Boarding kennel guilt...

[SarahandSam]

Husband and I are going away tomorrow night for the evening and have decided to put both our dachshunds in a boarding kennel. We’ve only ever had them stay with my mother, friends, etc., so this will be their first time, as far as I know (we did get both of them when they were around 6).

Sylvia will be fine–this will probably be better for her because she’ll get plenty of attention still, and she’s been having incontinence issues in her old age, so now she’ll have people who are actually paid to be at her beck and call. As long as strangers are loving her she’ll hardly notice we’re gone.

Seamus, however, is causing me unending guilt. He’s got separation anxiety, which is why we’re going with the kennel rather than my mother–she never watches him closely enough and he always escapes her yard and tries to run away and find us.

The kennel is really nice; it’s staffed overnight; he’ll get daycare both tomorrow and Thursday with small groups that match with him; they do one-on-one training and interaction sessions; I get to watch him on the webcam; he’ll be sharing a room with Sylvia (who only tolerates him, but he adores/fears her as his queen). I know he’ll be okay. But I feel so freaking bad about leaving him that I don’t even want to go now.

Help reassure me that my dog will not die of a broken heart in 36 hours? Any tips on stuff to bring? I figure I’ll leave him a sweatshirt of mine, along with bringing three dog beds so they have options… I am going to be the most loathed owner at the kennel…

[Laurierace]

I am sure he will be fine. Maybe next time look for in home boarding. I have several repeat clients who had never left their dog with anyone beside family before either and their dogs do great with me.

[Casey09]

If there is a possibility of him escaping otherwise, then you are doing the right thing. It is such a short time and he is going with his buddy, so really I think that while it might be a little stressful, he will be fine. When you get back, give them an extra long walk or play session.

[independentlyawesome]

Why are you feeling guilty?

You’re making the smart & safe decision for your “pack.”

I always leave my dog at a boarding kennel; I trust their professional judgement more than a friend. I know she freaks out initially but settles down pretty quickly. I recommend not looking at the camera for the first few hours.

[catzndogz22]

36 hours? They’ll be fine. For the next trip, can you find some nice dog-loving neighborhood kid to stay at your house? It’s less stressful for the dogs and you both. I’ve always had great luck finding responsible, reliable house-sitters through my horse friends. In most cases, it’s a win/win situation. House-sitter makes some easy cash taking care of adorable (albeit sometimes unruly) dogs and I get low-stress pet care. When my brother in Chicago couldn’t find any dog boarding options for a Christmas trip, I put word out to some of my Chicago horsey friends on FB and they came back to me with two names within an hour.

[JanM]

Your pups will be fine. They’ll miss you, and be extremely happy to go home, but the place they’re staying at sounds great. At the boarding kennel you know the people will show up for work, and take care of your dogs, and you can check in on the webcam. At least with the kennel you know they’ll be there when you come back, instead having a dog roaming the neighborhood looking for you.

[SarahandSam]

Thanks for the pep talks. I keep debating whether it’s worse to worry about them feeling nervous or worried, or worrying about one escaping, and I guess it’s better to at least know they’re safe. We’ll be gone for a week in April, and I’m hoping they’ll be able to have a friend take them or stay here and house-sit, but it’ll be good to know if this is a viable backup…

[Laurierace]

Look into Rover.com That is one of the places I am listed, I am sure you can find someone good in your area.

[Casey09]

[QUOTE=SarahandSam;7439328]
Thanks for the pep talks. I keep debating whether it’s worse to worry about them feeling nervous or worried, or worrying about one escaping, and I guess it’s better to at least know they’re safe. We’ll be gone for a week in April, and I’m hoping they’ll be able to have a friend take them or stay here and house-sit, but it’ll be good to know if this is a viable backup…[/QUOTE]

I think that it is absolutely incomparably worse to worry about one escaping. Even if he is microchipped, there is so much that can happen if a dog is lost. What I like about kennels is that they are secure (in general). Personally, I would never leave a dog prone to escaping with a friend unless my home or their home was set up like Fort Knox for dogs. I think you are much better off with the kennel, even (and maybe especially) for your week long trip. Being nervous is a not a concern for me. It might be good for him. Dogs live in the moment and can adapt more easily than we give them credit for. However, if the get loose they are vulnerable to cars, chemicals, other animals, and many other dangers. After being lost for a short time, they can act almost feral and not go to even their owners. I would not want to get a call that my dog was lost, because I would be at the airport without even packing my bags to go home and look for my dog. I wouldn’t do that if the dog was nervous.

[wendy]

I think that it is absolutely incomparably worse to worry about one escaping.

yeah- I have one dog who refuses to eat at kennels, and obviously hates every minute of it, but at least he comes home. Alive. Which I really don’t think would happen if I got some person in to sit him- he’d get away and go looking for me and who knows what would happen.

[floppyammy]

I think you are making a good choice! There are a lot of positives to boarding a dog, as long as you do your homework and choose a good place.

• safe (fully fenced in)
• monitored 24/7
• (hopefully) positive distractions from the absence of mom & dad

My adoption group actually recommended that I board my SA dog when my husband and I travel, in the hopes that the other dogs and activities would be a good distraction for him.

Do they offer doggie daycare? I like to bring my dog for a 1/2 day or a full day the week before we leave him overnight, so it is a place he is familiar with, and he understands we aren’t dumping him there and not coming back.

Edited to add: We always go to the same boarding place, but sometimes it is a while in between visits, so I like to send him on a little ‘refresher’ half day before boarding him overnight.

[IndysMom]

kennels are best

I have always boarded my dogs. This is because-if you find a sitter or send them to a friend and something happens then the dog is damaged or dead and you are no longer friends or they feel mega-guilty. So, off to the kennel they go where I know they are safe.

Where they get walked, treats, other dogs for company, did I mention treats?, walked. They actually probably get MORE attention than they do at home. And, one side effect is that when I get home they are ecstatic to see me and stick like velcro for a week or so until they get bored with the whole thing and go back to sleeping most of the time. So, I say, put them in the kennel and go away with DH.

Also, the kennel they go to is run by our groomer, so they’re familiar with her and she with them. They’ve also been going there since they were puppies.

BTW, I had a dachshund years ago. He was a GREAT dog! Lived to be 13 before he died of a stroke.

[SarahandSam]

Thanks all! We survived. Having the webcam was great–there’s an app for the phone for it, so I kept obsessively checking in anytime I had wifi. Sylvia hung out in the “princess suite” or with another geriatric dog in the lobby, sunbathing; Seamus went in with the daycare group, and though he spent most of yesterday distracted and looking for us, he seemed to settle down and start playing with some other dogs today, and I saw him wagging his tail a lot. I think he also wormed his way into bed with the worker who slept there last night, so he was about as well-adjusted as I could hope. Now I have two very tuckered hounds on the couch with me.

[Laurierace]

That is one of the benefits of boarding somewhere other than a kennel with runs, they usually come home exhausted from all the playing they did. Glad it went well.

[freshman]

Glad they did OK and hope this gives you the green light to plan fun trips without worrying about the dogs from now on! FWIW, it sounds like a fantastic place for you to stash your dogs while away and like they had a lot of fun, as a bonus, so how perfect is that? Tired out dogs that want sleep are the perfect end to any trip, in my book, so add a tip for the folks at the kennel that made this happen, lol. You saw it all happen on camera for yourself, so you know they were just fine while you were away, but even so, just remember that they will TELL you if something went wrong. Spy cam is not necessary. Traumatized or upset dogs will cling and follow your around incessantly at home and display lots of other behaviors to communicate that something happened that was wrong, wrong, wrong. The possibilities are endless, but sleeping like the dead is not one of them, and that they are sleeping upon return home is a great sign that all is very well in their world.

BTW, I do love the live cam thing and I’d be tuning into it on my pets, too, at least at a new place and perhaps sometimes just because I miss them during a trip away from home. But after that, it is all just for my pleasure and entertainment when I happen to think about them. So on a good trip, it wouldn’t be very often at all! I love mine, but I actually find it pretty easy to forget about them on vacation. Sounds bad, but is actually the best thing ever for all of us.

[SarahandSam]

[QUOTE=freshman;7442609]
Glad they did OK and hope this gives you the green light to plan fun trips without worrying about the dogs from now on! FWIW, it sounds like a fantastic place for you to stash your dogs while away and like they had a lot of fun, as a bonus, so how perfect is that? Tired out dogs that want sleep are the perfect end to any trip, in my book, so add a tip for the folks at the kennel that made this happen, lol. [/QUOTE]

Aww, man, I didn’t even think about tipping… is that customary? I’ll at least go give them good reviews on all the review sites…

[Laurierace]

I haven’t ever got a tip although I often get interesting gifts from wherever the owner was visiting.