Boarding VS house sitter....?

[Zippo]

So we are going on a cruise for 5 days and we are weighing boarding VS house sitter.

Our vet rubbed us the wrong way because they charge an extra 7 dollars to let the dog out to go to the bathroom!!!!, EACH TIME PER DOG!!! Obviously there are other reputable places around where we live we could use...

The other option is my fiancées friend who is also a nurse and she trusts her. She has the same work schedules as us and would stay the 5 days at our house, thoughts?

 

[NikiL02]

Ive housesat for friends because they had animals and my mom has as well. It went well a few times and then suddenly the friend freaked out because my mom accidentally left her underwear there (it fell out of her bag.) We always stayed on the couch or guest room, cleaned up, and tried to maintain the house the way they did or better. So its weird how something small like that can set a person off on a rant and end a friendship.

I like the idea of having someone housesit better than boarding, but there are drawbacks.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Rubie goes to a "Doggie Daycare" where she can play with other pooches during the day and get's her own place to sleep at night. She's crate trained so the sleeping in a crate at night doesn't seem to bother her (plus she's usually too tired to care, anyway). They have camera's there so you can check in on them while you travel from an app or their website. It is expensive here, $42/night, but that's Chicago for ya. She plays rough so comes back with nicks here and there but they always speak very highly of her. Last time we left her, she didn't eat for a couple of days but that's not fault of the daycare and I suspect it would be the same even if we left her home with someone (not an option for us, unfortunately). I like that she gets to interact with other dogs during the day to get that puppy energy out but it is a huge cost that we need to factor in while traveling.

If you do want to try another place, I would start filling out applications and what not. Around here, at least, they want to the dog to come in for a 'trial run,' which is usually just a free day of daycare while they can assess whether it's a good environment for your dog. I know a lot of people are anti over vac and these places do require the full set so another thing to consider. Are you going to leave his ears down, while you travel?

Good luck!

 

[Zippo]

Since it's only 5 days I'm going to post them the night before we leave.

 

[Archer]

I'd choose Housesitting every time. Would he be safe at the Vet, sure. They aren't there overnight for monitoring though and I feel he'd get better care with someone staying with him. Plus, they are more comfortable in their own house and he'd have a better opportunity to stretch his legs at home with a sitter vs being in a crate 98% of the time at the Vet. Also, he's young enough that I wouldn't want him around potentially contagious diseases. Just my thoughts...

 

[Zippo]

Our thoughts exactly!

 

[JanS]

Our vet rubbed us the wrong way because they charge an extra 7 dollars to let the dog out to go to the bathroom!!!!, EACH TIME PER DOG!!!

That's insane! I would think it would be more work to clean up after the poor dog when they can't hold it anymore than to let them out to go.

I would always opt for a housesitter too if there's someone you trust. Hubby and I travel separately though so the other one is always home with the dogs and other animals.

 

[MyBuddy]

I'm another one that would opt for a house sitter. I'm very picky about my animals and honestly would rather stay home than send them anywhere! I have to really trust someone to watch them, even at my house, so most likely it would be a family member or a very close friend. When our twin grandchildren were born (in KY) I had my husbands sister stay here to care for our three horses and our last Doberman. She had a horse when she was younger so her knowledge helped a lot. Finding someone to care for 3 horses is even harder than a dog! I've never boarded an animal and never will unless I am in dire straits.

And I understand that its hard to have someone in your home too. So many things to explain to them and a lot of things that could go wrong. Its a big responsibility for someone to come to your home, watch your animals and be responsible for things happening in your home. Just explaining the TV remote is a chore!! lol And then they are cooking, cleaning up etc. I think there are a lot of things to learn in a strange home.

So in the end, you have to do what your conscience tells you is comfortable. You want to enjoy yourself and not have to worry about whats happening back home. At least to a degree! lol You know your pup will be on your mind, regardless!

 

[AresMyDobie]

I vote house sitter, that's what I would do anyways lol

 

[My2Girls]

We've only done house sitters (and a lot of traveling with Princess) but we have no other choice because Princess can be skittish and sensitive and she would be a complete mess if we boarded her. But I wish we could do something like LifeofRubie just so we have options. We love to travel and it can be very difficult to find a pet sitter that 1) I can trust 2) someone who can handle 2 dobies and 3) someone that is available when we want to travel ( we're bound by school schedules when everyone else is traveling and sitters are typically booked months in advanced). So my 2 cents would be to eventually expose your pup to both that way you have options. I wish I was going on a cruise.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

'd choose Housesitting every time

I so totally agree 100% with this!!

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I've had bad experiences with boarding kennels every time.

I've had a bad experience with a dog sitter (a nice lady we knew from the dog park who watched dogs in her home). Well, the fact that my Dobe died in her care may or may not be her fault.

For me: I just will not allow someone to come into my home and me expect my Dobe to accept them and that situation. I feel this would degrade whatever capability he has to guard the home. I don't even want my Dobe to shack up with someone in their home. I want his loyalty to be solely with his family.

But I tend to be rather extreme.

Boarding kennels suck too, in my experience.

Maybe the best option for you would be a dog sitter in your home.

 

[Zippo]

I've had bad experiences with boarding kennels every time.

I've had a bad experience with a dog sitter (a nice lady we knew from the dog park who watched dogs in her home). Well, the fact that my Dobe died in her care may or may not be her fault.

For me: I just will not allow someone to come into my home and me expect my Dobe to accept them and that situation. I feel this would degrade whatever capability he has to guard the home. I don't even want my Dobe to shack up with someone in their home. I want his loyalty to be solely with his family.

But I tend to be rather extreme.

Boarding kennels suck too, in my experience.

Maybe the best option for you would be a dog sitter in your home.

The dog sitter is my fiancées work friend, a fellow RN. She's house sat for people's pets before, she's one of those types that rescues a kitten from a gutter and bottle feeds it to health, which I like lol. The cruise is on the 30th and she's coming over tomorrow to meet all the animals and for us to show her around everywhere.

 

[Rits]

The house sitter sounds perfect in your case. That's insane that the vet charges for potty fees...!!! So they just go in their kennel or do they have runs??

 

[Zippo]

The house sitter sounds perfect in your case. That's insane that the vet charges for potty fees...!!! So they just go in their kennel or do they have runs??

It's a kennel run, for 21 per day and we have 2 dogs, each time they are let out to go to the bathroom it is $7 per potty break per dog, and both our dogs are puppies, so if you don't pay they are left inside the entire time, not only do I think that's cruel but it would absolutely kill their potty training.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

It is so much easier on the pets to remain in the home with a sitter.
I always have my house well cleaned and leave a detailed instruction sheet for each of the animals and a daily log for each feeding, potty times, water consumed, walks and general comments about whether they ate, medications given, their attitude, etc.
I know that a sitter is not going to keep my house cleaned the way I do so I just accept that it will not be perfect when I return home. As long as my animals are well cared for and happy that's all I care about.
I leave emergency contact numbers and have my CC on file with the vet in the event something occurs that needs medical attention.
You can also put nanny cams in your house if that will give you more peace of mind.
Make sure your sitter is the only one in your home. I don't allow guests of the sitter to just come to my house and hang out.
I also stock the fridge with snacks and drinks for the sitter and allow use of my washer and dryer if they need it. I want my sitter comfortable so that my pets will be comfortable.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

It's a kennel run, for 21 per day and we have 2 dogs, each time they are let out to go to the bathroom it is $7 per potty break per dog, and both our dogs are puppies, so if you don't pay they are left inside the entire time, not only do I think that's cruel but it would absolutely kill their potty training.

Please tell me the runs are cleaned several times a day!
It would be so much easier to do a quick potty walk and pick up the poo than have to wash the kennel each day. That's just insane!!

 

[GennyB]

The dog sitter is my fiancées work friend, a fellow RN. She's house sat for people's pets before, she's one of those types that rescues a kitten from a gutter and bottle feeds it to health, which I like lol. The cruise is on the 30th and she's coming over tomorrow to meet all the animals and for us to show her around everywhere.

Looks like you have decided on the sitter. Good decision IMHO. I have never boarded my dogs and can't think of a reason I would. I can't even remember the last place we went that we didn't take the dogs.
Should we need to go without the dogs they would stay with one of our grown kids.

For me: I just will not allow someone to come into my home and me expect my Dobe to accept them and that situation. I feel this would degrade whatever capability he has to guard the home. I don't even want my Dobe to shack up with someone in their home.

Keep in mind that it shouldn't matter with a dobe. A doberman of sound temperament should still be able to have good enough judgement to discern a real threat to his family, no matter who is doing the threatening.
I am by far more bonded with Drake and any dog that lives here. I do most of the training, and all of the feeding and other care. Drake loves my husband and kids but don't mess with Momma. All 3 of them like to horse around and sometimes get a little rough. Drake let's them know to be easy with Mom. Would he bite them if they did hurt me? IDK, but I do believe he would any friend of other family member that posed a threat, playing around or not. He has been highly socialized and has great sense of good and bad because of it.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

@GennyB wrote: "Keep in mind that it shouldn't matter with a dobe. A doberman of sound temperament should still be able to have good enough judgement to discern a real threat to his family, no matter who is doing the threatening.
I am by far more bonded with Drake and any dog that lives here. I do most of the training, and all of the feeding and other care. Drake loves my husband and kids but don't mess with Momma. All 3 of them like to horse around and sometimes get a little rough. Drake let's them know to be easy with Mom. Would he bite them if they did hurt me? IDK, but I do believe he would any friend of other family member that posed a threat, playing around or not. He has been highly socialized and has great sense of good and bad because of it."

That's a lovely notion. I long for what you have.

 

[Archer]

I can't board my dogs, nor would I choose to. I'd rather stay home than travel and leave them anywhere or with anybody, but I know life happens and things come up. With Archer's Addison's disease we can't subject him to too much stress, so to prevent a crisis, we would have to have a house sitter as a boarding kennel would push him over the edge, but I would prefer it that way. Our Vet has kindly offered to board him in their surgical/treatment area if we are ever in a pinch. It's a nice area seperate from the kennels and I have seen it with my own eyes many times. The Vet Techs walk by it 100s of times a day. I'm still not as comfortable with that as I am with him staying at home. I have had to leave him for 24 hours at home before (work related) and had my parents come over to take care of him. I wrote out a detailed care sheet with medication and feeding instructions for them to follow and left a signed note granting them permission to approve all Veterinary care in my absence if he needed it.

$7 to take the dogs out per time?! I can see them charging $7 for EXTRA walks, but still see the extra walks as something they should just do anyway. At my vet they walk them morning, afternoon and evening and it's included in the per day boarding price. To leave a dog in a kennel all day and charge for potty breaks is cruel. Not at all impressed with a Vet that would be okay with that. In fact, I'd be finding another Vet.