[sharonga]

My Tiny is a 6 pound chihuaua. Abused as a baby, adopted by us at 6 months. She is now 13. She will only allow my husband, granddaughter (older one), daughter and daughter's boyfriend to socialize with her. That being said, going away is as stressful for me as it is for her. Usually we will have friends (that she knows) come in, feed her and TRY to play with her. No one has yet been able to make friends. We leave wee wee pads because she will not go out with anyone but me. When we come home she is a basket case. SO....for us to leave her is so hard. I had a nice lady come here to try to make friends so she could be her only babysitter, she would not go near her. Its not easy when your baby is that difficult. On another note, I have a friend who has at any given time 5 little dogs that she watches. They love her, her home and the other dogs. They are so happy in her house, its amazing. Mine crouches down and runs under the table.

[kittygilchrist]

Originally Posted by OBXNana

As we look forward to coming to TV, I realize my responses are coming from PA and may not be practical any place else. We have two rescued labs and a foster lab/hound mix. All 3 have gone through so much and we like to travel. Our solution (may not work everywhere) is to board them with the rescue from where they came. All three go for doggie day care at Animal House every few weeks to keep them familiar with the volunteers and the employees. The rescue uses the money to fund the rescue and we know the pups are in great hands. It's a win for us, our dog family, and the rescue.

that's good that it worked for you and I appreciate the thought. That must be an awesome rescue place...

[kittygilchrist]

Originally Posted by sharonga

My Tiny is a 6 pound chihuaua. Abused as a baby, adopted by us at 6 months. She is now 13. She will only allow my husband, granddaughter (older one), daughter and daughter's boyfriend to socialize with her. That being said, going away is as stressful for me as it is for her. Usually we will have friends (that she knows) come in, feed her and TRY to play with her. No one has yet been able to make friends. We leave wee wee pads because she will not go out with anyone but me. When we come home she is a basket case. SO....for us to leave her is so hard. I had a nice lady come here to try to make friends so she could be her only babysitter, she would not go near her. Its not easy when your baby is that difficult. On another note, I have a friend who has at any given time 5 little dogs that she watches. They love her, her home and the other dogs. They are so happy in her house, its amazing. Mine crouches down and runs under the table.

Now that is a real problem. Emma likes everybody who likes her. How lucky your little one is to be loved just like she is. kudos..

[kittygilchrist]

me again. about the place that rescued Emma. I am deeply grateful...I adopted her the first day I volunteered to walk the dogs...but if we still lived in that town, I wouldn't take her back there and leave her, ever, ever!...because she'd be in a kennel with very loud, anxious, abandoned animals in exactly the place where she was when she was abandoned 3X and how would she know this time was not really abandonment? Not to mention there are amateur dog-handlers like I was, walking her among other unknown possibly aggressive animals and passing in the halls and turf with possible kennel coughers and new intakes not clear for general population.
Trying not to, but I'm going on...and they feed Pedigree large bite mostly corn food which Emma will only eat to survive. (I'd eat it to survive too. LOL)
I'll guess many of you got your rescue from a better environment! I KNOW you did.

[duffysmom]

Kitty I could write a book on being codependent with my Duffy. He was disagnosed with inoperable liver shunts when he was a puppy and given a year or two to live. He lived 13years and is still alive in my heart. Duffy was tiny (3-4lbs) and when I received the diagnosis I was devastated and consequently carried him around, his feet never hit the floor. His nickname was Velcro since he was constantly stuck to me. Are you getting the picture?

Anyway my husband loves to travel but I couldn't leave Duffy. Picture me in a casino in Las Vegas with Duffy in his travel bag playing the slots. He was with us at Circus de Sole until he began to bark at the aerialists. Eventially (after my husband read me the riot act) I did find an elderly lady who took Duffy into her home; I would call her daily from Europe, I even called from the middle of the Atlantic while crossing on a ship (satillite calls and very expensive) for reports and she always said the same thing, "he's fine, don't worry" but of course I did worry. What can I say, it was my own separation anxiety, he always bounced back when I returned home.

We are now looking at rescues and starting a fund for phychiatric help when the time comes.lol

[kittygilchrist]

the gem in your story is letting us see your own anxiety, and I'm right there.
By history, I left Emma with a 3 pack of dogs with an amazing long term dog/farm owner whom she knew and loved, while I took yoga certification classes for a few days. Greeting Emma after it was over, I could see right away in her eyes that she was ill. Short story, she had ingested old motor oil from a bin on the farm. Kind and well-intentioned friend did not see through Emma's eyes.
You just never know when it isn't you keeping your pets, what might happen.

[Patty55]

Originally Posted by kittygilchrist

me again. about the place that rescued Emma. I am deeply grateful...I adopted her the first day I volunteered to walk the dogs...but if we still lived in that town, I wouldn't take her back there and leave her, ever, ever!...because she'd be in a kennel with very loud, anxious, abandoned animals in exactly the place where she was when she was abandoned 3X and how would she know this time was not really abandonment? Not to mention there are amateur dog-handlers like I was, walking her among other unknown possibly aggressive animals and passing in the halls and turf with possible kennel coughers and new intakes not clear for general population.
Trying not to, but I'm going on...and they feed Pedigree large bite mostly corn food which Emma will only eat to survive. (I'd eat it to survive too. LOL)
I'll guess many of you got your rescue from a better environment! I KNOW you did.

You're right, I could never bring them back there. My place was a different situation, they weren't in with the general population, I brought their own food and toys.

Thank God that place saw something in Emma and saved her.

Thirteen years ago I had a terrible house fire and lost two dogs and two cats and have been a bit MENTAL about the animals since (Y'think? LOL). For me the most dangerous place for them is home, very hard to process that. When I went out I would constantly call my fax line to see if my house was still there. Even now if I'm out and see fire trucks go by I freak out and have to go home and check to see if my house is okay. I totally understand all the anxiety.

[lovsthosebigdogs]

I totally understand your reluctance to leave your dogs/cats with just anyone or in a kennel or with strangers. We bought a motorhome so we could travel with our dogs. Does anyone know how many hotel stays you could have for the price of a motorhome? LOL. However, the peace of mind I get taking my furfamily with me is totally worth it. Since my husband and I had summers to travel we often spent many weeks away from home traveling and I didn't want to leave them with a sitter or kenneled so long. But we also have a timeshare so we do leave them for a week every now and then because we can't take them on our timeshare vacations. When we do that we always get someone to stay in our home with them. It's not easy finding someone all the time but we have been lucky and I have had to get over that feeling of weirdness from having someone in my home. If I get a good recommendation from someone I trust I'll use that person after meeting them. I can't always get a friend to do it. Perhaps I'll find someone to 'trade houses' with us and pet sit when we move to TV this summer.

[OBXNana]

Our rescue is a no kill shelter. The dogs aren't crated unless they can do harm to other dogs. They go into individual foster homes and get extensive love and training. They spend at least 6 months as a foster before they can go into a home. Once in a forever home the foster parent spends time with the family. The outside quarter acre has little tyke tables, slides, and in the summer kiddy pools. Our dogs love to go to doggy vacation.

In our area I know of 2 rescues that are very similar. Is it possible there is a similar concept in your area? It's amazing to leave your pups and know they're happy to be going. When we arrive for pick up we get unlimited kisses and know they had a good vacation with other play mates.

I know how hard it is to find the perfect place and hope you can find it for peace of mind.

[kittygilchrist]

Originally Posted by lovinganimals

If Emma is cat friendly, I am willing to have her stay at my house. I have done it numerous times for other dogs when I lived in CT. My dog would probably love the company as we used to have 2 others but now she is alone. She is a greyhound so she doesn't play with other dogs, but just likes the company.

You know, I followed another lead for Emma and the kitty for this trip I'll be away, but it would be nice to meet with you and let the dogs hang out together for fun. Emma is also not so into pack affilitation, but enjoys a bit of company.
Kitty
ps and she ignores cats and chickens.

[Sable99]

I wish I was staying longer as i would have been glad to stay at your house and take care of Emma. I haven't had a dog in a long time but I love animals and they know it!

As you know, I am only visiting TV for two weeks. A friend is going to our Michigan home daily to play with my two cats. I talked to her tonight and she said they were playing so much together that they weren't missing me! I'm not sure I like that!

[skyc6]

Originally Posted by kittygilchrist

the gem in your story is letting us see your own anxiety, and I'm right there.
By history, I left Emma with a 3 pack of dogs with an amazing long term dog/farm owner whom she knew and loved, while I took yoga certification classes for a few days. Greeting Emma after it was over, I could see right away in her eyes that she was ill. Short story, she had ingested old motor oil from a bin on the farm. Kind and well-intentioned friend did not see through Emma's eyes.
You just never know when it isn't you keeping your pets, what might happen.

I can tell you that Donna Walker does excellent animal care both in your home or several daily visits. She also does eldercare for those who have an elderly person who they need respite care for. PM me for her contact information, or contact her on this site. You will not be dissapointed!

[Ohiogirl]

Like a previous poster, we arrange for friends or relatives to come have a free vacation and stay in our home when we go on a planned vacation. It takes a lot of coordination and we can't do spur of the moment trips, but we've done it probably 6-8 times. One couple jokes that they are going to buy a puppy for us when the time comes.

Our dog is almost 17 yrs old - used to board him when he was younger, and he was always ok, but obviously stressed. Don't think he could handle that anymore.

For day trips, we arrange with a neighbor to come walk hime once or twice, or bring him over to play in their villa backyard, and we do the same for their dog. We used to be able to leave him all day when we were both working and he was younger, but not anymore.

It is limiting having a pet, and ours will not be replaced for a while once he goes to doggie heaven, but you pet lovers out there understand.

[pjeffrey]

I can highly reccommend Happy Tales Pet Sitting of the Villages, Kathy is wonderful with cats and dogs. She has 15 years experience, and is fully insured. Her email is kathy.petsitting@gmail.com

[babbs455]

I love Emma she was such a pleasure to have with us, I must admit we really missed her when she went home I am here anytime you need to travel...she can come back anytime.