Massive guilt and anxiety about leaving dog with sitter

[WhateverWeather]

Leaving DDog with a lovely sitter for 10 days. Sitter has been round and gets on well with dog, and will let her sleep on bed with her, etc (which she's used to). But I've suddenly got unbearable guilt and anxiety about how abandoned she will feel. How can I do this to her? She's been left before with relatives at their houses but never left at home with a sitter. She will think we've abandoned her :(
Any words of wisdom??

I used to look after a friend's dog - dog just switched loyalty to me in owners absence and back to owner when they came back! No pining no anxiety.
Does depend on the dog, but they're practical animals in the main.

Oh, thank you!

She is quite anxious and very attached to us, but likes the sitter...

We have had a friend’s dog to stay a few times now. She adores my DH.

So when she is with us, he sleeps in the spare room with our guest and our own bitch, leaving the main bedroom for me and my lovely boy ( dog, just to be clear)

We try to keep her on her home schedule with food etc, but she gets pretty caught up in playing with our labs and cuddling DH.

She is always excited to see her ‘mum’ back though.

Like Beamur, I used to look after two dogs for a colleague, one of which was horrifically anxious. They both went absolutely nuts when I arrived to stay with them and were completely fine, and didn't look for their owners at all.

Beamur
oh my god I thought you were going to say you kept the dog😅😅😅 I don’t know what I was thinking but I thought ‘don’t tell op that!!’😅😅😅

I've dog sat a lot of dogs, they might be a bit anxious at first (a lot of them worry that you might not know they need feeding and walking I think 😂) but once they realise you will walk, feed and cuddle them they usually settle down very quickly. It's good for them to get used to happily staying with other people IMO.

Same here. Look after a friends dog very regularly. We joke he’s got two homes now. He LOVES it here, and us. But he also LOVES when his people come back for him. Sounds like a good option for looking after him, better than kennels for example.

Honestly she won’t. She might be a bit unsettled the first day but then she’ll forget all about you once she realises the dog sitter has treats and gives her attention.

I'm feeling the same. I know I am going to miss my dog and she will miss me but I also know she will be well looked after. We are only going away for five days this year as she did struggle last year when we away for longer, but she bounced straight back.

Dog don't think like that. With a good sitter she will have a great time and then be glad to see you again. Dogs live in the moment. Don't feel bad. Enjoy your holiday.

My dog is a rescue who adores me and tolerates DH. He loves our dog sitter so much that when I pull up outside her house, he is already scrabbling on to my lap to get out of the car. Your dog will be fine - they may have favourite people, but they have lots of people they like.

I'm a home boarder, I accept dogs on a 1-1 basis who are anxious/nervous and very attached to their owners.

I promise, with the right sitter, your dog won't even think about you!

Like a PP says, they can switch loyalty very easily. As long as they're loved, safe, fed, walked etc, they never think they're abandoned.

My boarders never want to leave!

🤣🤣🤣 Is this post a joke

No! Why would it be??!