Take them with us to Cornwall, or put in doggie hotel?

[wewantyouasanewrecruit]

My parents have two 11 year old Westies. We're going to Cornwall for a week in late June.
We're flying there because it is at the other end of the country. Would you encourage/be happy with your 70+ parents taking the dogs on an 8hour train journey or would you get a pet-sitter in?
Just worrying about them not knowing the pet sitter, being older dogs, and so on.
We've discounted the idea of flying the dogs down there because of their age and the stress factor
I've also been toying with the idea of everybody else flying and me driving them down there with the Westies (at least 8 hours by road ...)
They are really not used to my parents going away hate the thought of them being miserable ....

[pigsDOfly]

I wouldn't want to leave them either, but sounds like a long train journey for 2 elderly dogs. Are you planning on putting them into travelling crates or would they travel on the lead. I think my biggest concern would be how they would manage re weeing etc (the dogs that is not the 70+ parents).

Sounds like driving is the best option, but horribly long, is there anyone who could splits it with you.

[wewantyouasanewrecruit]

Thanks for replying pigs. Re: the train journey, I think they would split it and stay overnight somewhere like Birmingham, to give everyone a rest. I convinced myself they could get off occasionally to do their business & get back on. (Could be stressful .....)
The only way I could split the car journey would be if we let my parents travel with twin 2 yo, who have never flown before, so I wouldn't be keen.
So you definitely wouldn't leave them at home with a sitter they didn't know? Do you think that would be awful for them? My folks would probably only leave them for about 5 days.

[Startail]

A lot of Cornish beaches ban dogs April to September.

[pigsDOfly]

After I sent my post Wewant it occurred to me that you could look into putting them into a 'home' type doggie hotel rather than a kennels. The dogs would be in someone actual home and would/should be treated as their own pets would be. It's a little more expensive than regular kennels but not horribly so. There is a website that lists such places, but can't remember the name unfortunately. I think it's something like 'holidays 4 dogs'. Perhaps someone else might know on here.

I think that's the only way I'd want to leave my dog.

Yes that's a good point about the beaches Startail. My local authority only allows dogs on certain beaches between March and October.

[pigsDOfly]

Sorry bans dogs on beaches March to October.

[sleeton]

Have you considered selecting your dog sitter/hotel/whatever and sending the Westies for one night sometime in the next few weeks, first of all, to see how it goes.

I can imagine you are really torn and I'm sure that you and your parents are also visualising that having the dogs on holiday could be fun, but equally it could be just as lovely for your parents to have a break without the responsibility of the dogs (as long as they knew they were fine).

Also, it is really good to have somewhere that you occasionally use, that you can confidently send your dogs to in an emergency.
Hopefully your parents will have a long and hearty life with no need for things like hospital stays, but should an overnight hospital stay or illness arise in the future, wouldn't it be good to know that you already had suitable doggy care in place, chosen and used during this Cornwall trip. IYSWIM.