# two week vacation - boarding or dog sitter?



## goatdude (Mar 3, 2009)

Going on a two week vacation this summer so I'm trying to decide on what's best to do with our 18 mo female GSD - boarding or home dog sitter. I did find a kennel who's owner is also a GSD owner and loves the breed. The kennel has good reviews but as with any kennel there will be stress placed on the dog, especially a two week stay. An alternative is a pet sitter. At home the dog will be under less stress provided the pet sitter is reliable. 

My dog has been boarded for four days last summer and seemed to do OK with it, so I'd go seven days boarding without hesitation. It's just going double that amount of time which has me concerned.


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## ZAYDA (Apr 22, 2010)

I have always found someone to stay at my house to watch over my dogs as I feel that is best choice for my girls.


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## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

I boarded Sigurd for 16 days around Christmas. I brought him a week before to sniff around, meet the staff. I also booked that night for him, I picked up him the next day around 6pm (the latest time to pick up dogs). I picked him up the latest time to give him a the longest experience possible. He didn't want to leave when I arrived. He loved it. The whole place gave me a good feeling, I felt confident that they would take care of him, and he wouldn't stress out. I also got him his own room, with an attached kennel so he wouldn't have to put up with some other dogs barking/whining all the time (the room was quieter once the door was closed). Just walking through the non-private section for me was a bit stressful, so I decided on the more expensive option for Sigurds well-being (haha, or maybe just my own).

I will be boarding him again this summer for a week when I go on Vacation. Find a place you feel confident in and let your pup stay there for a night a bit before the longer stay.

I don't have friends or family where I live. If I would have someone come to my house while I'm gone, it would be a complete stranger. I don't know about you, but I really don't want people I don't personally know coming into my house (especially while I'm not around. It's like "Come on it, take what you like!").


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I say petsitter. Even better if you have friends that will TAKE your dog to their home while you are gone. I know I work with all my friends and I take their dog(s) when they go away, and they take mine. Free for all of us. Zero worries and concerns. And, frankly, my dogs act like they are in summer camp and seem to have a wonderful time without me!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

plan a vacation that includes the dog. 

the dog sitter is a good idea. is the sitter
going to visit 3 times or more?

if you kennel your dog maybe you should
do a few test runs. if i were going to kennel
my dog i would take him to the kennel several times
before leaving him for any length of time.

i go would go to the kennel and spend a few hours with
my dog there. then i would go and spend a longer period
of time at the kennel. then i would leave him at the kennel
for 1/2 a day, then an over-nighter, then i would leave him
for a day or 2. i would build up to a 2 week stay.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Because I have more than just dogs, I would get a pet sitter. 
Most are bonded and insured and it would help to have some traffic in and out of the house, so it appears to be lived in. 
This past winter many homes were targets of thieves when no tracks in the snow gave them the hint homeowners were on vacation.
It all depends on your specific situation, IMO. The best thing would be what MaggieRoseLee does, if you only have one or two dogs.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

I've been happy with my current kennel (the owners live on site), the Hooligans do well when I take them there. They're willing to allow them access to the outside runs until 11 or 11:30 at night, and go the extra yard to ensure they're content.

I gave up on asking "friends" the last time a "friend" watched them, ignored all my insturctions because she knew better than I did on what to do and I swore I'd never go that route again.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If I cannot take my dog, I am not going, not for a week or more. 

My last vacation was when I built the kennels. I had Jazzy in one of them and Arwen in the other. My sister and I were going from Sunday to Saturday to a church camp. My contractor finished the first kennel and was just getting the second one completed. I had the tarp over the first one, and he had instructions to put the tarp over the second one. My brother and his friend would come out and feed the dogs (Jazzy was his dog.)

The night I left, Baby Hugo struck. It rained for three days. Buckets of water fell on the tarp and partially collapsed the one kennel -- a two by four by fourteen across the top was broken. My brother had to find some way to brace it. They removed the tarps. 

I was uncomfortable with the dogs at home. It was a really weird week anyway with all the rain, our cabin mates, our table mates -- we came home on Thursday. 

That was my last vacation. It was six years ago.

If I need to be gone overnight, my dogs are ok without me. 

If I need to be gone for a day and a night, my dad will feed my dogs. 

If I need to be gone longer than that, then I will be in a hospital, because travelling while my dogs are at home is not really a question, and taking them all with me is out of the question. 

Nobody will love and care for my dogs like me.


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