[PrairieKing]

I am new to this forum, I am learning much information and enjoy reading the various posts and threads. I am looking for suggestions and advice on whether we should board our dogs or find someone to stay at our home while my wife and I travel to two different destination weddings that we must attend this summer. Some background on our dogs....
Piper is an 11 year old Shepherd/Lab mix. We got her as a rescue from the local animal shelter nine years ago. She was returned to the shelter twice before we adopted her. We worked through the separation/anxiety issues with Piper when we would leave the house to go to work and go shopping on the weekends. My wife and I never really traveled. We would drive to see family in a neighboring state and always took Piper with us. She travels well and the family loves her. Ten months ago a coworker approached me and said that the 10 month old King Shepherd that her and her husband adopted as a pup was too much for them and they wanted to place him in a good home. We did a meet and greet at a neutral site with Piper and brought Kash to our home two weeks after that. Piper and Kash get along fine for the most part. He always wants to play and she will growl or snap when she is tired of the youngster always trying to put a toy in her face to play with him. Although she is wagging her tail while she runs at him and growls. They do well on walks together and share food bowls. We keep Kash gated in the kitchen and Piper runs the rest of the house when we are working or shopping during the day. The dogs are with each other when we are home with minimal growling from Piper towards Kash. Again, the growling is always from Piper towards Kash when she has enough of him wanting to play. The issue at hand is.... What would be the best thing to do with the dogs when we have to travel this summer to two different weddings. We must fly so taking them is not an option. We do not have anyone that lives close to us that we could easily have stay at our home when we travel. We did get a few business cards from our Vet of folks that will house sit in your home with the dogs. I am not real thrilled with that idea. We also got the business cards of a few boarding kennels near us. I am thinking that boarding the dogs is the best option for us. Having said that.... what should we look at or be looking for when we visit these kennels? I have called two kennels in the area and they offer one price for boarding the two dogs in the same kennel and a separate price for boarding them in separate kennels. I am thinking that we board them in the same kennel for the fact that Piper has never been alone. I am hoping that she and Kash will get along alright even though my wife and I will not be with them. Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[atomic]

Hello and welcome! I work at a dog daycare/boarding facility and feel like I may be able to shed some light on your plight.

From the dogs point of view, they will absolutely be a thousand times happier staying in their own home. Even if it’s with a relative stranger. 90% of the dogs that come to daycare and board over night are so done by the end of the day. They are stressed, become cranky and sometimes volatile. I understand sometimes it’s necessary to board your dogs, but honestly the day care dogs I bet would much prefer to lounge in their home and have a walker come mid day for an hour or so. The dogs are never kenneled, even over night, unless they pose a threat to the other dogs or need a break. And they absolutely do. Boarding is very stressful, but they can and do make it through. I also understand being hesitant about allowing someone in your home. It’s your call. These people wouldn’t come recommended if they were thieves.

 

[Pytheis]

I agree. It would definitely be best for the dogs to let them stay in their home and have someone take care of them there. I do understand why you may not want to do that, so if you do ultimately decide to board them, I absolutely think they need to be kept separate. Your older dog already growls at the youngsters antics (which is normal and totally okay, in my opinion) but it will escalate if no one is there to intervene. And everything will be worse because they’ll be stressed from the kennel environment anyway.

 

[Trotter]

If it doesn't happen regularly (boarding), then the dog thinks he's been abandoned and that's hard to process, stressful, etc. Keep dogs separated when you're not around - anything, even a strange dog coming to the back door, could trigger displaced aggression and resulting dog damage. No choke collars/chains when you're not there, either. I've learned all of these the hard way.

Pet sitter visits in your own home (after intro-session w/sitter in your presence), dogs kept apart when no one's there, and that's the way I'd go.

 

[Fodder]

Pytheis stole every single one of my thoughts! Besides, why not have your mail brought in and plants watered too