To board or have someone help out?

I too was having the same dilemma about boarding Bandi until a friend offered to keep her while I was gone. I looked into boarding and couldn't find ONE that took the dogs out of the kennels more than 3 times per day!!! YIKES! I have read many entries in the forum about doodles getting into a lot of trouble (even eating walls!) when they are left alone. What about hiring a dogsitter to keep her for the week? We have lots of college and high school students around here eager to make some money over the summer.

When we went to Moab last month, we boarded Bandit with our trainer. Think of it like summer camp, he had friends to play with, activities, and such like that.

We would have taken him with us, but I did not feel his training was up to where it needed to be and as such did not feel it would be fair to either him or us.

The trainer boarding option was great as it afforded additional training opportunities during that week.

If you are boarding, make sure they exercise the dogs (more than just an hour a day) and not leave the dogs in the kennel all day. Most vet boarding that I have seen employ that method. Physically go and look at the facility and ask pointed questions and have them run you through a typical day.

If they can not offer anything more than the scenario above, find another boarding house or have your friend come in, at least you know there is an option for more than an hour of exercise.

I'm with Keith on this one...a trainer/boarding is a great option. Your dog will be mentally and physically exercised and will learn lots of great behavior and when you return, you will be taught how to continue with the training. It is a win/win situation and doesn't cost much more than regular boarding.

We board our dog with our trainer. They continue to work with Biscuit while he is on-site. He also gets to play with his friends who come for doggy day-care while he is there. He is outside all day in the fresh air. The staff also takes him for morning and afternoon exercise. He's exhausted when he comes home.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! I live in a really small town and there are only two vets in this town. When I checked into training the only one I could find was a petsmart that was about 45 minutes away. I am going to keep thinking and praying and checking around. I just wondered what everyone else did!!
Thanks again!
Beth and Dora

Where do you live?

Petsmart... oh say it isnt so! The horror! I can not even imagine a place like that being able to provide adequete training, much less GOOD training. YMMV, that is just my opinion, and I would never, EVER go there for training purposes. To further that, I go to Petsmart for one thing only: Blue Buffalo food (because I havent found another supplier and that is the BEST option I have found at this point).
Petco is much better for a local, quick pickup of items, otherwise I get supplies from Omaha Vaccine.

Although I do understand about small towns... like I said, dependant upon how the care is at the vet, I thikn your friend option may be the better choice.

I agree on the PetSmart thing....that store seems to be only good if you know what you are talking about....I only go if I know what Im getting....they hire people who dont seem to know much about pets...they once sold me the wrong kind of fish! lol....I prefer the privately owned pet shops!!!

As far as your topic....maybe see if your friend will agree to walk your dog once or twice a day, not just let her out to go potty. That would be better than stuck in a kennel all day in some place she has never been.

If you are driving on vacation, perhaps you could drop her off at a boarder/trainer along the way. Toby stayed with a trainer here while we went on vacation and it was wonderful!! He slept in his crate only at night and they had him in a run otherwise. With the exception of 4 training sessions and 3 play periods. If you are driving, perhaps some of us could suggest places along your route??

If you can find a doggy day care that also boards, that is your best bet. we boarded our puppy at a doggy day care place, so I knew she was out and about all day long and only in her kennel for part of the afternoon and of course at night. she loved it! i would rather do that than have her kenneled up all day at home alone, only let out once or twice by a dog sitter.

i feel for you; being in a small town you probably don't have many options. but if you can find a doggy day care, or maybe someone who works at the vet's office would offer to take her home with them, that might be an option.

our dog loved doggy day care so much I'm considering doing it every few weeks or so just to get her worn out. she slept for about 2 days after being there because she was so worn out from having fun. she almost wouldn't even leave when we came to pick her up.

good luck, and don't worry whatever you decide to do, your dog is going to love you just as much when you return!