Vacation: How Do You Do It Without the Doggies?
 

My hubby and me have not been on a vacation without the dogs since we got Marcel. And seriously, I need to find a way for us to go on vacation again SOME day :p. But, here are the issues:

**My dogs cannot be boarded bc I don't follow the usual vaccine protocol (the old one), I follow the AAHA's protocol - which you'd think kennels would follow, but they don't.

**My dogs also cannot be boarded bc they eat raw, and kennels really won't do that, I've found.

**I don't want to board my dogs anyway! :p:p:p

**Marcel is so small and can be so vulnerable, if a person doesn't know what to look for, what to do etcetera - something terrible could happen

**I'd need someone to stay at the house (we have no family here) with the boys and follow all kinds of complicated directions for them. But how on earth do I trust a stranger alone in my house for a week?

Seriously, how does everyone else DO IT :)?

Oh I feel for you! Do you have a neighbor you trust? My Husbands Brother lives a few houses down from us and so he watches mine or My Son does.

We had the same problem............. then we bought an RV!!!! :p

No...no one we know well enough to ask a favor such as this, bc they'd really need to stay at the house. We have a good couple-friend who lives not too far - but they have a new baby, dogs, kids, horses -- there is no way they could do the level of care my guys need. :(

LOL - seriously, I mean - what else can we do? It's so hard!

I drive them to my Mom's house 4.5 hours away. It's pain and would be so much easier if I could just drive to the airport in our city but I feel so much better and don't have to worry about them.

Do you have a reputable groomer, nutritionist, vet, etc. who might be willing or know someone who would be willing to stay at your home?

I know....traveling without them is the hardest part!:( That's the only reason my husband didn't want me to get a furbaby over a year ago.....wanted me to wait:rolleyes: Of course, he totally Loves her now & spoils her rotten. We take her when we can, but it's just not possible always. Fortunantely, my daughter keeps her. She's an hour away, but we take turns furbaby-sitting. Now, it's definitely a problem when my daughter travels with us & we can't take them. I had a bad experience boarding Bella & Cole. Never want to again, unless I find a wonderful place??:confused:

Ya know, I think there is a pet sitter service my vet recommends...I just feel so weird about having a total stranger there - but I need to get over that somehow and hope there is someone out there who I can trust. :rolleyes:

......... seriously, that WAS our solution!!! Now we vacation at Pet freindly RV parks. You wouldn't believe all the Yorkie owners that we have met while vacationing!!! :)
We haven't got anyone to take care of them either. When we travel out of state to visit family, they go with us, too! (..... and then we stay in Pet friendly hotels). Shelby & Seymour know the routine exactly. Their pee pad goes on the tile in the hotel bathroom...... they usually have to WAIT for us to get it out of their backpack and get their stuff situated!!!


If you lived closer, we'd "Yorkie sit" for ya!!!

We take Pasquale on our vacations with us. However when we use to have the german shepard and the siberian husky...i use to have my neighbor's 17 yr old daughter stay at our house for the week. She loved it....her own space and i gave her 300 bucks for the week...trust me..it was cheaper than boarding them!! Plus she did a fantastic job...the dogs were on meds...and i always left 2 page instructions on what to do...plus she could always call me if she had a question. When my extended family and friends found out that i paid her ...they all started volunteering for the next time..lol...funny how people will help you more if you wave money in front of them.

I hear ya on boarding. My dogs would freak out. Well... I would freak out at the very least.:D My groomer's mother does pet/house sitting. She was a groomer before she retired so I know she's familiar with and likes dogs. She stays at our house with them which feels a little strange but it's worth it since they love her and I trust her. I second what Kyle said- just ask someone in your doggy world whom you trust for a referral.

Well first of all there are so many people on here you could probably find someone that lives near you who is a yokie person. Or come to California on vacation and I will watch him (I just might not give him back). I luckily have family here so I have plenty of peple to watch Teddi but I miss her so much. I try to go on vacation to places where Teddi can go. I am trying to have her be an emotional support dog so we don't have to plan the vacation based on a dog friendly place. When I went on vacation last year to Australia & Tahiti I missed her so much that by the end I was trying to come home early. This year my friends want to go to Greece but they want to go for a long time and I think I would just miss her too much so I don't think I am going to go. I think I am only going on vacations where she can go (unless it's just a weekend thing).

That's exactly why we have ordered a motor home.........BUT, we have put off visiting our son in Spain for almost a year because of the same reasons Wylie's Mom mentioned. We even offered a lady we know (who sold her home, moved to VA. then after a year she returned and rented a bedroom in a neighbors home) to come live with us rent free and have the entire house, in exchange for just taking care of the girls when we go somewhere that we can't take them. She instead moved to WA. to live with her daughter.
I may have to go to Spain without my husband, then he can go a different time. I can't believe what we go thru for our dogs. Are we paranoid, eccentric, or both??

Send them here;)! I'll watch them for you! No vaccination protocol is fine with me and I will feed raw!

Well, when you figure out what to do, please lemme know. :)

We can leave for a night or two and have somebody for that but because Ellie can get snappy and she comes with sooooo many instructions, we can't leave her for a week. I haven't found a boarding facility that I am comfortable with and there is no way they'd follow my instructions anyway. So she has to go with us.

LOL We have a 5th wheel but are now looking at class A RV's. I call them tour buses and I really dont want one but when I leave them I miss them! ANYWAY. This is something you can check into in your area. We have pet sitting businesses that hire people for a variety of services for dogs. Its the new "in-thing". These businesses only hire experienced personnel, train them in first aid and interpersonal relationships with people and dogs. They also water plants, pick up mail walk the dogs play with the dogs. Each one is different. The one that I have been interested in using bonds their employees, insists on family visits prior to the visit and even if you go more than once a year they still come visit a couple times so the dogs are not scared of a stranger. They also give meds and follow all instructions. We have several in the area and a friend of mine is a vet tech going to school to be a vet and this is how she is paying for her education. The larger ones with several personnel have different programs. Lunch walks at a per visit price, weekend care in your home, weeklong care in your home or thiers and you can go approve the home. You get the idea. I am sure this is not just a trend in Maryland. Here is a website for my area, you will need to research for yours. Another friend of mine has worked for the Humane society for 20 years and she does this part time.

I think there should be a section on here with the YT names and cities/state where you live if you are interested in babysitting for someone. So people could go to this section and see if they can find a fellow YT person to watch their dogs. Also, I've thought about when you have your dogs and you are on vacation in another area or state and want to go out to dinner and won't be home until late or go somewhere for the day where the dogs aren't allowed you could find a fellow YT person in the area to babysit for the nite...just a thought! :D

I know in our area (central TExas) some YT members have watched babies for other members who had to travel. I think the pet sitting service, one that is bonded is the best idea. It would be hard to leave a stranger in your home, but with the home visits and other safeguards, I think it should be fine. Do you have friends that might have relatives/friends that would come to stay? I know someone who has a lady (mother of a friend) who comes to stay at her house everytime she leaves. It's great, but I know it's hard to find that "right" person that you trust.

We are fortunate to be able to leave our boys with our daughter. BUT Rowdy gets sick every time we leave him, even though he loves our daughter. I think he just thinks we have abandoned him and he stresses out. One year we were gone on a 3-week vacation (cruise - and land tour) and he ended up in the hospital. I don't think we will leave him again, unless we just absolutely have to.

This is a wonderful idea Ronda!

I know I would trust people on her more than my parents even (my dad still doesn't understand why he can't just put Teddi outside in the backyard without watching her! I've tried to tell him she could get out, she could get taken by a bird, she's ittle bittle but he doesn't get it....now I have to tell my mom to watch her and my dad!!)

Ugh... I don't. I get nervous even THINKING about leaving Lilly to go on vaca. My boyfriend and I have been together 3 years and haven't gotten to go on vaca... now he has a job where we could easily go but I'm too scared to leave her even though it would be nice to have a break. My mom would keep her for me but I have terrible issues of something happening to her while I'm gone. It sucks!!!!

The first leg of your vacation journey is a trip to Georgia - Rome to be exact - you see the sights here (takes about 10 minutes) drop Mr. Wylie and Mr. Marcel at the farm and off Mom and Dad go. They will have the time of their lives playing with the gang here, chasing horses (miniature ones of course), and eating all sorts of poop.

Seriously, the first time I took care of the neighbors crazy funny farm - I had six pages of instructions :) It took several hours the first few times I was so afraid that I was going to do something wrong, like feed the pigs from the wrong bowl or forget to give the goat their special treats. :rolleyes:

It's really hard Ann. My hubby and I have not really been on vacation since we got Tumi. Tumi is our first baby. Before Gracie and Tsubi, we took Tumi everywhere we went with us because I would die if i had to leave any of my babies at the kennel. Plus, they eat raw and homecook food, so there is no way the kennel will do that. Now that I have 3, we take 1 with us to where ever we are travelling, and leave 2 with my parents. My parents live 4hrs away but I only feel comfortable leaving my kiddos with them becasue I know they love my kids like their own. they follow my strict guide line..lol..I have many many do's and don'ts list. :p:p
We try not to go anywhere for too long and try not to go to places where I can't take a dog. :rolleyes: so my three girls take turns staying with Grandparents when we do go somewhere. They love their grandma and grandpa very much and they always get tons of toys and kisses from them.lol

ann, why don't you take a vacation in NYC and bring both..I'll watch them..lol

We fly my mom from MN, I just don't trust even my closest friend with my dogs. An RV would be a dream!

We actually found a yorkie only camp! and its only 15 mins from my house. Its ran by a great couple who have devoted their lives to their 5 yorkies and working with the yorkie rescue. they have a little house in the back where the camp is. No cages and they spend all day with people who love them. Its great. I trust them very much.

Wow - there are SO many of us in the same boat!! Well, at least I don't feel so alone :p. So many of the replies made me chuckle too - oh there is some funny stuff in here.

I think you're all correct though - I need to ask around and see if anyone has a good, trustworthy referral. And keep on asking....something is bound to turn up.

Gosh I hate leaving the babies...I mean it just makes me almost ILL :eek:. We really a goofy bunch here at YT. Well, at least we're in great company!!! :p

Yes, we are insanely protective of and attached to our Yorkie babies!!! And I'll tell you what, my hubby is worse than I am. He worries and frets something awful about them. We just left them for 3 days with my daughter and he called her twice a day to see if they were OK.

As I mentioned, the next time we go on a long vacation, they will definitely go with us. We also have a travel trailer for this very purpose, so they can go comfortably. But we are talking about going to Yellowstone this summer, and we don't want to drive that far, so we'll probably fly into Billings Montana with the pups, rent a car and go. It will be more difficult to find lodging that will take them, but my hubby just won't leave them for the 2-3 weeks that we will be gone.

I know how you feel. My husband and I have not been on vacation in over 25 years and I feel so guilty because he loves to travel. Even though I have family in the area they all have their own dogs (bigger) and my babies are a little ok a lot spoiled and each have their own set of instructions so it is easier not to go anywhere. My 23 year old dtr lives at home but she is also alot spoiled and won't pick up poop etc. My girls would do best in their own home so I may plan a few day trip and have my 20 year old nephew stay and help my dtr. He loves animals and would do a good job.

aaaaah yeah i wouldn't know what to do now that i have 2. we took riley with us when we went to cali and it was a 300 roundtrip pet fee for him and now that i have madison well that would be double :eek:

i'm going to europe for 3 weeks in june with my family & my aunts family (8 of us) and my brother is bringing his gf and my cousins and myself were going to bring our boyfriends but... then we realized no one was going to take care of the doggys (my aunt has 3 little dogs) and london doesn't usually take pets (6 month waiting period i think?)! so.. my boyfriend is staying here to take care of our babies and my cousins bf is staying and taking care of hers which sucks because we really wanted them to go :(

maybe you could do a trial run with whoever the sitter is going to be and let them stay over at your place to see how they interact with the puppies?!

I am so lucky that my sister lives nearby and when she goes somewhere, I babysit her dog, and when I go, she takes Maddie and Libby. I wish you all had someone like my sister. It\'s still hard to leave them, but they love her so much and are treated well...so I never worry.