[LetsBeReal]

My dog goes to daycare which I feel good about after a couple years, as it happens to be a daycare attached to her vet clinic.

But in day to day life. You need someone to watch your dog for the day, or only a couple nights that you don't think need boarding. I do not have siblings. Bummed to say I would not trust my mom with my dog...not completely. She loves dogs but is too scatter brained. I do have a couple friends I would trust. And my Aunt is the person I would trust the most with her.

How comfortable are you leaving your dogs with others? Who are they and did it take a while to gain that trust?

 

[Schnauzaluv]

We asked my parents if they wanted to watch our boy when we go for vacation. They had two dogs the same breed and lost their boy a couple years ago, so they were happy to have my boy for visits. But my boy is a pandemic puppy and it takes him a bit to get used to people (although he is getting so much better). It took a few visits at least for him to warm up and not bark at them in their own home! We are still working on getting him accustomed to their house, their yard, and them. I go visit every 2 weeks and stay overnight and finally he is pretty comfortable with them, but it was a big project!

There are friends that would be willing to take him, a couple that doggy-sits as a little business a block away, but the way my boy doesn't trust everyone, we decided that getting him used to my parents was the best plan even if they live 1.5 hours away.

With my late girl, we had a friend who absolutely loved dogs and very good with them come stay at the house with her. But she was totally fine with people, even strangers.

I agree, it's important to figure out some type of plan, especially if you are one to go traveling, and we have to take our dog's feelings into consideration too.

 

[LetsBeReal]

We asked my parents if they wanted to watch our boy when we go for vacation. They had two dogs the same breed and lost their boy a couple years ago, so they were happy to have my boy for visits. But my boy is a pandemic puppy and it takes him a bit to get used to people (although he is getting so much better). It took a few visits at least for him to warm up and not bark at them in their own home! We are still working on getting him accustomed to their house, their yard, and them. I go visit every 2 weeks and stay overnight and finally he is pretty comfortable with them, but it was a big project!

There are friends that would be willing to take him, a couple that doggy-sits as a little business a block away, but the way my boy doesn't trust everyone, we decided that getting him used to my parents was the best plan even if they live 1.5 hours away.

With my late girl, we had a friend who absolutely loved dogs and very good with them come stay at the house with her. But she was totally fine with people, even strangers.

I agree, it's important to figure out some type of plan, especially if you are one to go traveling, and we have to take our dog's feelings into consideration too.

Sounds like you have a good community! Your puppy is adorable by the way. My girl is friendly with everyone but lovesss kids. I'm more worried about how she would be treated than how she would act. Stories have scared me off of Rover etc. Star trusts immediately, me not so much! Lol

 

[Schnauzaluv]

Awww Star sounds so sweet Most of my family and all my friends are dog and animal people, so that helps. I guess we kind of chose it that way lol. If someone loves dogs, I already like that person haha! Sounds like your aunt would be a good candidate. Have you asked her yet?

 

[LetsBeReal]

Awww Star sounds so sweet Most of my family and all my friends are dog and animal people, so that helps. I guess we kind of chose it that way lol. If someone loves dogs, I already like that person haha! Sounds like your aunt would be a good candidate. Have you asked her yet?

Yes my Aunt knows and will watch her. I meant more so, how do you begin to trust new people to watch your pets?

 

[Schnauzaluv]

Yes my Aunt knows and will watch her. I meant more so, how do you begin to trust new people to watch your pets?

Oh good. I guess they would lead by example, I already know how a candidate treats their own dogs or animals in general, if they can handle it ect. I try to make everything easy for that person and prepare well ahead of time.

 

[PoppyKenna]

My dog has anxiety and can be a lot to handle, so I don't really trust many with him. I don't even know that I would feel comfortable boarding him.

I would trust my brother and sister in law, but they have another dog and little children, so that's a no go. The only person I absolutely trust is my mom. My dad can do little things in a pinch, but I'd be too concerned he'd let something slip (namely, letting the dog into his unfenced yard unleashed, which his own dogs can do but Chisum cannot).

 

[Curls]

Safe - I don't want my dogs to be injured. I stopped having one of my friends help out when she adopted a couple of bad news terriers. I didn't want to come home to a $5k vet bill. Nor do I trust many of my nearby family members. They aren't used to dealing with large energetic dogs. I don't even trust the doggy day care facilities in my area. Too many dogs together, too few staff, and insufficient staff training.

Enjoyable - I want my dogs to have a good time while I'm gone, or at least not be miserable. I have a friend who enjoys playing fetch with my dogs. The dogs think this is a great trait in a pet minder.

Training alignment - I don't want someone messing up my dogs' training and socialization. I would prefer someone to let the dogs get away with naughtiness than to subject the dogs to misguided discipline. I don't want someone grabbing my dogs by the snout and thereby teaching them to be head shy with strangers. I don't want someone trying alpha rolls, or jerking the leash, or using a shock collar. I can always reassert my rules when I get home. It's much harder to restore confidence to a dog which has learned to fear people.