Pet Boarding

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I was wondering people with pets what do you do when you go on vacation? Get your friends to watch your dog or cats, etc. I was wondering who gets this done and how do you get your friends to do it?

We currently have a roommate, but he's irresponsible and selfish. Thus we would very rarely trust him to watch our dogs for more than the day. And even with long daytrips, snowboarding, we'll send the dogs to doggie daycare instead of expecting our roommate to let our dogs out to pee.

He works whenever he wants, and is only a roommate. Thus I don't think it's fair to expect him to watch our dogs.

We have friends who have volunteered and even my BIL when we lived close by. BUT even then we didn't. My BIL is also irresponsible like our current roommate. But our friends, most don't have dogs.

So our biggest worry is they don't "get" how often you have to come home, let the dogs out. So they may go out to dinner but forget to walk our dogs and then our dogs will pee in the house. Or they will stay at work more than 8-10 hours and forget to let the dogs out. They have to walk our dogs morning, afternoon, and night. And they have to pick up dog leftovers.

Only once did a friend watch our dog for 1 week, but we in reality hired her (she was my DH's summer intern at work). So we paid less than going rate for her to house sit and she could have friends over which she loved.

Other than that, we've never had people watch our dogs or dog and we've been owners for 7 years now. We've always paid to have our dogs boarded even for weekend getaways. It is very pricey.

But I want to know, how do you get your friends to watch your dogs? Do you give them anything? Or do you have a reciprocal agreement with say other dog owners?

[GREENBACK]

I usually go ahead and pay a boarder. It can get expensive but I have the peace of mind that they are with a professional that understands a dogs needs. I have left them with freinds but wouldn't want something to happen to the dogs and strain a relationship and well as injure the dog so I don't do this anymore.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Used to get my Dad to come take care of the dog. He would not accept any pay. Once I took the dog over to another family member's house where he would get more interaction with people, but he really moped, whined, and had a lot of anxiety for the ten days we were gone. For that dog, I think it is better to stay in a familiar environment than to have people (he knew them) around in an unfamiliar environment. Now I have no family in town, and no dog either, but if I needed to make arrangements, I think I would hire someone to come to the house.

[simpleyme]

I have my oldest son watch the pets when we leave , he is 22 and the dog and bird was his when he lived with us so he cares about them and does come take care of them

[momof1in150]

We pay a boarder. It is $18 a day and includes everything. It is best for our lab but she is slightly stressed when she gets home. We just include it in our vacation budget.

[MonkeyMama]

We have a cat who doesn't really need anything. If we are gone longer than 4-5 days though (rare) we have someone check on her. My friend works nearby and we ask her. These days I'd probably ask a neighbor. IF we're gone a week the cat probably wouldn't need anything. A quick peek in is easier to ask for.

I do go a little crazy and leave bowls of water in all the tubs, just in case. Since we usually vacation in summer and it is HOT! (Yeah, we leave the air on and all that too).

[scfr]

LAL, since you said dogS it sounds like you have more than 1. In that case, hiring a professional pet sitter may be less expensive than boarding. [Generally speaking, for a single dog, boarding is less expensive, but when you start talking about multiple pets hiring a sitter is often less expensive. Look for one who's insured, bonded (if it's an employee and not the business owner), and trained in pet first aid. Best way to find a good one? Word of mouth. If you don't know of any in your area, you can search for one at Home

Recriprocal pet care agreements can work if you REALLY trust the other person. Just make sure you put something in writing authorizing them to make any veterinary care decisions on your behalf, and make sure your vet knows they are authorized.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

The pet sitters charge $50/day per dog. I don't think it's any cheaper than boarding at that rate.

[scfr]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

The pet sitters charge $50/day per dog. I don't think it's any cheaper than boarding at that rate.

How many have you called? Hopefully you can find some that charge based on time & number of visits. (You may have to pay some extra $ for walks if there's more than one dog.)

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I checked their websites. They also charge somewhere between $20-30/per visit and I'd want at least 3 visits if not 4 a day because my dogs can't hold it that long, especially the older one.

[simpleyme]

this would be a dream job for some young person!

my son is a boyscout and does side jobs , got any friends with scout sons? How about a young person from a youth group?

(you might want to consider upgrading your roomate ;-)

[Caoineag]

I always have someone house sit for my pets. I have a friend who will live at my house while I am gone (we bribe with food, will probably offer money in the future since she is farther away now instead of next door). Since the dogs will go stand by the door when they want out, no worries about knowing how often to let them out.

We did boarding before our friend moved to the area but the last time we did that our puppy looked thrilled to see us so we knew we needed a better option (a well cared for pug couldn't care less when its owners come home). Our friend did make our pug fat once (alone on Thanksgiving with a full meal cooked by us, she was a sucker for his brown eyes) but since our dogs are active, that only takes a little time to cure and is better than letting a pug be ignored.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Simplyme, would the child come by the house often? Or take the dogs to their home?

[simpleyme]

I would think keeping them at your home would be best, my dog likes to be at home.

my son is 15 I would allow him to go to a nearby home to take care of animals

[kork13]

Originally Posted by simpleyme

I would think keeping them at your home would be best, my dog likes to be at home.

my son is 15 I would allow him to go to a nearby home to take care of animals

I'd echo this idea.... My family watched pets for a few different friends at various points... Sometimes we'd bring them to our house (especially for longer periods), other times they'd stay at the owner's house. We never would accept any sort of payment for watching them, but I'm sure that you must have some friends or neighborhood kids you would trust with them, even if you paid them for it. If it were my pets, I'd prefer someone I know watching them, as opposed to a stranger working for some business...

[creditcardfree]

I don't have a dog, but my DD is dog watching for our neighbor's for the first time this weekend. She will be over there at least four times a day this weekend, to include at least one walk a day and spending some time over there to play with the dog. The dog may come to our home for awhile too...but it may stress our cats out a bit!!

She's 12 and will be paid $50. Personally, I'm proud that she has a little job, but the neighbor's are friends and I would probably do it for them for free. I'm of the philosophy that if you help someone out once in awhile, then you can ask them for help, too.