one more pet bording question? UPDATED
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kimdisneynut · 05-25-2003, 09:21 AM

How do you prepare yourself the day you have to drop your best friend off? How do you prepare your pet for the stay? Please help. This may stop my trip, I am so upset that they have to stay behind. DH wants to check my head, He states you will miss a trip to the world for them.

Kim

[ 06-18-2003, 12:22 AM: Message edited by: kimdisneynut ]

DVC_Don · 05-25-2003, 09:35 AM

Not a big deal with us, just another thing to do on the check list. We do, however, wait as long as we can before sending him off to the "Dog Resort".

kimdisneynut · 05-25-2003, 11:48 AM

Thanks... I need some pixie dust and prayers to get me over this. I never let anything step in the way of a Disney Trip. After my year with DH employment etc you would think I could cross the bridge.

Mouseketeer · 05-25-2003, 03:11 PM

Kim, it's okay to feel a little emotional when you drop off your pet. I always feel a little teary myself. I give the dog a hug and tell her "I'll be back", which is something I usually say anyway whenever I leave the house.

Another thing to consider: see if you can bring a familiar blanket or bedding (if the kennel can accomodate it), a familiar toy, and I also recommend bringing your pet's own brand of food.

If you have any specific concerns about your pet, be sure to ask the kennel or vet when you are looking around for a place to board. They may also have some suggestions for you.

Lynda

wheatenwalker · 05-25-2003, 04:26 PM

Its always been hard for me to drop off my dog at the kennel, it helps if you have confidence in the kennel. I always bring his blanket that he uses in the house, and a worn tee shirt or used towel so he has our scent. I take some of his favorite treats and his own food too.That look I get as they take him away [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Where I have been taking him now though lets me take him back to the crate, which makes it a bit easier. Just remeber that they dont have any concept of time, so he will be fine!!! Sheila

**CRCrazy** · 05-25-2003, 04:36 PM

No problem here! Of course - Jake likes to go visit the kennel - Old Home Day! He's always very happy to come home when the time comes though - that's the fun part!

pflamingo · 05-25-2003, 05:30 PM

I wait til the last possible minute. I board them at my vet's, so I know they're in good hands, and I leave my cell phone number in case of emergency (never had one, though). The tech's there are wonderful, and the dogs get walked, played with, fussed over, etc. Makes me feel a bit less guilty.

kimdisneynut · 05-25-2003, 07:50 PM

Thanks so much. My main concern is the kennel. They think they are human not a K9. They have never been shut behind anything. They have never benn left alone for more than 4 hours.

reinstructor · 05-25-2003, 08:37 PM

Our dog doesn't travel well, so sometimes boarding is the only choice. She enjoys the other dogs that are at the doggie day care, so once she is there, she is fine. We do take her blanket and some of her toys.

kimdisneynut · 05-27-2003, 09:30 PM

Words cannot express my thanks for your input. You would think this was my child. They are my children but K9. Thanks again. I would love some more input on this please.

Thanks

Prestidigitator · 05-27-2003, 10:40 PM

If you have more than one, ask the kennel if they can share a large run together. We have three dogs, each 55-60 lbs. Our kennel let us keep them all together.

We brought one of the large LLBean beds from the house that they share (we have a couple of them in different rooms) all the time. Do NOT wash the cover before you take it, you want it to smell like home. We also brought a couple of their favorite toys. We were able to carry it back and set up their pen (with doggie door to an outside "run") for them and play with them a bit there before we left them.

Definitely bring their food and any supplements or treats you normally use. If your dog usually gets a "cookie" before bedtime, tell the staff! Our do and they gave them each the biscuits I left for them at bedtime each night. Dogs that have these sort of rituals can be accomodated usually.

We left our cellphone number and the number for our hotel with the kennel manager. We also left a signed letter with them, stating they had our permission to have our dogs treated for any medical emergency, should they arise and gave them our Vet's number so they could access their medical records/files in a hurry.

Check with the kennel about their kennel cough vaccine requirements. If they do not have one, definitely look into getting your dog one before you board there. If they do have one, make sure your dog is up-to-date. Kennel Cough is highly contagious and airbourne. It is a virus and it mutates fairly quickly. We have our dogs done twice a year, one time a shot and 6 months later nose drops. The vaccine is not a guarantee your dog won't get it, but it does boost their immune system for fighting it off if he/she comes in contact with a new strain.

Also, do Frontline or Advantage before you send them in. Keeps fleas away. The kennel may be clean but you and they have little control over what comes in on other people's dogs while your dog is staying there. One dose between the shoulderblades (do not settle for the Wal-Mart version, splurge and get the REAL stuff from the vet); does the trick to keep fleas away for about 3 months but ticks only for 1 month.

Take one of their business cards and write their hours on the back. Stick it in one of your Passpockets or in the front of your Passporter Deluxe. You can call them and check up on your fur baby if you want that way.

One of our dogs is a show champion. He's been to the AKC Classic show on TV's Animal Planet. The other two are rescue dogs that came from abusive situations; one fears men and the other is fear aggressive. Trusting them with a boarding kennel was difficult for us too. We have a lot of love and rehabilitation time invested into our rescue dogs and we won't even go into what we have invested in our show/stud dog!

We missed our dogs while we were gone and talked about them each day. We did manage to have guilt-free fun though ... and they were fine, healthy, and happy to see us when we came home!

You CAN do it ... and your pets want you to have a good time; They LOVE you, if you could explain it so they could understand, they'd tell you to go!
Good luck and have a great trip! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

katerkat · 05-28-2003, 07:18 AM

I ditto what everyone else said! Bring their favorite stuff and food, and also a shirt with your scent. One of my boys LOVES his daddy's used socks (EWWW!) so he got a couple of those. Make sure the kennel knows their routine.

And -- don't get too emotional in front of your pets. They can sense it and it may make them nervous. I now know how my mom felt when she had to leave us at college -- and she swore never to cry in front of us. I cried for about ten miles after leaving my boys at the kennel, but not in front of them, because I wanted them to think it was an adventure. And because Wedge would freak out if he knew Momma was upset.

LanieLovesDisney · 05-28-2003, 09:08 AM

One thing that helped ME at the world was carrying pictures of my "kids" in a pocket of my Passporter!

Also, have you absolutely decided against taking them to the Disney Kennels?

Belle* · 05-28-2003, 10:03 AM

I thought I was bad when we just had the cats and we had a pet sitter come every day for them. I would call and leave messages for them on the answering machine! [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] Now that we have the puppy, I was traumatized when we had to board him to attend DH's Grandfathers funeral out of state. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Because he is so little he needs to be walked every 4 hours and I couldn't afford to pay the petsitter to come that often. I boarded him at the local Best Friends Pet Resort and was really happy with the care he received. He was groomed during his stay and had play time every day. Plus the area of his actual kennel was MUCH larger than his crate at home so he had plenty of room to run around in. They gave me a report card at the end of his stay detailing every day and I called to check on him while we were gone. Overall it was far harder on me than him! I brought all his favorite toys with him but was NOT allowed to bring his bed due to their Flea & Tick guarantee, they provide bedding since that is where fleas are most commonly found (other than on your dog! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ), check the policy of before bringing bedding.

I completely understand how you are feeling, but your babies will be fine. Go have a good time!

kimdisneynut · 06-17-2003, 08:05 PM

I keep reading this over and over. I still have fears of leaving the little ones. Thank you for all your advice. I think if they could talk it would be alot easier. I thought about the kennels at Disney but I donot know much about them. I will board them at out Vet who I totally trust and have faith in. Again thanks to all of you for your help during this hard time.

Kim

DH still thinks I need my head checked. He still says you will miss Disney because of this. He said under a very low voice maybe We should have gotten dogs earlier and I would have more cash in my pocket and my house would not look like Mickey lived here.... [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img]