Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.
~Alexander Pope
In our area, we have three local kennels available to board your pup at if you need to travel and cannot take them with you. I myself have only used the services of one of them on only one occasion, years ago, when my husband and I went to Canada. They are the old fashioned type of kennels that basically have an indoor portion with a doggie bed then a run to the outside with a doggie door in between.
When I scheduled my visit to one of the kennels prior to arranging to leave HoneyDew there, it was clean and the staff led me to believe that they took turns with the dogs playing with them and walking them on the spacious grounds. In fact when I arrived for the visit there were several staff members doing exactly that. I was also encouraged to bring her own food, toys, snuggly blanket and dishes, which I did. However, when I returned from our trip I was not very happy with the results of her stay. HoneyDew lost 10 pounds in a week, got an eye infection, and smelled like she had been kenneled next to a male dog that kept lifting his leg on her the hole week, peeewwwe! Needless to say, I have never boarded her again or Sampson for that matter and have been fortunate to be able to take them both with me wherever my husband and I travel to.
My Aunt in New York and others that I know are fortunate that they have more up to date, home style kennels to board their dogs at and they seem terrific, almost like a doggie hotel or camp!
You are probably asking why I have shared this story. Well because since that time I have from time to time for friends and family, kept their dog(s) here in our home while they traveled or in the case of owners of cats, gone to the home daily to check and feed them, rather then have them boarded at a kennel.
Such will be the case for the next two weeks. HoneyDew and Sampson are going to play host and hostess to a friends' dog named Bombee! She is an older dog who has never been away from her owners but is fast friends with me. I will be posting pics of this on our blog during the next two weeks, so please stop by to meet this wonderful ole' gal and see the antics the three of them get into.
How about you? What do you do with your pups when you need to travel? Please leave a comment and share your ideas, alternatives, and suggestions that have worked for you.
Happy Dog's On Thursday,
Tina, HoneyDew and Sampson too!
5 comments:
Yes, indeed I am fortunate. The kennel where I have boarded and get MaggieMae groomed has wonderful proprietors! And the nice thing is it's in my back yard so I KNOW how great they are!!
The last time we kenneled our boys, they both were traumatized by being away from us. Since our boys were senior dogs, my husband and I decided we would travel alone. I know it's a little drastic, but the joy we get from Buddy (we "lost" Pongo March 23 of this year) more than makes up for not traveling. We know we only have a few more years with him and then we can travel all we want, without me worrying about my "baby".
We've never boarded our dogs, instead we hire a housesitter to stay with them. They are in their familiar surroundings and the housesitter can also take in our mail, water the plants, etc. Bombee is so lucky to have your home to stay with. Look forward to seeing the pictures!
We are extremely lucky in that our families are our dog sitters. My MIL takes Murphy when we go on vacation, and if it is a long trip, my parents will split time with her. It's a lot less stressful on both my husband and I and Murphy. And the dogsitting goes both ways! When our parents travel, we get their dogs. Thankfully everyone gets along!
Hi,
this is a nice blog u have here. i would like to be a member. i hav already added my link. do let me know if i can post now.
about travelling..we have had our babies for four years now and till date have managed to take them along wherever we had gone. it takes a little extra effort, like booking a friendly hotel and stuff. but we our family feels complete.
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