WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR DOG WHILE YOU’RE AWAY?

When you get a dog, it is inevitable that he or she will not be able to accompany you one hundred percent of the time, be that to work or when you go away on holiday. The important thing is that you give this due consideration and begin to make preparations even before you bring your dog or puppy home.

It is not only important that you know the options available to you and your pooch, but that you do appropriate research and approach a broad selection of prospective businesses and individuals before settling on just one.

Tailor your search to the dog that you have.  Not all dog walkers will take on a puppy that has not been fully socialised or trained, so with a pup, finding a canine crèche or puppy nursery would probably be the better option to follow.  If you have an elderly dog that prefers its routines and the familiarity of home, you may want to look for a dog walker who is prepared to do a one-to-one walk or has a number of older dogs that can accompany yours at his own pace.

Plan well ahead of time. Dog walkers, daycare centres, and kennels all get booked up fairly quickly and well in advance, especially over the holiday season. You don’t want to have to resort to sending your dog to a person or centre that you think is less than satisfactory. Also by exploring all options in your area, you may discover a few good alternatives that may work as a back-up plan should your first choice be fully booked on any one particular occasion.

Quick Links to Page Contents:

• The Cost of Leaving Your Dog at Home
• Hiring a Dog Walker
• Dog Daycare & Home Care
• Boarding Kennels vs Pet Sitting Services
• Short vs Long Stays

THE COST OF LEAVING YOUR DOG AT HOME:

How often have you passed by a house during the day to see a dog barking at the window or to hear the sound of howling from within? That is not to say that each one of those dogs hasn’t been walked that morning or will not be entertained that evening, or even to suggest that the owners have not organised for a dog walker to attend their pooch at some point during the day. In fact, most dogs left for an entire day will suffer in silence, unseen and unheard by the world at large.

Nonetheless, it is indicative of their boredom, a desire for connection, and their willingness to find distractions on their own terms, and each one of these can prove to be a problem, with an associated cost not only to the dog but to the owner, as well..

A bored and lonely dog can develop anxiety issues, which can lead to obsessive compulsive behaviour, such as excessive grooming, pacing, sniffing, or spinning. These are self-soothing gestures on the part of the dog as he tries to calm himself down. It can also lead to destructive behaviour, such as inappropriate chewing and toileting. Dogs are also prone to depression, and a dog that is left alone for too long and too regularly will begin to become despondent and depressed. A depressed state can compromise a dog’s immune system, making him more susceptible to illness and disease. The consequence for all this is not only a mentally and physically depressed dog, but damaged property and the potential for some costly veterinary bills.

HIRING A DOG WALKER:

One way of dealing with being out for the day – be it at work or for a social engagement – is to hire a dog walker. You may already have your dog, in which case getting a few recommendations from other dog owners that you meet in the park may be the way forward. But, as stated at the outset, it is best not to wait until then, especially if you have been unable to take too much time off work when first receiving the dog. Your best bet, then, would be to do an online search for your area or to visit your local vet or pet shop, where dog walkers will often leave their business cards or contact details.

Having found a few local dog walkers, what questions should you consider asking, and what information should you provide to them?

Firstly, you will want to consider both their experience and their qualification. How long have they been a professional dog walker? Are they licensed and/or insured? Have they had any canine first aid training? What formal training, if any, have they had regarding dog behaviour? And what method of dog training and correction do they follow? Finally, what specific knowledge and experience do they have with regard to your breed of dog?

Secondly, you will want to know how they run their business. What is their availability, both now, as well as potentially the weeks and months ahead, depending on your future requirements? Where do they take their dogs for a walk? How many dogs do they generally take at a time? How often do they walk them in a day, and for how long? Importantly, do they tend to meet up with other dog walkers, thus creating a super-pack of dogs in which unexpected incidences and clashes between pooch personalities are more likely to occur, and if an incident were to occur, how would they react in such an emergency?

It may be the case that your dog has some special needs. For instance, if your dog is timid or antisocial, it may be worth considering having it walked on its own. Does the dog walker offer such a service, even if at a higher rate? And what if your dog is young or elderly? Each will have different energy levels and therefore distinct walking requirements. You may want to find out whether the walker is able to tailor your dog’s walk to accommodate for his daily activity requirements.

If all goes well, you should suggest to meet up to give the walker an opportunity to meet your dog and, equally importantly, for your dog to assess his potential new carer! This first meeting should take place without other dogs, but if both you and your dog are satisfied, then consider offering to join the walker on one of his dogs walks. It will give both you and your pooch the opportunity to gauge the area that your dog will be exercised, as well as to meet up with some of your dog’s potential new friends.

For more information on professional dog walking, please refer to our page: ‘Daycare & Dog Walking’.

DOG DAYCARE & HOME CARE:

Even better than a dog walker is to find your dog a daycare centre or home to stay for the duration of the days you’re away. Better, because rather than staying at home alone between walks, your dog will have the benefit of further stimulation and the pleasure of continued company.

But as with finding a good dog walker, the key is to finding the right place of care for your dog. And, again, it is about knowing the right questions to ask.

A lot of the questions you would have asked a dog walker would apply here, as well, such as finding out about the experience and qualifications of the staff, how long the centre has been running, whether it is fully licensed and insured, and what availability they have for taking in your dog. But there are a few additional questions you may want to pose.

For instance, how many dogs do they take in at any one time, and how much supervision is there of those dogs? What is their staff-to-dog ratio? What is the daily routine for the dogs at the centre? Are there separate play and rest areas? Are toys and balls freely provided, and if so, how do they prevent squabbles or resource guarding from occurring? What is their feeding regime? What is their vaccination policy? Importantly, as this will be your pooch’s first time with them, how do they introduce a new dog into the fold?

Again, you may have specific needs for your pet, such as provision of medication or a socialisation issue. Are they able to manage this on your behalf? And again, what are their guidelines for dealing with an emergency?

Once you are satisfied with the answers you have received, it is worth paying a visit to the centre to see the facilities for yourself. This will also give you an opportunity to meet the staff and watch as they interact with those dogs under their charge. If all goes well, find out if they are prepared to have your dog for a half-day. Some centres will only take dogs for a full day, as they only make one pick-up run in the morning and one drop-off in the evening, so you may need to take your dog in yourself. But it will give both you and him the opportunity to test the waters and potentially ease him into a full day should that test-run prove a success.

The alternative to a professional daycare centre is the less formal home care, in which an individual or family take in your dog into their home, in essence making it a home away from home for your dog. If well-matched, these can be enormously beneficial for your dog, but there are a few additional points to consider.

Firstly, are there any children in the house, and if so how well do they understand and get on with dogs? Just as importantly, how well does your dog get on with or tolerate children?

Secondly, there is a training issue. What you may tolerate in your property – your dog climbing on the sofa, for instance – may not be desired in a home care environment. Equally, whatever rules and boundaries you have established in your home would need to be applied here. Remember, the key to providing a dog with a safe and secure environment is being consistent with the rules. A confused dog is an unsettled dog, especially in a strange environment.

Most likely, the home careers will be taking your dog out for a walk, so many of the questions that you would have asked a dog walker would also apply here.

For more information on doggy daycare, please refer to our page: ‘Daycare & Dog Walking’.

BOARDING KENNELS vs PET SITTING SERVICES:

As with finding a dog walker or daycare centre, you will want to enquire as to their licence, insurance cover, and any references they may be able to provide. What are their staffing levels, particularly when they are fully booked? The lower the staff-to-dog ratio, most likely the less attention your dog may receive or may not receive it from the same staff member throughout their stay. Also find out their vaccination policy, not only as to booster injections but also to other optional vaccinations, such as against kennel cough. Once satisfied with the answers, you should organise a time to drop in to check their facilities.

The difference between doggy daycare and boarding kennels is that in the latter the dogs are not allowed to mingle. On your visit you should check that kennels have sufficient separation so that no dog would be able to get a nose or paw into an adjacent kennel. Also they should be set in such a way as to avoid dogs being able to maintain eye contact with one another. The path from the kennels to the exercise area should be wide enough and at a sufficient distance from any nearby kennels so that dogs being taken to and from the exercise area do not have to run the gauntlet of barking dogs.

Find out how often and for how long your dog will be allowed out into the exercise area, and what form of interaction and stimulation will be present for him there. Will this be his only opportunity to toilet outside of his kennel? Consider this when viewing the kennels. Many dogs will find it stressful to toilet in the same area that they eat and sleep, especially if the surface is different from the one they are used to toileting on.

Find out whether you will be permitted to bring any of your dog’s possessions into the kennel, be it bedding or toys. Most kennels will gladly permit this, as having familiar items can calm an anxious dog. Similarly, you will want to provide familiar food and treats. Dogs are often put off eating while staying in kennels, and this may be exacerbated by their being offered something new or unusual.

Many dogs will find it stressful staying in a kennel for an extended period of time, surrounded by the noise of strange and unseen dogs, so find out from the staff how they both manage and mitigate the stress of the animals.

A popular alternative to boarding kennels is using a pet sitter to mind both your pet and your home while you are away. The benefit of this approach for your dog is that he or she need not leave the familiar sights and smells of home while you are away. When approaching a pet sitter service, ask them questions as you would when finding a dog walker, but also impress upon them the rules and boundaries you have established in your home with your dog so that they can be maintained.

SHORT vs LONG STAYS:

It is advisable that you always introduce your dog gradually to whatever service you will use while you are away. Start with a short stay of no more than a day, making no special fuss of your dog while dropping off or later when picking up, even though he will no doubt be excited to see you!

Vary the lengths of each stay, and try to keep it random. So for the first time you will leave him only for a day before picking him up. After that, book him in for a weekend, so that he is away for two days, before dropping back to a single day. By this point, if he has adjusted well enough, you can extend the following time away to three or four days. Under no circumstance, though, should your dog’s first experience of a boarding kennel be as long as a week or more.

Judge how your dog is doing at each pick-up and at any point that you feel there is an issue have a conversation with the kennel staff or carer. Take on board any suggestions they might have as to how your dog could better integrate into their care, but if the matter cannot be dealt with satisfactorily, then simply look elsewhere.

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