In August, Adam and I are going on vacation to Washington D.C. We will be gone for a week and won't be able to take Gypsy or Rascal (he's a cat) with us since we're planning on going to Busch Gardens and Williamsburg and stuff too. While I was gone shopping with my mom and aunt in Gatlinburg two weekends ago, my little brother stayed at my house and took care of them, but I don't know if he can do it for a whole week or not. I plan on asking him to see, but my only other option is to board them while we're gone. I've never done it before, and I'm a little worried, considering all the work I've done with Gypsy.

I'm afraid that she will be allowed to 'get away with' things that she doesn't get away with with us, if I board her. I'm afraid that the staff won't be as strict on her as I am, and with her dominance towards other dogs, she would have to be kept away from them and not allowed to go out for doggie playtime because I can't expect the staff at a boarding kennel to understand the remote collar, nor would I trust them to use it (or her prong collar, for that matter) correctly. I did send an e-mail to my trainer to see if there were any that he could recommend. He knows all about her training and prior issues, so I would trust what he had to say. Other than that I haven't looked into any of the kennels or petsitters in the area yet, but I am just worried about what we're going to do.

Yes she will get away with things at the kennel, but I don't see why that would transfer back home. She would just know that she could get away with things at the kennel. We excersize dogs seperatly here and it's not a problem. go and visit kennels in your area and talk to them. I doubt anything monumental training wise is going to happen in a week. We also don't allow pinch, choke or e collars on the dog while they stay here, too much chance of getting stuck on the fence.

kristen
There are alot of boarding kennels that have indoor and outdoor runs where the kennel worker locks the dog out while they are feeding and cleaning and then let them back in by opening the pulley and then do the same to clean the outside. so nobdy really handles the dogs.
Where i board i walk my dogs in the kennel and when time to pick up i go in the back and get them. it works for me i would rather not have anyone touch my dogs anyway

I understand the concern, the only kennels around here that I know of either stick the dogs in a lil crate 24 hours a day except for 15 mins at 10am and 15 mins at 3pm to let em out for a leashed walk to do their thing. Either that or its all-day-play type kennels that let the dogs run around a big room or a fenced in outdoor area and won't take un-neutered dogs or dogs that aren't sociable with other dogs. Id like to open my own boarding kennel that caters to all these different demands, unfortunately zoning in this part of town makes it near impossible to do.

Our solution has been to bring the dogs with us on vacation and drop them off at the kennel just for the day. That way the dogs aren't really being handled by anyone else and we are able to go some places that dogs aren't allowed.

Pam, I don't understand what you mean?

I think she's talking about finding a kennel close to where you are staying on your vacation so you can still keep an eye on your dogs every day instead of leaving em for a week straight.

Ofcourse this would mean either also letting em board there overnight or finding a hotel that is pet-friendly. I wish we could edit posts on this board.

But see, the thing is we aren't staying in one place for the whole week. That's why we can't take her with us; if we were staying in one place for the entire time it would be different, because we'd be able to crate her in the hotel room while we were out. But because we'll be traveling around, and on the way back home, visiting Busch Gardens and Historic Williamsburg for a couple of days, it just isn't an option to take her with us. We'd have to leave her in the car and I am absolutely NOT doing that.

Believe me, I've thought about this for a while, trying to figure a way that we could take her with us, but there is just no way it can be done and us still be able to enjoy ourselves and not stress her out. With Rascal, I'm not too worried, because I know my aunt can come down and empty his litterbox every day. With Gypsy though, she is on such a funky feeding/potty schedule because of her sensitive stomach, that I can't expect my aunt to be able to take care of Gypsy for a whole week. That would mean she'd have to come over at 6:30am and let Gypsy out, then feed her, then wait a few minutes and let her out again to poo; then repeat at 5:30pm, then repeat again at 9:30pm. If her dog hadn't turned into a butt-hole towards Gypsy, she could stay with them, but for some reason, Buddy has decided that he doesn't like Gypsy anymore, and is a total ass to her now.

I think what she was suggesting is that if you were to take Gypsy with you, that you would find a kennel close to say Williamsburg and then board Gypsy there while you are at the attraction.

What about having your aunt feed her once a day and having a petsitter come the other two times?

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