo (both Chihuahuas) get left with the vet. Believe it or not, they love him and his staff so that makes it much easier. They definitely lose weight while we are gone AND they need to. They are so spoiled. We are very grateful that our vet boards -- what could be safer than this...

[jocap]

We have always found a reliable person, sometimes a teen, who will look after our pets for us, either at their home or ours, and we've paid them well for this. Older people on a small income have always enjoyed this little chore.
Now we only have an elderly collie, whose eyesight is going, so we're having a sitter so that she can still find her way around the house and garden.

[lady_cruiser]

Its very hard to leave our pets. We had two cockatiels and could not find a vet in our area that would take them so we had a friend that would travel 14 miles a day (7 miles each way) to give them fresh food and water. And our cockatiels not like 'anyone' except us. It was hard coming home knowing that they ate very little while we were gone. We have seen adopted them out to a wonderful vet assistant who loves birds as much as we did. In fact she has our two and her mother's two, a total of four cockatiels.

Then we had a 4-week old kitten at a local cemetery that adopted us about 2 or 3 years ago. While our vet will board her for as long as we want it is very hard to leave her. For days after we return she just isn't the same. And it days before she seems to get back into her normal routine.

Yes it is hard but we just can't have our lives revolve around animals. For 50-51 weeks of the year we give our cat plenty of love, attention, shelter and medical care. But for one or two weeks its our turn. We treat ourselves to cruises. Its just the way it is with us.