....me, that is, not the dogs (where is that damn rolly eye smiley??)

Ok, so the time has finally come for me to face my fear of putting the dog in boarding kennels.  I am happy with the kennel we have chosen and the owner is being wonderful about allowing us to bring the dogs to visit a few times before their stay to get used to the staff etc as my Xbreed is wary of strangers and needs to be 'won over'.  Our holiday is not until the end of May but I am already regretting booking it as I fear I will spend the week fretting about the dogs.

Anyone else experienced this?  Any advice on how I get over this ridiculous feeling as OH and I really need the break but I'd like to be able to relax and enjoy it without worrying about the dogs the entire time.  Pathetic, aren't I? (REALLY need the rolly eyes smiley!!! :-D)

Hmmm.

Know exactly where you're coming from ;)  which is why we've bought a huge tent, we all share the same bedroom too (Me, OH, son and 2 dogs :D) can get very cosy at night :)

When we had our old dog he used to stay with my parents or inlaws and we'd phone every day - just so I could relax for 24 hours :rolleyes:

Sooooo....

How about leaving the staff a cheap mobile phone that they could send you texts on?  or are you going to be too far away for it to work?  or maybe keep in touch by e-mail?

Have u considered having a dog walker or friend coming to stay instead of kennels?  Im sure there is someone who would like to stay at your home and then you wouldnt have to worry so much. JUst and idea  xx

Until now, my parents have always stayed at my house to look after the dogs whilst we go away.  However, I have very large, powerful dogs and my parents aren't getting any younger and I get the feeling they are not as confident handling the dogs as they once were.  Unfortunately not many of our friends are doggie orientated and the only friends we could have called upon, who would have been confident enough to handle our dogs, now reside in the USA! How inconsiderate of them ;-) We considered asking my parents to stay and getting our dog walker in twice a day to take the dogs out which would probably have been a perfectly workable solution but for a variety of reasons we thought it best to bite the bullet and go for boarding kennels.  Not least of all because we never know what's around the corner and when we might have to find care for the dogs at short notice.

Dill, I  commend you...I simply don't 'do' roughing it!! :-D  Besides, you have nice neat little dogs that don't shed.  Can you imagine how much more 'cosy' it would be in there with a Newfoundland and a Chow X Rottie!!   All that drool and fur in such a tiny space and no-where to plug in my GHDs *shudder* :-D 

The mobile phone idea is an excellent one....I shall explore that option with our chosen kennel.

Jules

I am awful when we go away as always say I must ring to see if they are ok. Mike with his sensible head on tells me to stop being silly as if there was anything wrong they would ring us !

We are lucky as we have friends that house and dog sit and if they aren't available we have a small farm up the road that they can go to. Free roaming in fully secure land (they have three dogs) ,two walks a day in the woods they own and a range in the kitchen they all have their beds to snore away on.

They have the life of Riley and have a look of disgust when We go to pick them up :-p

Just relax and enjoy yourself as they will be fine ;-)

Lucy
xx

You're not pathetic at all but how about a trial run before to ease your mind. Once your dogs have introduced themselves properly book them in for a couple shorties. Start with daycare where you pick them up at night, then book an overnight while you're still in town - April maybe. Then go pick them up first thing in the morning. They'll have stayed a couple times and seen you came back for them. If they panic or are unable to cope the kennel can call you and you can come get them. Once they've stayed overnight you'll feel more comfortable about leaving them knowing 'they've done it'.

If you are happy with the choice of kennels...trust yourself and trust them!
You will only be miserable if you dwell on the 'what ifs'.
They will be cared for; fed, watered and walked.
They will appreciate the revived and refreshed you when you collect them so much they wil want you to make this a regular feature.
I told my children these things and reminded them that dogs are allowed to go on holiday too, that it was their holiday they mustn't worry and potetially spoil doggy holidays.

Karen ;-)

I agree with Karen, I worried before taking our boy to kennels but he loved it and made friends lol!

They will be fine, as long as you are happy with the kennels you can ring to check on them and then relax! :-)

Thanks guys...I know I'm being irrational but I can't help myself.

I will be taking Lori's advice and booking them in for a couple of short stays in the meantime :-)  I am very confident in our choice of kennel...I have selected to have the dogs in separate adjacent kennels (rather than one 'family kennel') for various reasons which I have talked through with the owner and she has said that she will move them to one large kennel if she fells they aren't coping well with being separated.  She also feeds her own dogs on a raw diet and is happy to feed my two on raw so the won't even have to change their diet :-)  It is a small kennel so I know all the dogs get as much personal time and attention as they can offer. 

Lola is such a social creature that I think she will actually thrive but I worry about Shay.  However, as OH points out, he has spent a week at the vets on two separate occasions over the last year or so, so he should just be happy to have a 'holiday' where he doesn't get operated on!!

That sounds like a great kennel especially as they are happy to feed raw for you ;-)

It sounds like you are lucky to have found such a nice kennels to trust, we are much like you and have family or rather the ex husband comes down to dog sit for events like crufts ect when we have to go away.. i'd love to find a kennels for mine as i worry about emergencies when i cant get a sitter and kennels is the only alternative i dont think its no harm to get them used to one..

:-)

If a dog hasnt been used to going into kennelse (IE Our Mitz has never been in kennels and she is now 2 yrs) how would you introduce them to it?
Would it be day by day?