Vacation- What to do with my two dogs when we are away?

I know this is very far in advance but I worry about my little guys...

We are taking a 10 day vacation at Christmas time. We are flying in order to avoid the snow storms that might prevent us from driving. If we drive, we could obviously take our dogs. But, we have already decided to fly so that is a moot point.

Anyway, I was wondering and needed advice on what to do with them. Our doggy door is set up where it has one doggy door going from the laundry room into the garage and then another from the side garage door to the backyard. We have left them overnight before and just closed the laundry room door so they could come in and out but not get into the house.

What I am debating is, should we just leave them in the garage/laundry room with access to the backyard and have someone come and feed them every day? Or should we find someone to take them in their home. I am not sure how easy it will be to have someone take them but to have someone come feed them will be much better.

I just feel terrible leaving them by themselves for 10 nights. Do you think as long as someone came over to check on them, feed them, and play with them that they would be okay? Or should I seriously look into having someone take them for the duration of our vacation?

These dogs are like my children so I know I am a bit paranoid about it. I just worry about them getting lonley but they do have each other. And, they will have full access to the backyard and if it gets cold, they will have the garage and laundry room. So, they will have a nice space to live in. Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you.

 

I would find someone i trust and offer to pay them to stay at my house for those ten days, or have a friend take them into their home for ten days. I would be way to worried about my dogs if i went on vacation and left them home mostly unsupervised. Having someone to come feed and play with them is a good idea, but what about the 12 or so hours at night when no one will be there? I've noticed that most emergancies happen at night, or at least with my guys that seems to be the case most of the time.

Do you have any good friends or family who would be willing to stay at your house or take them to theirs?

Maybe even a really great boarding facility? I know they have some here that the dogs have their own rooms with beds and doggie doors, and they get to play with other dogs all day long. It could be expensive but I think well worth it knowing they are happy and healthy and safe. Goodluck and have fun on your vacation!

 

We used to leave our outside dogs alone when we went on vacation. They could go into their kennel in the garage and out into the backyard at will. They had someone come and feed them twice a day. That person also had to close the doggy door at night and open it in the morning so they couldn't stay outside and bark at the neighbors all night, being terriers and all.

That being said, we no longer have "outdoor dogs" and we board our dogs when we go on vacation.

We did have a lovely experience with a pet sitter for our cats when we went on our honeymoon. For various prices, you could have her come once or twice or more, and she would feed them and play with them, etc. The more you want her to come, the more expensive it is of course. You can find pet sitters in the yellow pages, but make sure they are bonded and insured and it is even better to get recommendations for good ones from your vet or people you know who have used them.

 

I would try to get somene to stay in your house, do you know of any college students or maybe friends that want to get away and would like to stay at your house?

Are they normally allowed in the house when you are home? or do they normally sleep in the laundry room? if they do, and you cant find someone to stay, then i would Have someone come feed them, and you can alwasy all tehm an check up on them.

Our dogs our mainly indoor dogs, we have a dogdoor in our laundry room, that comes into our house, we put a lock on the laungry door with the intent if were were to go out of town the dogs could sleep in teh the conditioned laundry room, well thats a no-no for us, my lab will cry and cry if we do this so the door is left open an dthey have full access to house, and never had a problem since they are old enought and dont do any house damage.

 

I'm super paranoid like you. I might consider a boarding kennel in this case. You have plenty of time to check them out if you start now!

 

I have had friends come and stay at the house a few times or they go into boarding kennels, I used to have a hard time leaving them alone while I was working :shock:

Almost every animal hospital Ive worked at has had at least one employee that would offer this service, so if you have a vet that you go to regualrly and know some of the staff there maybe see if there is someone that can do it.