Can a dog be too attached? I am worried about kennels

[rabbit12345]

My dog is one years old and Since day one we have been joined at the hip. I work from home and I rarely leave without him although when I do, he does not bark. I get an extreme over reaction after we have been separated even if it is me coming downstairs after being upstairs for an hour. If I do not respond to the over reaction, he will sit in front of me crying until I acknowledge him.

So to say he is a one-woman dog is an understatement. If I get up to go to another room, he follows and will sit at my feet until I have finished.

My concern is that I am due to go away for 5 days and we are considering kennels. I am worried as to the effect this will have on him. Is barking when you have left a sign of seperation anxiety or can this happen without the barking. Should his over-reaction on return be a sign that he does suffer from it?

If he does should I spend more time away from him in preparation?

I am not sure who will suffer separation issues more, me or him!

Difficult OP, I'm exactly the same. Also not sure if it's me or her.

Can you do a trial run, maybe an afternoon then one overnight and get feedback as to how he is.

Routine and familiarity are really important to dogs. I never leave mine for any length of time at home. So DH says if I pop out and leave her with him she crys by the door the entire time. Work however is different. She stays in my office quite happily for a couple of hours, no noise at all according to secretary. She has always been there and seems to understand I sometimes leave her.

I wouldn't be happy at all putting her into kennels without having tested it first. I take it there's no way he can just go with you?

I'd try kennels for one night first to see how he goes.

We have a dog sitter who stays at our house. Would that be a possibility?

Definitely try the one night first. Or perhaps day care? Then one night? Then if he's fine, put him in the whole time your away.

I've got a 7 month pup. She's attached to my hip. If I come downstairs you'd think I'd been away for a year, and it's only recently I had to put her in kennels for a week. I put her in for one night before this, just to see what she was like.

I worried the whole time. I had visions of her pining for me, crying, not eating etc.

She loved it she played with the other dogs the whole time, didn't bark when she was actually in the kennels. They emailed me over a few pictures and she was having the time of her life.

Have you considered a dog sitter rather than kennels? I couldn't leave our last dog in kennels and found someone locally who has dogs to stay at her house. It worked so well as he was with people all day rather than being alone and the dog sitter carefully chose which dogs she would have staying at the same time together.

I think our dog loved her almost as much as he loved us!

My dog isn't overly attached to me but I won't use kennels anyway, he goes to stay with his doggy daycare people.
He rarely goes to daycare ( maybe once a month) but loves it. Maybe you could try finding someone who does daycare and boarding and then send him for a few days?
The good ones book up fast though, especially in the summer

Thank you. I have time so the one night stays is a good idea. It is just before Christmas and so far struggled to find a home environment for him. I have tried about 12.

Ideally that would be my first choice.

Definitely trial out the place you want to leave him then you have time to try others if you are not happy. When you say you have struggled to find a home environment, is that because of the timing or something else?

As for the over reaction when you have left the room, mine sometimes greets me after a shower like I have been away for weeks . I think it's just a 'dog thing'.

I feel for you. Our 7 month old toy poodle is going into kennels for the first time this week for 5 nights. I have used these kennels for years and the standard of care is excellent, so i am not worried on that score, but she has been my constant companion since I got her. However, although she makes a fuss of us, she is quite independent, not clingy at all. I remember going away and leaving our previous two dogs with them. I felt so guilty, but on collecting them, they were all over the kennel maids and ignored us! I look on it as part of our dogs growing up. However, I am going to investigate housesitters as we want to make some longer trips in the future. I bet they are expensive though.

As for the over reaction when you have left the room, mine sometimes greets me after a shower like I have been away for weeks grin. I think it's just a 'dog thing'.

I was going to say that. My dog acts like I've left him for weeks when I've been out for 15mins and he's been at home sitting on my mom's lap with her fussing him the whole time! He is also very chilled out when I'm out I used a baby video monitor to check.

However I'm also worried by the idea of leaving him in kennels. He likes his fuss too much.

Definitely start with brief stays and gradually work up to longer ones. Do they offer day/half day boarding? Some kennels do and it's a good place to start rather than going straight for an overnight stay.