RetrieverTraining.Net - the RTF banner

What to do with a pup when going on vacation?

5K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Julie R. 
#1 ·
This is my first post here, but I have been reading the forum for a few months. I have really gained a lot of valuable knowledge from "listening in" on the conversations here. Thanks, everyone!
I have a six-month-old yellow lab female pup that I have been training on my own. She's a smart pup with lots of drive. Thanks to some recommendations on this forum, I am using Mike Lardy's Total Retriever Training program. It is going well so far, and we are about halfway through force fetch at the moment.
We have a two-week family vacation coming up in a few weeks, and I am trying to decide what to do with the pup. I don't like the idea of her sitting just around in the boarding kennel at the vet's office. She is a high energy dog and needs a lot of exercise. I would love the idea of finding a trainer to send her to for a few weeks just to keep her working and busy, and also to get to know a trainer for possible further training down the road. However, I am having a hard time finding any trainers in the local area, and especially any that would be interested in taking a dog for a short time. Is such an arrangement even possible? I guess the next best thing would be to find a boarding kennel that specializes in allowing the dogs more exercise. Does anyone out there have any recommendations for that type of boarding kennel in Central Iowa? Are there other possibilities that I haven't thought of?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have on the matter.
 
See less See more
#7 ·
Just something to think about, worth what you paid for it. A trainer can throw a few marks for your dog or maybe shoot it a flier. If they have several dogs on their truck they won't have much time to spend on a dog who is just there for 2 weeks. I tried this a few years ago. My dog came back stressed out from being there. He stank. And didn't seem to be better off for the experience, plus it wqas an outdoor kennel in the summertime.

At my vets office he is indoors in the airconditioned building. The vet has kids who work for him who take my dog out and play with him every day inside a fenced area. They love Scooter because he sits and plays fetch so he gets extra attention. He gets a free bath if he stays more than 3 days and while they have him they go ahead and give him his shots. This saves me a trip. He comes home happier and smelling better. All for $10.00 a day $140.00 for a 2 week vacation. Worth every penny.

I found the vets to be tons better than the trainers. I am not knocking trainers at all. They are busy and don't have a lot of time for a dog that isn't staying is all I'm saying.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for sharing your experience about sending your dog to a trainer for short stay. What you are saying makes a lot of sense. Hearing that makes me less worried about taking a break from training. I suppose a couple of weeks off of training might just be a nice break for her. It looks like one of boarding kennels mentioned above offers lots of play time for the dogs, and that sounds like it might be just the right thing for us. I am also noticing that there are some boarding kennels in town that also have a doggy day care on site, so there would be lots of opportunity to play with other dogs.
 
#8 ·
A 7 month old makes it a little tricker as to the higher exercise requirements and they they might be entering a fear period. I would take with if possible, get someone you trust 100% to stay at your house or find a rehab place to board at. The rehab place can provide plenty of exercise. I remember one trip I went on, I had a housesitter for the older one and sent the younger one off to rehab. Or just stay home :)
Mary
 
#10 ·
Eirc L.,

I took one of my dogs on a two week vacation this fall. A week sight-seeing and hiking mountain trails in western NC followed by a week on the beaches of Hatteras Island NC. Vacation is a great time for bonding and learning for a pup. Your vacation may not be as "dog friendly" as mine. Maybe time to rethink vacations in the future to make them suitable for your whole family!

Swack
 
#16 ·
At my vets office he is indoors in the airconditioned building. The vet has kids who work for him who take my dog out and play with him every day inside a fenced area. They love Scooter because he sits and plays fetch so he gets extra attention. He gets a free bath if he stays more than 3 days and while they have him they go ahead and give him his shots. This saves me a trip. He comes home happier and smelling better. All for $10.00 a day $140.00 for a 2 week vacation. Worth every penny.

I found the vets to be tons better than the trainers. I am not knocking trainers at all. They are busy and don't have a lot of time for a dog that isn't staying is all I'm saying.
As with everything else in life, it depends. I used to work as a vet tech. One hospital I worked for had what I considered to be a very poor set up for boarding dogs. First, only dogs under 50lbs could be boarded since they were kept in cages, not kennels. For most dogs, this was only enough room to stand up and turn around in the cage, which they spent > 23hours in each day. Second, even though we were instructed to tell clients that we took each dog on 3 ten minute walks a day, truthfully it was only two walks a day and for only as long as it took the dog to pee and poop (which could literally be as short as 1 minute, never more than 5). Very few dogs got individual attention from any of the staff. Only "favorites" really got any special treatment and it was very little at that. There simply was not time to play with the boarding dogs and fulfill tech/secretary duties. Kenneling fees were no cheaper than local boarding facilities. The dogs were in a climate controlled setting, which is important during extreme temps, not so much in moderate temps. I would guess that a dog would be much more stressed in a tiny cage with air conditioning then a full kennel run in 40-80 degree weather.

So obviously, one must do a little research before using any arrangement. Based on my experience working for this particular vet, I would never take what is said as fact. Ask to see the boarding set up and if seperate staff is specifically hired just to take care of the boarding animals. If you can, ask to observe staff while they are walking the dogs to see how long each dog really gets outside. I'm sure many vets have adequate facilities to watch your dog, but not all and not everyone is upfront with their clients.
 
#17 ·
Agree w/boarding at a vet's or good boarding kennel. Unless of course you're already a client of a trainer that's willing to keep your dog short term. I had to board my big male Chesapeake when all my females including his mother and daughter came in season at the same time. A pro that had already trained a dog for me agreed to board him for a month. I asked if he could maybe get some retrieves while he was there; as the trainer had previously not been much of a fan of the CBR breed. He ended up staying there and getting his SH and MH.

Ask for references and tell people what you want. I found veterinary clinics mostly had better set ups for what I wanted than boarding kennels when researching 2 yrs. ago. I inherited a condo that has a no pets policy and is on a no dog beach in Naples, FL. I like to bring a Chesapeake for the 2-day drive, because I feel safer in the budget motels What I found in the boarding-only places is they seem to cater to foolish rich people with spoiled little drop-kick dogs: "cage free" boarding, group play time (((((shudder))))), fancy dog bed "suites" etc., anything to get doting doggie owners to part with major sums of money, starting at about $30-40 a day. The vet I found had knowledgeable staff, very nice a/c runs separate from where the sick animals are kept, and a big fenced airing yard that was spotless. My dog was well cared for, aired multiple times daily and even though this vet was located in a high rent district, it only cost $10/day. I love my dogs, but they are not children who need to play with others nor do they need fru fru fancy beds and piped in music!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top