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The doghouse

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Original poster

What do you do with your dog when you go on holiday?

38 replies

Jenniferturkington · 29/09/2017 07:58

As the title says really.
We are very close to saying yes to a family dog. The one thing holding us back is the fact that we go on holiday quite a lot.
The question is, what do you do with the dog when you go away? Or do you not go on holiday?

OP posts:
MrsJayy · 29/09/2017 08:00

He goes into kennels or the Dds watch him,

exexpat · 29/09/2017 08:04

We either pay a professional dog sitter (there are lots around who have dogs to stay in their own homes, costs about £25/day round here) or dog-swap with friends or relatives (means you need to be happy to have someone else's dog staying with you for a few weeks a year).

There is also the (cheaper) kennels option, but everything I have seen and heard about them puts me off.

Or you take to only booking dog-friendly holidays - lots of holiday rentals, camp sites and even some hotels in the UK welcome dogs, and you can get a pet passport to take them overseas, but obviously many types of holiday are not dog-friendly.

austenozzy · 29/09/2017 08:07

Ours stayed with a friend's family for a week this year. On our return, we found that she'd chewed a hole in the arm of their sofa, ruined at least two pairs of shoes and plenty of kids toys. So she'll be going back to the dog boarding place next time...

The dog boarding place is the usual situation where the dog lives in the house as if a part of the family, rather than in kennels. DW's friend runs it at their farm, and DDog goes out with them on long stomps, 'helps' with the horses, etc. She comes back and sleeps for two days!

sparechange · 29/09/2017 08:10

If we can’t take her with us (and she has come with us on several holidays, including skiing) have reciprocal dog sitting arrangements with 2 sets of friends, so we have their dog while they are away and they have ours
And we also have family that live nearby who come and stay in our house, so DDog can carry on going to doggy daycare

And if none of those options work, the doggy daycare people do overnight boarding in their home so she goes to them.
The first 2 options are free though!

Ylvamoon · 29/09/2017 08:14

Grin take Ddog with you! Ours have a pet passport & on the odd occasion when we go away without them, they go on doggy holidays at nan's to be spoiled.

TheKitchenWitch · 29/09/2017 08:15

Only go on dog-friendly holidays. I can´t imagine not taking the dog with us, it would be like leaving a child behind! :D

Greyhorses · 29/09/2017 08:16

We go on dog friendly trips however when we go away somewhere they can't come they go to a dog sitter nearby.

I don't give it a second thought as they love it there.

SoPassRemarkable · 29/09/2017 08:16

I bought a caravan because i couldnt leave her. Saying that a friend has started doing home boarding so we did leave her there this summer.

user21 · 29/09/2017 08:17

Kennels.
We don't always want a dog friendly holiday.

BeachysFlipFlops · 29/09/2017 08:19

We have a dog sitter who lives in our house for the week. She's a dog walker too so dogs go out with her too

blueskyinmarch · 29/09/2017 08:21

She goes to stay with her gran and grandad. They love to have her. Sometimes we take her with us. Sometimes DD2 (who is at uni) is around and looks after her. Once or twice she has been to kennels.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 29/09/2017 08:26

Ours invariably went into kennels - the one recommended by our vet, who used it for his own dogs.
I didn't have anyone I felt I could ask to have her - it's such a responsibility, and my mother was far too squeamish to pick up poos! And in any case I don't think I'd have trusted anyone to be careful enough. Our dog was extremely attached to me, and I'm sure that if anyone had left a door open even very briefly she'd have charged off, trying to find me.

Kennels were expensive, though, and because they were always booked up early around here, it meant we had to book holidays very early, too.

missyB1 · 29/09/2017 08:31

Our dog walker also does home boarding so we've done that a couple of times.

GeorgeTheHamster · 29/09/2017 08:31

Do you have a friend who would like to have a dog but feels unable to because of working hours? Get them involved with the puppy from the start and t may evolve into free dogsitting

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 29/09/2017 08:36

I really used to envy anyone whose parents loved having their dog! I think my father would have enjoyed it, but by the time we had one, my mother was widowed and although she liked our dog well enough she was never really a doggy person. Unlike me and dds!

MrsJayy · 29/09/2017 08:36

I dont think it is fair to ask anybody to watch our dog he is a total weirdo the only person who i would trust is my Aunt but the dog detests my uncle 😕 so kennels is the best option but you need to book that first before you can book your own

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 29/09/2017 08:36

We have a house sitter. £25 or £30 per night. Which we build into the cost of the holiday.

bengalcat · 29/09/2017 08:37

In the UK we take dog with us and if going abroad use a dogsitter

Dawnedlightly · 29/09/2017 08:39

TheKitchenWitch
I adore my dog- she makes my heart sing when I get home.
But also...
One of the joys of holidaying is having a break from her. Not having to think about her safety, getting too hot, letting her out etc. She goes to parents or stays with a dog walker.

BarchesterFlowers · 29/09/2017 08:40

We either take her with us or she goes to a dog sitter (stays in her house), we used to have a lovely woman who came to stay with her in our house which I preferred but we moved.

pingu73 · 29/09/2017 08:41

I use petstay which match you with one on one carers in your area. My dog Abbey is going this morning for the weekend and it’s cost us £7 per day for the agency and £11 per day for our carer so £18 Per day in total . The couple we have are retired nd have lots of time for our Abbey. They are registered with the council and also carry insurance too and she gets to stay in their home with them and be an honoured guest for the weekend

Hoppinggreen · 29/09/2017 08:42

Home boarding
We have 3 we use depending on availability as they get very booked up in school holidays
Been doing it since ddog was 8 month old and despite being a bit of a nutter he's very sociable not at all destructive so they are all happy to have him
It means you can't be very spontaneous and adds ££ to the cost of holidays but it's never stopped us going away for holidays, weekends or even long days out

CMOTDibbler · 29/09/2017 08:43

We use a house sitter (great as they look after cats, chickens and dogs as well as keeping the house occupied) or they go to home boarding. We also take them with us camping.
The harder thing to get cover for is a long day out when it's not dog friendly, so you need to think about that as well

user21 · 29/09/2017 08:43

I have friends who use borrowmydoggy

www.borrowmydoggy.com/

Stellato · 29/09/2017 08:43

We use Wagging Tails for home dog sitting. DDog doesn't like holidays, although we have taken her in the past on dog friendly ones.