I feel for you. I am often in the same boat. But our rescue is reactive, so many other issues.

I would never leave my dog alone and only have a visit twice a day. What does this mean? Early morning and late at night? Please clarify.

Check the facilities at the vet. If she is friendly with other dogs? This is key. If she can socialize with other dogs than the vet could be an option.

The other option is to find a person to stay at your house. They could certainly go in and out as you would throughout the day, but they would be there at night.

We also have a wedding in the fall. Ours is across the country. Youngest is also invited and oldest most likely will be in India. This leave the vet. Because of this we are doing a quick fly in and out rather than adding on and seeing relatives who would be two hours away.

Since my dog cannot socialize with other dogs, this will be like being in prison for him. But, we don't have choice this time around.

The last many year one of our daughters was able to help us.

A twice a day house sitter would result in any dog being alone for too long, but it would be even worse for a dog like Savannah. If you can't get a reliable house sitter, then boarding is your only option. IMO.

Do you have a reliable neighbor, especially a high school or college kid home for the summer? DS is about to dogsit again for a neighbor's elderly dog. He doesn't sleep over (though they said he could if he wanted to), but he goes over a few times a day, brings the dog to play, and hangs out for a while reading, studying, watching tv, all at the owner's suggestion, not request. They left treats for him--DS, and the dog :)

My niece and her husband are currently pet sitting through a website. They stayed in one house with their dog for a month and just started a shorter stay with four dogs. If you’re comfortable with having people stay in the house, that might be the way to go. I am sure all the sitters are vetted in advance and you can meet them via FaceTime. I’ll try to remember the name of the site.

House Sitters America and Trusted Housesitters

Your first option is a non-starter IMO. That's not a pet sitter, that's a dog walker. I have a friend who does that with her dogs for no more than 2 nights, but her walker comes 4x/day for 20-30 minutes and she has 4 dogs so they still have their pack and aren't alone. A good boarding facility is not inexpensive but the good ones are worth it. Have you looked in your area? We have a great one here, operated out of a home, the dogs are not left alone at night and they have almost constant attention and play during the day. Small group for the fearful or tiny ones and the big lunkheads who just want to play are kept separately. The vet could be a good option since she is at least familiar with the surroundings. Just make sure it's not such a noisy environment that it will freak Savannah out.

I would board her and put a lot of effort into finding the right place. I have always had a live in the house pet sitter, from people I know very well who do odd jobs or retired, but knew when I had a another rescue they would be boarded. Dogs are remarkably adaptable and want company.

I owned and ran a dog training and daycare/boarding facility for 20+ years. We were a small boutique style place(limit was 20 dogs). Our clients loved the atmosphere and were willing to pay accordingly. If you want to message me I may know of someone in your area that is a similar setup. We(as most places like ours) required a number of practice daycare days to allow the dog to get to know us before being left(some dogs even required a practice overnight). As a backup I’d book with the vet now. Anxious dogs frequently get stress induced gastroenteritis. A house sitter is an excellent option, but you need to get someone with referrals!

You are describing my dog to a T. I don't bother boarding her because she is such a nervous Nelly. Yes, I suppose she would eventually get over it, but I'm not going to put her through that. Instead, we hire someone to stay at our house. We got his name from our vet and he is beyond wonderful. (he pet sits for our vet.) He loves both dogs and even allows them to sleep on his bed with him. (and one is a great Pyr! Not much room left for him.) It would cost us almost the same to board. We pay $60/night. He also brings in mail and waters plants. It is the best spent money. He is around 30 and this is all he does. He seems passionate about dogs and vice versa.

In the past we used Rover.com twice. I would not use them again as I never felt our pets were their priority. Ask your vet for a recommendation.

A young man we know is a vet tech who left the vet he was with, and now petsits exclusively. It's a good business for him because he can handle health care issues (giving fluids, meds, etc) for a variety of animals. He does mostly in-home but will also pop in and out.

Another neighbor uses the tech from her vet's office for occasional dog sitting. She can bring the dog to the office, or leave it at home and pop in at lunchtime. If it's only overnight she doesn't necessarily stay over, but if it's a few nights she does.

Ask at your vet for suggestions. Lots of options out there!

Just be warned that if you board the dog at the vet the dog will most likely be alone with other pets overnight. At least that's the case at our vet.

I would do a combo thing. I would have a trusted friend come and stay overnight and I would have a dog walker come during the day twice a day. That is more likely the best scenario as often your house sitter has a day job. I'm saying this if this is a friend or acquaintance.

If it's a professional from a service that's another story. However they still might go off for stretches of time to day house sitting for cats excetera. House-sitters seldom have one house at a time. So be aware that happens as well. Closely question your potential choices. Make your needs clearly known and have them written clearly as well for all concerned. You might want to set up a nanny cam.

Many kennels have nobody there overnight as well. Though someone arrives fairly early usually and leaves a little later.

Have you visited the vet’s kennels to see where your pup would be staying? Our vet, who we really like, boards dogs in a big room with concrete floors and fenced partitions. Dogs are barking constantly. Stressful to me and I’m pretty well adjusted.

If you can find someone to come to your house that would be probably be best. Our dog would be fine with 3 times a day visits.

Bless you for caring enough to put effort into finding the best solution!

Dogs are like kids IMO - they all have their strengths and idiosyncrasies. What works well for one may be a really bad choice for another. So I suspect you're going to have to try to find the best balance in an imperfect situation.

I may have told this story before, but neighbors have tried all sorts of things for their 2 dogs when they travel. They used a boarding facility and came home to find both dogs acting pretty traumatized. The facility complained when they picked the dogs up that both dogs were going potty inside overnight. My neighbor was shocked as neither dog went to the bathroom inside their house, so she asked when they were let out last at night. The answer was "slightly before 5 pm!" It turns out this place lets them out for the last potty run at 5 pm and then they close up and don't return until 8 am the next morning.

To me, expecting an animal to hold it that long is almost abuse. Not surprisingly, ever since then they also occasionally have problems with the dogs going inside when they are gone. Poor things learned it's no use to hold it because no one will come back for you in time. :(

Now they use people to come to their house. But there again, the people only come for a few minutes at a time a couple times a day. All the other hours, all I see are their pitiful faces staring out the windows waiting for their people to come back. For days on end. It breaks my heart.

After typing all of that, I realized I'm probably no help. I'm sorry. First choice for me would be a known/trusted person to either take the dog into their home, or stay in mine. If neither of those are options, honestly either approach has pros and cons. I think the key is finding a place or person you can really trust - and there are precious few people I trust that much anymore these days.

Although I don’t travel a lot, my Dobermans would not do well at boarding. My 21 year old daughter‘s friend stays at our house while we are away. She is here all the time except while at work or class. My neighbor also lets them out to run when he is out with his dog.

Since it is August, do you know of a college student (trustworthy) who is still home? And intersperse it with a dog walker once or twice if the student works or will be gone more ran a few hours. I pay $75 a day which is what our area’s high end kennel costs.

PS Another option is that my dogwalker takes her clients for in home boarding occasionally...it's pricey but she knows the walker AND the walker's pet dog so it works well. A thought if you could find someone before august who would take her on walks and take her in home.

My daughter is a veterinarian. Her clinic boards pets, and there is always a staff member who is on site overnight, and there is a doctor always on call for boarding animals. It rarely happens that a doctor has to go in, but the clinic makes sure someone is scheduled to do so. And during work days (and on Saturdays), the doctors will often stroll through the boarding area and check on pets.

I've used your first option for my cats, but wouldn't for my dogs. As others stated, your dog needs someone around more than that.

I'm very lucky, my very good friend will come and house sit when I have to take business trips, the dogs know & love her. And when I travel non-business, often with her, I take the dogs out to my old neighbor in the country, and she keeps them while we're gone.

It's funny that when they are both available, they fight over who gets to take care of them.

Hope you can find someone to house sit. As many have said, ask your vet if they know of someone reliable to house sit.

I once had my 20 year old niece house sit to take care of my dogs. As I was getting ready to leave, I heard her on the phone making plans to go to a concert and spend the night somewhere else. After she got off the phone, I asked her who was taking care of the dogs while she was gone ... she didn't have an answer. I was beyond upset, but was living in the country and immediately called my neighbor. My neighbor ended up taking care of the dogs while I was gone, the niece just had a nice house to crash in when she decided to be there. Never asked my niece to help again ... lessons learned!

I second Robo's idea of having your daughter skip the wedding. Since you say, "there is a chance" DD might be going........this seems like a good excuse as any.

Thank you all so much for such insightful input. It's nice to be supported in my quest to try to minimize the trauma to Savannah. IRL, so many people just think, "She's a dog, she'll be fine," which of course is no help. All of your comments have really made me realize that the optimal solution would be to have someone stay here at the house, and I'm completely willing to pay a premium for that. But of course, it needs to be someone 100% trustworthy. I've actually just texted the trainer we've worked with (although we are not currently), to see if by chance she would be interested. Savannah just loved her. I know she's got a roommate, so even if this is not something she regularly does, she might welcome the chance to have a big house (and pool) to herself, and to earn some extra cash. I would feel really good about that solution.

II completely sympathize with your struggle. My issue is more of a general nervousness about allowing anyone I don't know well to care for my dog. I've known people who have found good boarding facilities and not had issues. However, I worry about the stress of a dog being kept in an unfamiliar kennel with noises and smells of unfamiliar dogs all around them, even if the facility takes good care of the dogs.

Is there anyone in your circle of family or friends who could come stay at your house for those days? I usually have my dog stay with my parents (similar to your dog staying with your adult daughter). However, if I travel somewhere with my parents or they are out of town already, I'm in a bind. We were lucky to find another family member who was willing to come stay at our house with our dog for a recent trip. We felt safe knowing we did not have a stranger in our house and we had someone who genuinely cares for us and our dog watching her.

I worry about any pet sitters where my dog would stay at their house. Many of those pet sitters have pets of their own or may be petsitting multiple dogs at once. I have no idea how those other dogs will treat my dog while the petsitter might be away (work, errands, whatever). Dogs can fight and sometimes those fights can result in serious injury or even death.

I guess I am just a worrier when it comes to my dog. Probably overly worried / overly cautious. I wish I had a perfect solution to share.

I hope that works out Bestyears because it sounds perfect!

You're such a kind soul. :)

Leaving dogs alone is so hard. I would never ever consider boarding for mine, I just cannot imagine it wouldn't be hugely stressful for a dog not just to be away from family but also to be in a strange place. I would be scared if that happened to me and I didn't know why.

It's even harder with a dog that's needy. When I had to take Molly to England for her heart surgery, Bailey, my needy boy, was left for 16 days and I had both my dad and in-laws stay with him (flew my in-laws in) so that he was never ever alone even for a second -- and he still got so stressed despite being cared for in his own home by people he knows very well that he chewed a hole in his side, developed an abscess and needed multiple vet visits :(.

So it definitely does effect them to be w/o their primary people if they're needy -- even if they are with close family.

In-home boarding definitely sounds like the best approach and, like others have suggested, I'd try to entice your daughter not to go to the wedding!

Both my boys worked for Rover....I can guarantee that they did a wonderful job as we're all animal lovers. They got tons of call backs...

They slept over when requested, brought their own food, washed the sheets at the end of the visit, got the mail. etc...

I imagine that your daughter will know very soon if she's attending a wedding in August??

Just putting this out there that if you brought your dog with you and a dog sitter that would possibly cost about as much and the dog sitter would be right there when you need her or him.

This is the doodle I am looking after this week. She definitely needs her hair around her eyes trimmed. Friday is hair cutting day for everyone. Too busy until then.

Good luck! hope you find the right fit for you and your precious pup.

House/pet sitter without question. We were so fortunate that our vet's receptionist and her DH did house/pet sitting on the side. They are reliable and honest and loved the pets. It made traveling SO much easier other than having to work around their busy travel schedule. The pets (dog and cat) were SO much less stressed than boarding them. I doubt they even knew we were gone, lol.

Not sure if anyone else has covered this...

There is a hotel just two blocks down that does allow dogs, but most hotels don't allow you to leave dogs in the room unattended.

That has not been our experience. When we fly, we board our dog with the breeder (which is a family's home) and she loves it there. Only there can she sleep on sofas and beds!

But if we drive and we take her, we stay at Homewood Suites. She def stays in the room w/o us; iirc you put a sign on the door to that effect? And if you are 2 blocks away, you can visit w her as often as you would on a busy day at home. If you had a very long day, you could have a pet sitter come in for a bit too.

We have stayed in hotels with dogs and were never asked not to leave the dogs unattended. Of course, the dogs can't stay alone if they are going to bark and howl for hours while you are gone.

We were asked to leave the dog crated in the room in one of the hotels. They even provided crates. Makes sense, because someone in housekeeping could accidentally open the door and you could have a runaway dog. This was more of a real hotel.

We always brought our own crate with the small dog. Haven't traveled with the big dogs yet.

When staying at resort type places, which didn't have the crate rule, we still left the small dog in the crate, so that housekeeping would still come in and clean. If the dog was loose then no one would come into the suite.

We've only taken one trip with Savannah. We stayed at three different hotel chains with her during that time. I'm one of those people who reads all the Ts&Cs which may be the only reason I'm sensitive to the 'don't leave your dog unattended' policy, but it was listed in each case, though not specifically brought to our attention by anyone. Savannah is not normally a barker, but if she did bark, and they called us away from the wedding, that would be a real shame. Also, in this particular scenario (unlike a more typical vacation scenario), I just can't see how we could spend enough time with her to keep her comfortable AND visit with family who will all be hanging out at the resort all the time.

Do they need a cute fluffy ring bearer?

:-)

Agree, talk with friends and see if you can find someone to stay at your house. I do this for several friends & family. You have a pool, in August a great bonus, are you near Chicago? :-)

Another thought... take the dog with you to the wedding and board her there for the few busy days. This way, the dog will only need to be boarded for a few days.

I know not much about Rover . Com but my sister uses them for doggie day care and more when she has events to go to while traveling in her motor home trek across America. I guess they are everywhere.

My daughter actually worked for Wags (a precursor app to Rover) during college, and she too is a big animal lover and very reliable. mdln -not near Chicago, no, outside Chicago.

I talked to our trainer last night, who unfortunately cannot petsit. She did have a boarding recommendation for a place that looks pretty amazing. She knows the owner/manager personally and says she would trust leaving her dogs there 100%. She also recommended a petsitter group here in town, but says overall she tends to feel more safe with boarding, and takes a 'trust but verify' approach with any petsitter. I get that. In my heart, I do too, just because there are more eyes/bodies/hands on your pet. I'm going to go take a look at the boarding place. It looks pretty great, inside/outside facilities, group play if you want, extras, etc. I also like that they insist on a pre-board session where they keep your dog for 5 or 6 hours and evaluate him/her to be sure the dog will be safe for others. They provide daycare as well, so I could easily ease Savannah into it by taking her there once a week for the next six weeks.

We've taken many trips with our little dog. Hotels, rentals and camping. She was quite the little traveler! However, she's 13 now and has some health issues. We stayed in many rental cottages/homes with Abby and it was always great. We never leave her alone for a very long time when traveling. We do alot of outdoor activity vacays, so many of our activities, she could take part in . I, too, thought you did not leave a dog unattended in a hotel (we never did that). If I were you, I would consider a house sitter who could stay in your home and care for your dog. THey could spend much more time with the dog. I know several graduate students who have done this to earn extra money and was lucky that I knew them well and if I needed one, I knew who to pick ;). Pay them a daily/weekly rate, throw in some yummy snacks, or even a pizza giftcard, etc. and it should work out great. Do you possibly know someone that would do this? Any nieces/nephews, etc. or friends of the family, someone that you "know" and could trust in your home?

I would check out the boarding facility your trainer recommended. When I responded above in favor of a house/pet sitter, I had forgotten about one amazing boarding facility we used for a short time before the owner had to sell for health reasons. He had shaded playgrounds with toys and play equipment. He grouped them by personality and size. If he was unable to train the dogs not to bark during the one day trial day care session, he wouldn't accept them. He was amazing. You'd drive up and not one dog would bark. They'd run to the fence but no barking which resulted in a calm, less chaotic environment. Those dogs were happy to be there. Our dog didn't mind one bit and I could leave him without an ounce of guilt or worry knowing he was happy and safe. Check it (them?) out!

My dog is very attached to me. I'm his Emotional Support Animal, LOL. I would not be able to leave him in a strange hotel room by himself -- he would howl and cry. He's OK being left at home by himself -- he's not happy but as far as I know he's quiet. Whenever I've gone away I have left him with family members and he does fine, but if they were not available I'd have to get someone to stay at my house with him.

My finicky dog easily gets upset if there's any deviation from his schedule and he's prone to stress-induced colitis so I just stay home!

My experience with my former dog really scarred me. I'd left my easy-going pup with a vet for 9 days when I had surgery and picked up a totally different one. I'd never heard of "separation anxiety" but that's what happened after she'd been confined to a cage for the entire period. I'm not even sure she was taken for walks. If we left her alone, she would injure herself in her crate (which she'd previously loved) and could not bear to have us out of sight. It was so traumatizing for all of us and she never recovered.

If you decide to board, ask if they have cameras so you can check in. Some will even send text photos or allow FT.

I'd take her, stay at the hotel nearby that allows dogs and find a dog sitter at that end to stay in the hotel with her when you are busy with social events.

Nannygoat, my dog always loved her crate and slept in it at night (in a large kitchen) with no problems. Then one night, during a summer thunderstorm, she freaked out and broke out of her kennel. Bent bars and drool everywhere but fortunately no injuries to her. We got a second, stronger crate and she broke out of that one the first night. We stopped using crates and her anxiety level dropped.. She is a rescue with a background as a stray. We no longer try to change her, but rather are more conscious of her emotional quirks.

What a tough situation. I hope that young woman can stay at your place. My daughter does the same for the woman she used to work for. I think it would be more comforting to Savannah to be in her own home. It’s still so new to her (4 months) that she may not understand what’s going on if you leave her somewhere else. Good luck. If she can’t do it maybe someone you know who’s retired?

Kitchen, I remember seeing your pup on the doggy-cam while coming back from NYC. Such a cutie.

I don’t envy your situation because you really never know how your dog will respond to your absence. When we had to fly out of state a few years back, we boarded our dog at the doggy daycare she’d been going to regularly for years. It’s like a second home to her so I assumed she would do fine, but boy was I ever wrong. We were gone 10 days and by the time I picked her up, she was so upset and depressed that she was no longer eating. When they brought her out, she didn’t even greet me. Instead she just headed for the car. Once we got home, she was very cold. It took a couple of weeks for her to get over her upset and trust that we’d come home from work at night.

If we ever have to do something like that again, we’ll probably have someone come in to feed and spend time with her. At least that way she will be at home and hopefully trust that we’ll eventually be back.

Too bad the trainer couldn’t do it. At least now you have a good recommendation for a boarding place.

I’m so fortunate that my wonderful housekeeper comes over and stays at our place when we travel. The cats know her well and are comfortable around her. It‘s Wonderful to know that the cats are ok and the house is secure. She sends us pics of the cats or whatever is blooming when we are away. And, to not, she organizes the closets and other things and surprises us with a whole new look when we come back. Of course we take care of her well, but it’s so amazing to have that kind of help.

Well, I went and looked at the place the trainer recommended, and it was okay, but it was hard for me to picture Savannah there. OTOH, I also stopped by our vets (which I switched to in February, so am still getting to know them), and I was hugely pleasantly surprised by their boarding options. The dogs Savannah's size have a private 'suite' which is plexiglass with a solid covering on the bottom of the door, so it isn't a chaotic, staring-at-and-hearing-all-the-other-dogs kind of place. They have a beautiful yard out back with a trail around the outside and take each dog out 3x a day for a walk. Overall, very, very clean and calm feeling. All along, I've been very impressed with the vets and support staff at this practice. Unlike many vet boarders, this one has an overnight staffer and a vet on call overnight as well. They have a special program for fearful dogs, which includes pheromone sprays and other interventions. They are happy to share texts, photos, and videos during the visit as well. I'm going to take Savannah there as a day boarder on Monday for a few hours to see how it goes.