Author Topic: Traveling without your dog  (Read 6872 times)

Offline Jason

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Traveling without your dog
« on: August 27, 2006, 09:30:52 am »
I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed recently or not, but it is something I wrestle with every time I leave town. My wife and I are planning a trip abroad and unfortunately we have to leave Oreo at home. In the past, I have preferred to have friends stay at my house and watch him and the house together. Well, the closer the vacation gets, the less likely it seems that will happen. I have also in the past taken Oreo to a friend's house for a week or so to hang out with her pups. She now has a 9 month old skin kid and I'd rather not impose on her this time.

So it now looks like I have two options 1) board him, or 2) hire a professional sitter to visit 3 times a day to feed, exercise, and love him. As far as boarding is concerned, I've had a bad experience before. As for a pro sitter, I am afraid 3 times a day will not satisfy Oreo's emotional need for human interaction.

So I must ask all you BPO'ers for opinions and comments. What do you all do when travel forces you to leave your pets at home? Do you think they prefer familar surroundings over more supervision/interaction? Wh do you trust to take care of your family member? And, if anyone in the Atlanta area has a specific person or boarding facility that they can share opinions on, I would love to hear from you. If you don't want to publicly state it, you can email me directly.

Thanks,
Jason

Offline shangrila

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Re: Traveling without your dog
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2006, 09:55:13 am »
Do you have any good doggy daycare places in the area? When we have had to go out of town in the past and couldn't get anyone to watch zoey, we have boarded her at a doggy daycare. I sent her to the daycare beforehand, so she was comfortable and we knew we could trust them. Plus, instead of being alone and penned up all day like a regular kennel, the dogs all get to play together all day.
RIP former BPO

Offline greek4

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Re: Traveling without your dog
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2006, 04:22:11 am »
I'm lucky that my cousin lives with me so she will usually stay with the dogs when I travel for work.  I think having someone stay in your own home with the dogs is easiest for the people and dogs.

I also have a great place to board my guys when I got back to Cincy for the weekend.  The key was that they are already familar with the people there and it is a place out in the country so they are not stuck in cages all day.  It is more like a camp than boarding.

Where do you live?  I'm sure there is another BPOer near you that could recommend a place or person.
Thanks,

Emily and 1 husband, 1 boy, 1 on the way, and 4 crazy dogs

Offline Boyle

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Re: Traveling without your dog
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2006, 04:36:15 am »
We just returned from a long vacation and had left Nola in the care of a petsitter.  The sitter was his former walker so he just adores spending time with the beast (not so much that it is free, mind you).  The sitter arrives right before we leave and stays until we return.  He spends the nights just for our peace of mind.  Nola is on a raw diet so we have to bag all his daily food before we leave. 

If you are looking at a sitter, make sure they are bonded and insured.  In our area, sitters average $50/day.

We used to board Nola but there were a couple of incidents and they don't take un-neutered dogs over the age of 8 months.  Everytime we would pick him up, he would have some sort of wound.  He had gashes on his face plus we found out that a pitbull that was being boarded attacked a boxer and caused some serious damage.   

Good luck in your search.

EllieAndBlu

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Re: Traveling without your dog
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2006, 04:55:33 am »
Hi Jason (and fellow Atlantan),

There is a pretty good website you can chekout for guidance in the Atlanta area.

www.kudzu.com lists all sorts of Atlanta services, including pet-related that people rate/review. It might be a good place to start for guidance... I've used it for car issues and have been really pleased! My roommate is in the process of researching the site for vet recommendation s! 

I have a friend who used to work at Barking Hound Village. The people that work there really love the dogs and take good care of them... plus they adhere to special requests/instructions left by owners.

Also, though I haven't used them personally, Wag-A-Lot has a nice facility on Northside Drive... I took a tour of it and it is great! Plus the people there were really nice. It might be worth researching.

Also - I may be able to help out.... I've always wanted a dane  :)
what part of town do you live? when is your trip? (feel free to PM me if you'd like)

Rachel
« Last Edit: August 28, 2006, 04:58:56 am by EllieAndBlu »

Offline Jason

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Re: Traveling without your dog
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2006, 08:35:19 am »
I appreciate everyone's comments. I have checked out a few Daycare places and even asked my vet for a petsitter recommendation .
Rachel, I actually checked out kudzu.com last week and used them to get reviews on Barking Hound Village as well as others. I guess great minds think alike. So far, Barking Hound is the front runner if I do decide to go with daycare/boarding. I'll keep you posted about my experience with them.
Thanks again to all.

Jason