Which is nicer for a dog?

[Summerwhizzedby]

We rarely go away as I hate leaving our Ddog, 12. Whenever we have, we’ve always put her in a kennel with a good reputation, she’s secure and given food and water and cleaned etc, but sleeps alone in a room and it just makes me sad.
We don’t live near family so they can’t help unfortunately and friends all have kids, dogs, work etc.
I was thinking would it be nicer to have Ddog stay at home with her comforts and space to roam around and ask one of the nice neighbour boys (late teens, good boys, know family very well) to check in on her for a couple of hours per day-change food and water, take her for a walk (they have dogs too and we have woods and fields by the house) and to stay for a while for a but of company? (We’d pay them obviously

We leave on a Saturday morning, so we’d take her for a walk before we go and for him to check on her late afternoon/evening, spend time, take her for a walk. Then for him to come round on Sunday the same and Monday morning. We’d be back Monday afternoon

Hate the thought of her alone but sure she’d prefer our nice house than a tiny room

I just don’t know

We also like our DDog to be cared for at home so we joined Trusted Housesitters and they’ve been amazing. You pay to join but all the dog sitting is free. The people who apply are all animal lovers and have taken care of our house and DDog. Well worth it.

Our dog goes to a dog sitters home, we found them on the Rover app.
We meet the sitter at their house to make sure the like our dog and visa versa.
The great thing about the app is you can be matched with the right sitter, eg our dog is a very large German shepherd and matched with sitter who is used to large breeds. Luckily he is very loving and happy with a decent sitter

I’d look at alternative kennels.

ii did the same with my previous dog
the teenager was very conscientious

This is why i don't have a dog... imho, they shouldn't be left alone for long periods and kennels whilst ok, are not great either.

I'd stick to kennels if i were you OP or a licensed dog sitter who the dog lives with.

I occasional look after a dog that i ve become extremely fond of, the owner is onto a winner as i don't charge a cent & she loves coming to stay.

We are away at the moment and have a teen pet sitter staying at our house Looking after of DDog. She has her routine and her comfy spots in the house and it works for us!

We use house/cat sitters and they hardly notice we've gone, they're so much happier than when we used kennels. Older teens tend to be perfect for this.

Yes she would prefer to be at home i’m sure. I’d probably want someone staying with my dog all the time but sure she will be ok anyway.

The teenager idea would be preferable to me than a kennel. We have a local lady who takes our dog into her home with her small dog and her family, would you maybe have anyone local to you that does this? Or you could have a look at Borrow My Doggy.

neither option - its cruel just asking someone to pop in a couple of hours a day - what about toiletting? if shes upset at night?

pay an actual dogsitter to stay in your house - we do and its great.

I'd have your neighbours take care of her, if you are SURE they are reliable. Have them send photos twice a day with an update. Also, you can get remote petcams, so you can see if she's calm, agitated, etc. I think kennels are very stressful places for animals.

Mine goes to his regular dog walker and her house, he sleeps in her bed. He wouldn’t like a kennel or being alone.

I definitely would not leave my dog like that. I would just worry all the time. Could you not find someone like a pet sitter to stay over?

Having the neighbour staying in your house to look after the dog, not leaving it alone for several hours, would be the only alternative to kennels acceptable to me if I had a dog.

Having someone pop in is ok for a day trip out... but overnights, no (and reputable dog walking/dog sitting services will not offer it)... it isn't safe, and as its way outside her norm could trigger behaviour problems (you go out as normal one day and don't return for days on end!). At least if she's at a kennels, its a different context, any distress is associated with the kennel context, not your home.

Either have someone stay at your house with her, or use kennels/home boarding service - make sure whoever you use is suitably insured and licenced

Is holidaying with Ddog an option?

Neither options sound great, sorry. I don’t think you can really leave a dog home alone with visitors. My friend uses a pet sitter website, could that be worth exploring?
Also, I used to use home from home boarders where the dog lives in their house. We had several different ones and she loved them all, it was like she was going on holiday too. You could ask your vet for recommendations?

I’m think it’s too long to be alone. Dogs don’t sleep through the night, they get up quite a lot. Mines not allowed upstairs after bedtime but she knows we’re there. I wouldn’t leave her alone in the house overnight.

If you don’t mind me asking, where in the country are you?

I live near a local kennels, they have a good reputation but I can hear some dogs howling. This is a canine communication to call back their pack. It’s awful to hear. Do you have to go away and leave such an old dog alone? When I got my dogs I changed my whole life around so that they could come with me. I also have a regular dog walker for the two afternoons a week I work - she stays in my home if I need to go away. There are lots of options on Facebook groups for home boarding etc. but I would absolutely have to know the person first. Rover.com has people who would come and stay but again, you need time for them to meet first.

Find a home boarder in your local area. Way nicer than kennels and they live as part of the family so never lonely. We fell so lucky with ours and she goes there to day care twice a week so now when we go on holiday we don't ever have to worry or feel guilty (sometimes I actually think she prefers it there as there are other dogs to play with!)

I'd ask him if he could sleep at yours whilst you are away to care for dog. If he has study to do he could do it just as well at your house. When I go on holiday my DS comes back to live at our house whilst DH and I are away but he goes out to work during the day. He feeds and walks our 2 dogs early morning for an hour then they usually snooze for a couple of hours. He then pops back for an hour at lunch time and gives them a doggy treat and puts radio on for them because they seem to like music. Then he's back home at 5.30pm. He makes a fuss of them in evening and another walk and feed. They can get in and out of house into garden through cat flap if they need toilet. They have each other for company during the afternoon. He cares for our 2 cats as well. It's not perfect but the dogs seem perfectly happy with arrangement and much happier than when we put them in kennels and they made the two dogs be in separate kennels next to each other. They wouldn't let them be in one kennel together. I think the dogs missed each other more than they missed us. One dog lost weight over 2 weeks and went off her food.

I would get professional dog sitter in to be there 24/7. Given the fact your dog is older anything could happen

Have you tried Rover? I mind dogs with them and they absolutely adore me. Its much more personal and indulgent than Kennels. I am in the house all day too so they have constant companionship. Maybe try get someone there and negotiate reduced rates for a longer stay...

We very rarely go away without the dog. It’s restrictive but having a dog is restrictive full stop. We normally go to dog friendly accommodation in the Uk or Ireland. On the 2 occasions we’ve been abroad, the first time my aunt and uncle had her in their house and the second my brother and his family took a working staycation in our house. Both times she (and they) seemed to enjoy it.