Kennelling at home? Holiday dilemma!

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diddy

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Hello everyone,

We're just in process of planning a 10-day holiday & I am trying to work out what to do with the dogs. Bit of info up front we have 2 labs - 1 is 12 y.o. & super laid-back, the other is 2 y.o. & very wired! They are happy to be left on days when I have to work on-site etc., when they are shut in the kitchen.

The lady we used to send them to is no longer doing home boarding because of her own dogs & I haven't been able to find anyone else to take them as we are planning on going peak time & they are booked up.

I have looked at sending them to kennels but my OAP dog has never been to kennels before. Also my little one is a bit of stresshead & I'm not sure what she'd make of the experience. I have found a nice place that lets them out 3 times a day & comes recommended but I'm still hesitating.

The lady who used to look after them has suggested we effectively kennel them at home i.e. they stay in the kitchen & she would come up 3 times a day to take them out for a walk (hour each time). She says she has other clients that have done this & because they prefer it to using kennels.

What do other people think? I've never heard of this - it feels wrong but then is leaving them alone at home maybe preferable to putting them in kennels in an unfamiliar place where they'd be shut up most of the day anyway? Costwise it's v similar so I just want to do what's best for them. Obviously, best option would be to stay home myself but apparently that's not allowed!

Thank you!

D. x
 
I would get in a housesitter.

I have done this in the past because I have lots of animals and it would not be feasible to farm them all out.

There are housesitters that charge and some that don't - the couple I used travel all over the world, they were fab :)
 
Wouldn't do it, neighbours did this over a weekend as dog is happy to be left during the day, dog was very upset and howled the place down for 2 days. Have done it once with my collie dog (pre JRTs) and he hated it too, they know the difference.
 
I would look at getting a reliable person (neighbour/friend/petsitter) to come and stay in your home while you are away. There are various petsitting agencies if you do a google search.

We have left our sheepdogs (who are kennelled) for a couple of nights and my husband's colleague who lives locally has come and let them out and fed them but I wouldn't want to do that for longer than a night or two.

If that isn't an option then the kennels that have come recommended might be your best bet. Both dogs can be kenneled together if they get on and at least there is always someone on site if anything were to go wrong.
 
My neighbours had a friend who did this for their dog while they were away for about 2 weeks. Poor lad howled and howled it was awful, he must have been so lonely, they are home a lot with 2 kids and take him with them loads normally.

I would consider what your pet sitter suggests for maybe an overnight in a real pinch but not for 10 days
 
We've done this occasionally as one of our dogs was quite insecure about going somewhere new and would have hated going to kennells as she had been in rescue and was obviously distressed with the environment there when we got her. She was far happier in her own home with people coming in. However, I think having two dogs is slightly different, as they keep each other company, we also started with only a couple of nights, and maximum has been a week. I wouldn't want to leave them for 10 days without a short trial run first.
 
I used to leave mine at home where they more or less had the run of the yard or were kennelled when nobody was about, but the girl who looked after them keeps her horse with me so they weren't really doing anything different to normal.

Nowadays they go into kennels, which because they had never been before, I started off by sending them for just a couple of nights. The kennel owner says she wishes more people would do this, as it gets the dog used to kennels without it being too stressful for them. She finds it very hard on dogs whose owners suddenly leave them with her for a fortnight when they've never been away from home before. So maybe if you can't find a housesitter you could do this, maybe go away for a night and see how they get on in kennels?
 
Don't know where you are based but I've just used Yvette from www.assistyg.co.uk & she was marvellous. My dog combo is not dissimilar to yours and they were really happy & beautifully cared for, as was the house & garden. I looked at various options; Barking Mad etc but most of them were scarily inept. Probably would have managed the middle aged Rottie but not a chance with the broken legged crazy bull terrier!
 
Thanks so much for all your thoughts. Am going to look into housesitting agencies &/or will maybe send them for a couple of nights at the kennels - hadn't occurred to me to do a trial stay first - great idea :)
 
Just my experiences; have never left my dogs into kennels but always had my friend come out and dogs stayed about the yard, shes always been great. Recently my older staff had an accident and was hound bound for the most part needed more care so i had a sitter. Came home to her a few kg lighter cause they had "got her food wrong" and fed her 1/3 of what she actually needs.

A few days ago a friend called me from cyprus to say she had viewed her CCTV and the sitter for her 4 very small dogs (chi and pugs) and exotic cat had been leaving at 8am each morning, coming back about 9PM with her **** buddy and doing god knows what. There is a pen out the back, and it was a mess so clearly the small things had been out there in this weather! Had to get someone to go to friends house and kick out the sitter and partner and look after the animals. This woman came highly recommended by another sitter who had quit to do less hours!

Ive always worked in boarding kennels and honestly the care is great if you get a good one. I've worked in one that was like a prision...there was large steel doors (imagine a full stable door) so the dogs would not see or hear anything and be quiet, but they were walked once a day around a garden field and had a large run on a rota. Another had two sheds...one where the owners see the dogs go (big pen with outdoor run) and the actual kennel (smaller pens, but not awfully small) they only got walked to a concrete patio and if they didn't toilet within a few mins, they went back.

The last i worked in was amazing. Large runs, walked twice a day around a huge field, let off if they were able to be, rotated all day in the runs, so out for 30mins. Was not a huge one, so there was not too many all barking etc. There was smaller pens in a more quiet shed for the smaller/older ones. If they were stressed the owner would just take them into her house and let them sleep on her bed.

I suppose my point is you need to trust the care.
 
I'd ask around locally if anyone does housesitting

I'be just starting using a freelance groom, they charge £20 a day and bring their own dog with them. They stay overnight and do morning and evening walking and feeding. My regular dog walker then just comes in at lunchtime in addition
 
I use a house sitter (friend) as my boy wouldn't settle at someone else's house or in kennels, he is happy in his own environment and alsways seems to have fun!
 
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