How do your pets act?

[0ldog]

When the suitcases come out how do your pets act?

[Nitra]

Since I travel several times a year for work in addition to personal my critters ignore them now.

[benandelena]

my cats jump in my suitcases and try to stow away!

[samtig]

Have 2 very spoiled Siamese cats. One lies down in the suitcases almost constantly until time to leave. The other starts pouting and keeps it up until several days after we get back from the cruise. They stay at home with relatives coming in to check on them. When we get home, one is very glad to see us and the pouter acts like he doesn't know who we are for awhile. That's the only down side of cruising - leaving the granddaughter and the "boys"!

[Gingee]

Our dog that died a year ago would start to act very weird when the suitcases came out. Now this dog has only been through one time when we went on our cruise and she stayed home with my kids. Hopefully she will stay with my "newly married" daughter when we go this year.

[eyzwdeshut]

my cats jump in my suitcases and try to stow away!

 

Mine do the same thing... i have to make sure they can't get in there when they are clothes packed or everything will be covered in cat fur!!!!

 

They also like to use it for a scratching post... :eek:

[hogwildcruzers]

Our lab Aspen knows very well we are going when he sees the luggage.....he will sit against the wall with his head held down, ears as low as they will go and eyes so sad they will shame you....and it doesn't matter which room you try to pack in, he will follow and sit.

[hogwildcruzers]

sorry double post

[ger_77]

Miss Muggins, our cat, walks around the suitcases a few times, making little chirping noises, and once she's satisfied that these are the things that come out before we go away, she sits right on top of one of them, almost daring us to move her. Once I start loading them, she sits right beside the suitcase and chirps each time a piece of clothing goes in.

 

When we return from a trip, we get the cold shoulder for a couple of days - we rarely see her, except when she comes out for food. We found out that even treats won't entice her out when she's ticked at us. Our old cat used to take off for a couple of days - we'd let her outside when we got home and she would disappear completely, not eating the food we'd put out or anything. I guess she figured if we could go away for a while, so could she!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[JenRonn1104]

My dog hates the suitecases. The moment the venture out of the basement, he freaks. He starts moping around the house and whining. He doesn't want Mommy & Daddy to leave. We feel so bad (yes, he's terribly spoiled) that we take him over to my mom's (grandma to him) the day before so that he doesn't have to witness the packing. My DH thinks we spoil him too much.

[mollyanne]

We have only had our current dog for 2-1/2 years but she has gotten the hang of the "suitcase thing". She doesn't mind too much because she knows she will be going to the country to stay with her "uncle". He is our official dog-watcher.

 

One time years ago we came home from a trip and had the suitcase open flat on the kitchen floor, looking for something. Our Doberman, Patty, came and laid right in the open bag. As much as to tell us we weren't leaving again without her! She would also jump into our car trunk whenever it was open, obviously for the same reasons.

 

mollyanne:)

[cherylandtk]

I confess to pulling the suitcase out and trying to sneak the clothes into the bag in the spare room when the dog is outside or sleeping. He usually catches me at it sooner or later and curls up right on top of the neatly folded clothes. From then on he sticks to me like glue and won't let me out of his sight right up until the moment we walk out the door. Oh yeah, he has me right where he wants me.

[BJs mom]

My spoiled little ****z Tsu just gets the most forlorn look on his face as soon as he sees the suitcases come out. Even though he hangs out with his "girlfriend Trixie" a little Yorkie while we're gone and gets spoiled there as well, he knows nobody treats him like mommy & daddy. Of course, he thinks he's "Alpha Dog" and I guess he is. Spoiled to the bone but ya gotta love him, he's got attitude.I would never travel if I had to put him in a kennel. Thank goodness my neighbors and I exchange babysitting for our "fur babies" since they love to travel too.

[samtig]

This isn't cruise related, but reading these reminded me of it. When I was a child we were getting in the car to leave on vacation and our cat (who stayed outside) jumped from a tree to the roof, ran to the very peak of a very tall roof, and jumped! She broke her leg. So instead of going on vacation, we went to the vet and then home to take care of the cat!

[cruzinstew]

My cat pee'd on my clothes:rolleyes: !

When the suitcases come out how do your pets act?

[0ldog]

My cat pee'd on my clothes:rolleyes: !

 

Which got buried? The cat or the clothes? :confused:

[klct39lg]

Sounds like my pets behave the same as what others have said. My dogs get very worried when the luggage comes out, even when we have it out in the spare room. We have to sneak stuff into the suitcases a few items at a time. I try to do it when they are occupied with something else, like food.

My cats...one sleeps in the suitcases, the other will spray on them if we put them on the floor.

Initially, they are glad to see us when we get home, then it's the cold shoulder!

We had to take our dogs to a kennel for the first time for last month's cruise. It was awful, the dogs had such worried little faces...but they were fine when we picked them up.

This is the only downside to vacationing.

[Tammyg]

We have 2 cats and they climb in the suitcases as soon as they're laid out but one punishes us when we get back. Our Russian Blue "poops" on the floor right next to the litter box for about a week after we get back. He uses the litter box the whole time we're gone but for about a week after we get back he is very spiteful. He does it every time :)

[elainekay]

Sounds like my pets behave the same as what others have said. My dogs get very worried when the luggage comes out, even when we have it out in the spare room. We have to sneak stuff into the suitcases a few items at a time. I try to do it when they are occupied with something else, like food.

My cats...one sleeps in the suitcases, the other will spray on them if we put them on the floor.

Initially, they are glad to see us when we get home, then it's the cold shoulder!

We had to take our dogs to a kennel for the first time for last month's cruise. It was awful, the dogs had such worried little faces...but they were fine when we picked them up.

This is the only downside to vacationing.

 

I couldn't agree more. We are leaving on a cruise in a week and a half and my suitcase is behind closed doors in our spare bedroom. I try to pack when our dachshund, Sassy, is busy in another part of the house. Unfortunately we have to put her in a kennel and she almost gets sick over it. Comes home a few pounds lighter every time. I agree it takes away from the excitement of cruise when you worry so much about your "baby".

[provenienbam]

My 3 dogs get quite excited because they know they'll be going to the kennels where they absolutely adore. They jump out of the car run straight in trying to find their stall. I feel like: "hey guys I'm going on holiday. Some sadness if you please."

 

Probably all comes back to when they were in kennels for 3 months because we emigrated to Canada. They learnt that kennels are fun and that we ALWAYS come back eventually.

[Nickymjw1]

I am so worried about putting our 2yr old German Shepard in a kennel. The last 2 yrs I had someone house sitting, but that person is no longer able to do it. My dog is so spoiled. He needs so much attention, and he has a huge yard here at our house.

 

Can you share some of your experiences with Kennels? Anything I need to look for or pay attention to?

 

Thanks,

[musicmom3]

Charley and Sarge, our miniature poodles, get so upset when they see the suitcases that I now pre-pack on a big chair and drag out the suitcases only after they go to Grandmas' house.

[klct39lg]

Nickymjw1,

 

Our past cruise was the first time that we boarded our dogs for a vacation. It was not ideal and we would still prefer someone stay in our home with our dogs and cats. That being said, our dogs appeared to be fine when we picked them up from the kennel. They were a little smelly and had lost a couple of pounds, but I guess that is not unusual. Here is what we did:

We toured a couple of local kennels before we committed to one; we wanted to see if the place was clean and if the animals there looked happy or terrified.

I know a big plus for us was that our dogs were boarded together; they were in the same run, so they had each other.

The other factor that helped us, maybe the dogs too, was we took them in for doggy daycare 2 or 3 times before we boarded them for the long haul. We dropped them off in the morning and picked them up in the afternoon; they learned that we would always come back for them.

A couple of things to bear in mind are that dogs are social (pack) animals; they generally like to be with other dogs. Your dog may like it, lots of dogs do! Also, I was told by many people that dogs don’t really have a concept of time, so they are probably not “counting the days” till you get back.

So, if you are going to go the kennel route, start working on it early so that you and your dog are comfortable with the arrangements.:)

Lisa

[ladypalmtree]

My three cats get very upset when they see the suitcases...they jump in and get stuff furry...the dogs are outside and do not know.My big old tabby boy that I had for years used to pee on the clothing...and when we were gone..all over everything..had to put him down a couple of years ago. My daughter comes over and feeds and plays with the critters when we are gone. But we still get the cold shoulder from all three cats...like who the heck are you, and why are you in our house? this goes on for about a week..the boys outside well they cannot get enough of us when we get back. They are very forgiving..lol:o

[GORDONCHICK]

My dog must be really layed back, because he really doesn't mind going to the vet to be boarded. He gets treated like a celebrity there. He's kind of a rare bread and I've heard that the desk lady will tell people who love to see our dog that he's there and he gets out to see people. He doesn't even mind going in for shots. Now a bath is another story, but they say he's getting better.