The old dog and the leash she has on us...

[rayinpenn]

She's about 70lbs, a labor doodle and she'll be ten in a couple of months. They wanted fuzzy so I gave in. Yes Ill admit it I love that dog and I'm a softie when it comes to her. The first time we took her for a trim she picked up a nasty virus at pets are us. Vet and Antibiotics and we bought a trimmer never to be trimmed out of the house. We scheduled a vacation and Took her to doggie day care. What ever she caught had her wobbly and with a super high fever. It really was terrible. Vet and Antibiotics and when we tried again she had kennel cough. Guess what? vet and antibiotics. Every trip since has been with a car and the pooch in the back of the SUV.

I bought her because I promised the kids and I always had a dog growing up. Her job is too wake me up if there's anything going outside. She's come through when there was a string of car and house break ins. Now I feel I can't risk putting her in another kennel. I don't the thought of a dog waker - she hasn't ever been alone that long and 70lb dogs can do terrible things when alone.

I dream of a vacation abroad "but what about Dusty" even a trip to Florida means the car and 20 hours driving.

The leash is weaved with guilt and its choking me...


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[rayinpenn]

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[Sarah in SC]

She's lovely!
We have a house-full of dogs and cats and we've used house-sitters when traveling with excellent results. You may want to consider looking at HouseCarers or Trusted Housesitters--I've used both sites and was very pleased with the folks we got to stay at our place.
I've never used a kennel, mostly because we have so many pets it wouldn't be practical, plus I like having someone at the house.

 

[travelover]

We leave our pooch with a woman who dog-sits dogs in her home. It is $25 a day, but the dog loves her, so we don't feel guilty leaving the pooch. Found her through the rescue group that rescued our dog.

 

[TrvlBug]

We have 2 cats and won't board them. We have a house sitter who has been with us for 20+ years.

 

[HFWR]

I'm the only old dog in my house.

 

[rodi]

Our dog was adopted from the pound - so he'd been exposed to most everything and came to us with a case of bordetello (kennel cough). But he was young and healthy and fully recovered. We have kenneled him - but always make sure he's had a recent bordetella shot. Now we have a deal with our tenants... they watch him and we give them a discount on their rent. Total win/win situation.

Last summer when we were gone 9 weeks my sister took the pooch - and used our kennel for the short vacation she had already planned in that period. Again - we made sure his bordetella shots were up to date before handing him over to sis (and the kennel.)

 

[H2ODude]

We've discovered the joy of pet sitters who stay in the house. We have two Bassetts and inherited a cat when MIL passed, so it's about $70 a day for the three (Hey, I'm a sucker, they get the extra "play time." Sitter charges $30 a day so I always add a bunch. Dogs are happier, we're happier, house is occupied, and the sitters enjoy the cash and the duty.

We recently had opportunity to stay in friends house in FL where we took all the pets with us (the house was vacant so we had the run of the place). We took my pickup and the animals were great for the 9 hour drive other than the whining the first 20 minutes. Nothing much lower strung than a Bassett Hound.

 

[RE2Boys]

Our dog found us! Followed my 5 year old when walking in the woods at a state park, later saw her scrounging for handouts at the picnic area. No collar or anything, about 5-6 months old at the time. We took her home and she has us leashed for these past 13 years. We've limited vacations to less than 3 weeks as we have not found any good sitters in the area and she's in a kennel, never had a problem though.

Now Spottie (the name the 5 yr old gave her) is over 14 years old and really showing her age. In February she decided to put an end to her twice a day walk (it was great for getting me out no matter the weather) and refuses to leave the yard. By the way she slowly walks, I suspect a fair amount of discomfort and since May she is not reliable in the house, she's had several accidents and now spend most time in garage and adjacent covered patio.
It is so sad to watch her now remembering that as a young pup (border collie mix) she had boundless energy and would herd anything in the yard, squirrels, boys, birds. She has gotten very bony and we doubt she'll last to winter.
I so much miss her and the regular walks we took together, but I doubt we will get another dog. Moving to a new stage of retirement as the youngest will be out of HS next spring and both off to college. DW and I would like to spend a couple of months in some southern region (not Florida!) to get away from the Great Lakes snowbelt weather.

 

[rayinpenn]

Our dog found us!
I so much miss her and the regular walks we took together, but I doubt we will get another

I suspect my dog thinks that about me... When my knee deteriorated our evening walks had to stop. Now with the new knee I'm feeling great... But I won't do 90 degrees and now she's slowed down!



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[Mr._Graybeard]

A good dog-sitter is a treasure, especially if you have more than one pet. As for the creaky bones, Rimadyl can do wonders, but administer cautiously and watch for side effects.

 

[38Chevy454]

Agree on the house sitter as the best solution. We have 3 dogs that, when we don't take them, have a house sitter that allows the dogs to be home. House sitter also takes care of the 2 cats, although the cats can be left for 2-3 days without the house sitter such as when we take a quick trip in the motorhome.

Bonus with the house sitter is can do some watering if required, and general security or safety with the house not being empty for long breaks.

 

[donheff]

Ditto on the recommendation for house sitters. We have two Goldens who have never been kenneled. Usually our daughter stays but a nephew has also pitched in. It helps that our house is in a location they like to stay in. If we didn't have family we would use one of the many pet sitting services in the area. Our dogs are 12 and 10 now. When they dies we may wait a while before getting puppies so we can take an extended cross country trip.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

We too use a house sitter...it's the best thing going. BUT...a story about the 1st dog sitter we had.

The first one came along from a recommendation from a friend. She was associated with a pretty big local pet sitting service and had fabulous reviews. Well, she sucked. The agreement was that she would spend at least 30 minutes with the fuzzy ones twice a day...this included play time. At the time, I was getting text alerts as to when the home alarm was armed and disarmed. I noticed on the second day that the time between disarming and arming the alarm was less than 10 minutes on both visits. I called her to see what the deal was and she had some excuse about an emergency. So, the next day, when she disarmed the alarm, I pulled up the camera (she was made aware of our surveillance system before she was hired). Well, she was sitting on the couch and one of our fuzzy companions is a fun loving, attention seeking Brussels Griffon that wanted nothing more than to be petted and loved...instead, the sitter was constantly pushing him away and yelling at him. I was fit to be tied, but was powerless to anything about it. For the rest of our trip, I would pull up the camera when she was there and I continued to get madder and madder. On the last two days, she would come in, disarm the alarm and immediately leave the house. About an hour later, she would come in, arm the alarm and immediately leave the house paying ZERO attention to the animals. Again, I have NEVER been so damn angry. Moral of the story? Even if they are highly rated and recommended, BE CAREFUL!!!

We now have a wonderful young college student that comes and stays at the house and the few times we have pulled up the camera, she is loving on our animals like they are hers. It's a great arrangement.

...As for the creaky bones, Rimadyl can do wonders, but administer cautiously and watch for side effects.

Our BG's (tow Brussels Griffons) both have pretty bad arthritis and they are on Medicam. That stuff is a miracle drug for them...take a look at the reviews, it's pretty amazing stuff.


And look at this face...who would want to treat him badly?!?

 

[naggz]

+1 for in house pet / house sitter.

Much less stress on the pets, as they are in their own home, and piece of mind for you because your home is not sitting empty while you're away.

It's also cheaper for us, because we have 2 dogs and a cat, and kenneling dogs, plus someone to visit the cat costs more than the house sitter.

An added bonus is the sitters we've hired (from the same company) have all left the house cleaner than we turned it over to them!!!

 

[Whisper66]

Have used a friends high school kid many times as a pet/house sitter. Worked out great. About $20-25 / day.

Have used a local college student also a couple times. Worked out great. About $35 / day.

Both those folks have moved on so started looking for alternatives.

Currently have a friend with 2 large dogs. When she is traveling, we take care of her dogs and we love it. When we are traveling, she takes care of our one dog and enjoys her also. All three dogs are pretty large (55-110 lbs) so options are a little more limited and costly for both of us than if we had small dogs as many sitters limit themselves to small dogs.

Recently found out through a post on our local neighborhood website (www.Nextdoor.com) that we have two different neighbors in our neighborhood that pet sit in their home. We plan to go meet one or both and use them occasionally.

We also would like to take road trips with our dog but know there will be some places while traveling that we cannot take her. Just picked up a phone app that allows us to find pet sitters in most large cities and many smaller locations. Can also use their website www.Rover.com. Haven't used one of their sitters yet but played with the app on our last trip and found many sitters we could have interviewed and tried if we liked. Typical cost was $25-40/day in their home.

 

[Marita40]

I have two geriatric cats, one of whom needs an insulin shot twice a day, has litter box issues as many senior cats do, and is increasingly needy emotionally. I have not travelled for two years now because I really can't leave him at this time in his life. It is probably more stressful for me to be away than him. It is also very expensive for a trained person to come in twice/day to administer the shots. I would not board him; I think he would die. So I too am caught up in this dilemma. I love him to pieces.

 

[Sarah in SC]

One thing I'll mention is the housesitters we've used through the sites I referenced is that there is no fee. We exchange the use of our home for their taking care of the animals. That's the typical arrangement for these things, but it does help to be in a place people want to visit! Though we now have a permanent roommate to watch them when we leave, it was very comforting to know that the folks who stayed at our place were nice folks who did a great job "holding down the fort" while we were away, and seemed to enjoy their time in our area.

Marita, I know of what you speak, dealing with geriatric cats (and dogs) is always an exhausting endeavor, and not one easily left to others. You might ask at your vet's office if any of the techs do short term pet care, sometimes that is a good solution if you need to go out of town.

 

[Midpack]

After 30+ years with dogs, always in pairs, we're temporarily dogless. But our Shelties owned us, and even more so as they aged. They were adorable as puppies, fun but more independent in their middles years, and endearing and sweet when they grew older - their later years were probably the best in our view. We too had two bad kennel experiences, and vowed never again. They didn't travel well so it meant fewer vacations, and not being away from home too long most days. But it was a trade we were happy to make. Life is better with dogs in the family IME...

We might have to try housesitters with our next dogs, though we'll both be retired so it may not be necessary.