I really do need some advice though if I may ask please?  We are going away on Sunday and I booked My 8 month old wire haired dachshund in with a lady who has looked after him before.  She neglected to tell me until yesterday that she is also going to be looking after a Cockapoo puppy of 6 months age and I only found this out when I went to drop something off to her yesterday.

This Cockapoo is full of energy and beans and when I took my dog there yesterday the Cockerpoo wanted to play and play and play and now I am very worried because I have spent 8 months following the 5 minute rule, lifting my Dacshund over stairs etc and I am incredibly worried that too much exuberant play for two weeks all day long will harm his back.  could this constant puppy play harm or damage his bones?

The only other option. I have is another lady who I. Am not sure is free but she has stairs, My dog hasn't done stairs and I know that these can be bad.

would it be harmful for me to leave my dog with the lady with the Cockerpoo?

I am worrying something rotten about it and we are supposed to go on Sunday!

It really depends on if you trust the lady to make sure the puppies are not allowed to play all day. Each needs time to rest. Is she the sort who will just let them run about or will she crate or separate them. It is all about how much trust you have in her really. The other lady with the stairs could be better and a simple stair gate could solve the problem of you baby trying to climb them.

As a fellow Dachshund owner that's a dilemma I wouldn't like to find myself in! My crew are happy outgoing friendly little guys, however I have to be so careful when out and about because bigger breeds tend to bowl them over and jump all over them, especially young boisterous puppies.

It's got to the point now, that I immediately put them back on leads when I see loose dogs in the distance, and even that doesn't stop some of them, although that's more the fault of owners who just stand there shouting "it's okay, he/she only wants to play!!!!"

When you say the other lady has stairs, do you mean indoors or out in the garden? If I need to take mine upstairs I would carry them both up and down, fortunately my garden is all on one level.

It's really difficult to say what I would do in your shoes,  I don't do holidays (can't bear to leave them!) A bit of rough play won't necessarily harm him, but it could be an accident waiting to happen??

Sorry not being much help and don't envy your position. Good luck x

Hi goat, I wouldn't be leaving my dachshund with any puppy larger than him, untold damage can be caused by a larger dog landing on his back or causing him to twist, jump and turn, IMO no-one will look after our dogs as carefully as their owners, I can see them being left alone to play whilst the sitter toddles off to do other things.

I would use the other lady and just tell her, he is not allowed to use the stairs.

No harm in discussing this with the sitter and if she is happy for small amounts of play which are monitored and you trust her then I'd stay put. A home boarder to be free at this late stage you will be lucky and you need to meet them before hand and be happy.

I think I'd be using the alternative, UNLESS you can talk to your usual sitter and STRESS that your pup is not to be with the other puppy - at all.   You'd have to trust her that she listens, and acts!!   If there's no need to use stairs (to go outside?) with the alternative, then provided again you say he's not allowed on stairs, and tell her why! this might be best.... people do tend to say yes, yes, and carry on doing exactly what they want to be doing.   Obviously if your puppy is injured, you'd have recourse (is she insured?) but it's a bit late once your puppy IS injured!!   And at the end of the day, there's no NEED for these two puppies to be together - this sitter should know that!

We didn't take holidays, apart from once, when we had numbers of hounds - too expensive to kennel them, apart from not wanting to leave them with ANYBODY.   The one time we went to Europe for 9 days and a neighbour sat with them.   Everytime the mobile rang, which it did every time we moved into another area, I panicked.   They were fine but whether I had a good break, is debatable.

We go away on holiday and have a very trusted house sitter. He comes to us and moves in. The girls adore him and he is 100% trustworthy. I spent a long time using him for short overnight trips and dog walks if I needed to work a long shift before we built up the relationship we  now have. He is worth his weight in gold. Its such a worry if something throws you out like this. My sitter may not be the cheapest around but trust is worth much more. I really think it boils down to that trust. If you need to question it then its not right. I would certainly be looking at the other option. As MamaBas said if there is an injury you can claim if the sitter has insurance but if this is just an arrangement between friends then that is not possible. Not that any amount of money would compensate for an injury that could ruin a pups life for ever. The person then does not have quite the same commitment to keeping your pup safe. If you are paying a trusted sitter then they have a vested interest to make sure things are safe as they have a reputation to keep as well as just being caring. I have in the past used friends to sit, and in fact have a great friend who is coming to do just that later in the year as they want a change of scenery too. But she is also 100% trustworthy and I do not need to question the fact that she will do exactly as I ask her too. Trust is something hard won in my book and there are few people even good friends who I would trust 100% to look after my girls.
If you are worrying then that trust is not there and you need to look at other options.
Aileen

Aileen - does your dog/house sitter work for other people too? My partner would love a short holiday but I wouldn't kennel my crew (7 RRs and an Aussie) and I wouldn't trust just anybody to look after my precious bunch

> Aileen - does your dog/house sitter work for other people too? My partner would love a short holiday but I wouldn't kennel my crew (7 RRs and an Aussie) and I wouldn't trust just anybody to look after my precious bunch

Good question - I'll be watching (and you, Aileen, can PM me if you don't want to put names up).   I'd love to cultivate somebody to sit mine, even if we do just have 2 now, so Boarding Kennelling would be 'possible', cost-wise!!

Yes he does but only locally. He is a dog walker as well and obviously has his regulars he needs to deal with.  He takes mine out in the morning and sorts out feeds etc, then he pops out for a couple of hours to do his morning walks, comes home for lunch and takes the girlies out again and spends an hour or so with them before going out to do his later walks and getting back to my girls by about 4pm. It works well for us as the girlies are fine for a couple of hours and they then get a really good walk in the evening and have his attention till about 10am the next morning.
I much prefer this to kennels as the house is occupied overnight too. Not that I would ever put my girlies in kennels anyway..
Its not cheap and kennels could well be cheaper, He charges me £35 per night (I get extra special rates as I am a long standing customer)  but its worth every penny to make sure we can enjoy our hard earned holiday without worry.
Aileen
Not sure if the friend would consider doing it for others people. She is someone who I met through our love of Berns and she does it to get her "Fix" as the timing is not 100% for her to have another one herself just yet. But I will ask her

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Jayne Stark says: I think if you are paying for the service she should look after your dog under your instructions, regardless of how many others she has. My dog sitter has more than my two sometimes, but she always treats them individually.