Can 10 days away from me cause damage to my pup

2395 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by yoshiposhi, May 27, 2016

yoshiposhi

Discussion Starter · May 24, 2016 (Edited)

So let me clarify my subject line....I'm going away for 10 days in mid june and I'm having the worst time trying to find a puppy sitter for Mia. I am avoiding the kennel/dog daycare options at the moment because there is an outbreak of kennel cough in the greater Vancouver area.

I have spent the last 2 months trying to find someone using websites like pawshake.ca, dogvacay.com and care.com, even posted on my facebook. No luck.

My friend (who has two english staffies) knows that I'm getting desperate and is willing to ask his mom if it's okay if they can take Mia. His two staffies are very well behaved but I almost feel like they are well behaved out of fear.

What I am afraid of is my friend will be too harsh on Mia (he believes in the whole dominant thing) and if she happens to potty in his house (shes housetrained but this will be a completely new environment) I'm scared he's going to yell at her and put her nose in her business. (That's how he trained his dogs, I told him I don't do that with Mia and he said "well it worked for my dogs").

Also, he doesn't believe in letting his dogs sleep in the same bed because the dog will then think they are "equal" to him. I understand not wanting to let your dogs in your bed for cleanliness/hygiene reasons but equality? really? I'm not expecting him to let Mia in his bed, he will put her in a playpen (because she's not good with a crate with the door closed) which is fine, but just to give you an idea of how his mind works on the whole dominant, be the pack leader etc type of thing.

If his dogs every misbehave and/or he feels like they're challenging them, he will push them down on the ground (like how Cesar Milan does). All that will do is make Mia more fearful.

10 days isn't a REALLY long time but it's not that short either. Am I making too big a deal out of this? Will a few episodes of dominance from him not affect Mia too much? Or will she just be too miserable?

Edit: She'll be 6 months when I leave for vacation.

See less See more

Save

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 14 of 14 Posts

Lucillle

· #2 · May 24, 2016

There is a nasal vaccine for kennel cough I believe.

Save

Thisisme19

· #3 · May 25, 2016

I would not leave my dog with someone that didn't respect my training wishes.

With a dog that young I think that 10 days of adverse "training" would definitely have an impact. Especially because it's something totally different than how you handle your dog.

Most doggy daycares in my area offer in home boarding. Where they will either stay at your house or take the pup to theirs. If you don't have a friend you can trust to respect you choices with your pup I would get the kennel cough vaccine and go that route.

Save

Reactions: 2

augusta

· #4 · May 25, 2016

I made the mistake of hiring a dog sitter that believed in that stuff for a single weekend (he wasn't forthcoming with me about his training philosophy) and it took me a good month before my dog was acting normal again.

Not to say that's the case with you. That was my experience, though.

Have you tried rover.com? I've had better experiences with them than with dogvacay. I can send you a referral code, too.

Save

Reactions: 1

Thisisme19

· #5 · May 25, 2016

augusta said:
I made the mistake of hiring a dog sitter that believed in that stuff for a single weekend (he wasn't forthcoming with me about his training philosophy) and it took me a good month before my dog was acting normal again.

Not to say that's the case with you. That was my experience, though.

Have you tried rover.com? I've had better experiences with them than with dogvacay. I can send you a referral code, too.

As far as I know rover.com isn't available in Canada. The OP is from BC.

Save

augusta

· #6 · May 25, 2016

Thisisme19 said:
As far as I know rover.com isn't available in Canada. The OP is from BC.

ah, I see. Sorry.

Save

SusanLynn

· #7 · May 25, 2016

Keep asking around. I found a retired woman who has taken care of my dog on a couple of different occasions by talking about my need for a dog sitter with a colleague. Throw out your net widely and ask as many people as you know.

Save

LuvMyFluff

· #8 · May 26, 2016

Pet Sitters International (petsit.com)might be worth looking into..............Would not leave my dog with someone who is of the 'dominate' belief!

Save

Turtle11

· #9 · May 26, 2016 (Edited by Moderator)

Ooh, so you're in Vancouver! I'm actually from Vancouver, currently living in Denver the past two years.

My parents have a good friend - her name is Debbie Preuss. She's an older lady who boards dogs (mostly little dogs). My parents go bird watching with her, and she usually takes some of her dogs along, Lol. Her rate is pretty cheap (but you'll have to confirm the price with her).

I'm pretty sure she doesn't use any dominance training. I've never boarded dogs with her myself, so may be a good idea to chat with her and see if you guys connect.

Save

yoshiposhi

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 27, 2016

Sorry guys, I need to catch up with this thread! Thanks for all the feedback!

I've posted on my facebook and a bunch of friends have been asking around for me so fingers crossed I can find something.

My neighbors were originally going to take Mia, but the gf ended up getting a job so Mia would be left alone for 7 hours during the week. They are ok with her peeing in the kitchen (where she would be while they were at work) because they know she can only hold it in for 4-5 hours right now, but I'm afraid that if she tries to hold it in the whole time until the gf gets home she will get another UTI. They are the very last resort.

There is a dog daycare (where Mia takes her obedience classes) that I have considered, the trainer loves her and at least Mia will be familiar with the place. The staff takes the pups home with them at the end of the day and on the weekends, but its a little out of my budget at the moment (I had to take Mia to the vet recently which dipped into dog boarding fund lol). If I can scramble a bit more money before I leave I will probably end up taking her there. It's just the idea of her getting kennel cough while I'm away makes me a little uncomfortable but I know she would be in good hands. I trust my trainer. And I guess her being sick for a week or two is better than the possible psychological damage from my friend's "training" methods.

@Thisisme19 Mia is currently up to date with all her shots, including bordetella however, doesn't mean she still can't get it. My friend left her bulldog at a kennel for 4 days and the poor guy came back with kennel cough. He was sick for 2 weeks. He was also up to date with all this shots.

@augusta Knowing Mia, it would probably take that long as well. I think she is already a little intimidated by him because he's a very big guy, 6'2, a little overweight so to her, he's a GIANT! She was playing with his two staffies at the park one day and he asked her to come over so he could pet her and her being a puppy nipped and bit his hand. Before I could do anything, he already put her down on her side and said "NO!" I could see the whites in her eyes, she was terrified. I told him that that just makes her more fearful, it doesn't work. Since then she's been more cautious with him but he hasn't attempted to do it again.

@LuvMyFluff Thank you for the link! Unfortunately when I typed in my postal code, no results showed up lol

Thanks @Turtle11! I will send you a PM to get more details.

Do you miss Vancouver at all?? haha

See less See more

Save

Lucillle

· #11 · May 27, 2016

yoshiposhi said:
SMia is currently up to date with all her shots, including bordetella however, doesn't mean she still can't get it.

And it does not mean she can't get it in places that are not kennels.

Save

Thisisme19

· #12 · May 27, 2016

yoshiposhi said:
My neighbors were originally going to take Mia, but the gf ended up getting a job so Mia would be left alone for 7 hours during the week. They are ok with her peeing in the kitchen (where she would be while they were at work) because they know she can only hold it in for 4-5 hours right now, but I'm afraid that if she tries to hold it in the whole time until the gf gets home she will get another UTI. They are the very last resort.

@Thisisme19 Mia is currently up to date with all her shots, including bordetella however, doesn't mean she still can't get it. My friend left her bulldog at a kennel for 4 days and the poor guy came back with kennel cough. He was sick for 2 weeks. He was also up to date with all this shots.

I wasn't suggesting that the vaccine will make her immune to kennel cough, I think we all know how vaccines work here. I was just giving you my suggestion on what I would do in your situation.

One potential option might be to leave her with your neighbors and hire a dog walker to come take her out while the GF is at work? If the only thing that's stopping you from leaving her with them is risking her getting a UTI from holding her pee, the dog walker might be the perfect solution (This assumes of course that your neighbors are willing to provide a dog walker a key/access)

Save

yoshiposhi

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 27, 2016

Lucillle said:
And it does not mean she can't get it in places that are not kennels.

That is very true. I do my best to prevent it, like avoiding the dog parks but we go on daily trail walks and run into dogs from time to time.

She only gets play dates with dogs we know but I guess the risk is always out there.

Save

yoshiposhi

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 27, 2016

Thisisme19 said:
I wasn't suggesting that the vaccine will make her immune to kennel cough, I think we all know how vaccines work here. I was just giving you my suggestion on what I would do in your situation.

One potential option might be to leave her with your neighbors and hire a dog walker to come take her out while the GF is at work? If the only thing that's stopping you from leaving her with them is risking her getting a UTI from holding her pee, the dog walker might be the perfect solution (This assumes of course that your neighbors are willing to provide a dog walker a key/access)

No I get it, sorry it wasn't meant as an attack or anything. Just saying that Mia does have the vaccine already but I know she could still potentially get it.

The dog walker idea was briefly brought up but I could tell in their voice they weren't comfortable with the idea with having to give access to someone they didn't know to their place.

Save

1 - 14 of 14 Posts

Status: Not open for further replies.

Top Contributors this Month