Getting a puppy but Australia holiday booked for august

[MrsJThornton]

Hello,

We have got the opportunity to welcome a retriever pup into our home at the beginning of December. We are very excited and in every other respect our lives are able to accommodate a puppy very well. However, we are due to see family in Australia for 3 weeks at the end of August next year (dog would be approx 10 months old by this point). This would be a one off trip and we have two options for looking after the pup at that point- family would stay or a local lady who runs a dog sitting service would have him/her in her home.
However, I want to make sure that it's fair to do so at that stage in a dog's life before we commit so would really appreciate people's views please. Thanks

We left ours with in laws for 2 weeks when she was 9 weeks old. They were, they now admit, absolutely mad to have said yes as they were house training her in a miserable January, staying in our half renovated house.

All went well, they bonded well, and they are really her favourite person.

At 10 months it'll be fine and probably build confidences.

Thanks @BarrelOfOtters that's really reassuring, you sound like you have brilliant in-laws too!

We actually left one of ours at 9 months to do the exact same! We were away for 20 days in total and he stayed with family friends who dog sit for us and vice versa.

Even though we had no plans to go away in the run up to our trip to Aus we made sure he had 3 trips to their house, starting with one night and building up to 4. He was fine each time and when we eventually went to Aus was fine again (apparently cried a bit one day about a week in but was easily distracted with toys). It was heartbreaking leaving him but he really was absolutely fine and slotted straight back into family life with us like nothing had happened. If you have people you can trust then I say go for it, just be prepared for worrying a lot whilst you are away!

Thanks @PanicAtTheBigTesco I think the worry throughout would be the biggest issue even though I'd only be leaving him/her with responsible, caring people

There is no reason not to leave him at any age, provided that the care is good. My dog stays at a kennels, but it is a "cut above average" - a luxury kennels. He loves it, and they love him. They have the hugest dog play areas you have ever seen!

I think on the face of it it's fine, but you have to consider what you'd do if he didn't get on at the pet sitters. I presume you'd have some trial nights but at that age they change so quickly and it's going to be quite late in the day to know if it's not going to work out.

You do have family as backup but 10 months is prime age for teenage twattiness in retrievers - would they cope/do they have experience?

I think it's fine but agree that you need to consider back up options in case your dog turns out to be reactive (through no fault of your own but some dogs I know have become reactive due to bad run ins with other dogs) so can't get on with dog boarding or some other reason (e.g. a bitch in heat which is possible at 10 months and some dog sitters can't take if the have other dogs as well). Or, as someone else pointed out, they hit adolescence and being a nightmare to walk or handle. Depending on your family, it may not be sensible in that case to have grandparent walk a lab that is potentially almost 30kg. We currently have a 9 month old lab that was brilliant up until 8 months and has now forgotten all training. Back to lead walks and training and we've not been able to have anyone look after her because her recall has gone to pots and she pulls like a train so I don't think it would be responsible for us to leave her with friends. Even if they knew what they were doing, I would feel bad as even I'm not enjoying our walks these days!

I'm sure it will be fine if you get a pup. But definitely sensible to have a back up plan for your back up plan, including a fall back dog sitter!!! A friend of mine had a trip to Australia planned too but last minute their regular sitter experienced health issues and they were left scrabbling.

Thanks all, I appreciate the responses. Lot to think about but if we go ahead we will definitely arrange for a backup to the plan

That's the age for peak teenage twattiness and training consistency will be necessary.

I don't know what your family are like with following instructions but when I send mine to stay with DF he ignores absolutely everything I say about training and the dog pretty much comes back fat and disobedient like a spoiled grandchild. He's a bit middle aged now so it makes less difference nowadays but it did set back his training in the early days (e.g. a fortnight of not getting a single treat for recall = why bother coming back when called?)

DDog adores DF though and the dog sitting is free so...

I'd absolutely go, but I think I'd opt for the professional dog sitter. Three weeks is a long time to get into bad habits and perhaps be looked after a bit sub optimally. The dog sitter buys you peace of mind.

If you're wanting to book such a long trip for next summer you need to organise your dog care now. I'm a dog sitter and I've been taking bookings for 2023 since January.

If you leave it until your puppy is here you may find there are no spaces left. There is a huge shortage of home boarders and dog sitters so you really do need to be organised.

I also wouldn't be leaving a teenage dog with anyone except a professional with insurance. There are a nightmare at that age and it could potentially destroy your relationship with your family if they're stuck with a teenage terror for several weeks!

Thanks everyone for your advice. We've cut trip down to 15 days and have booked a really highly recommended dog boarder for the trip who will be doing some doggy day care sessions in the run up to the trip