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Does your pet hate you leaving to go for a break or holiday?
gregrichards
Posts: 4,913 Forum Member
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"Getting ready for a new holiday is always an exciting time.
But while travellers are delighted at the prospect of a couple of weeks drinking sangria on the beach, their pets are often less than impressed about being left behind.
Often, cats and dogs aren't afraid to make their feelings known about the fact their mum or dad is leaving them for some fun in the sun.
Animal lovers have been sharing pictures online of their pets reacting to them packing a suitcase.
In these pictures, the furry creatures are seen looking deeply hurt - or hiding in the luggage in a vain attempt to be taken on the journey."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-3213977/Take-Heart-breaking-photos-miserable-pets-watching-owners-pack-holiday.html#ixzz3k90fLazj
Following on from this article today I wondered if your pets hated you leaving for a break or holiday when they saw the suitcases come out too? My cat Winston hides in my suitcase amongst my clothes and makes a sad face.
But while travellers are delighted at the prospect of a couple of weeks drinking sangria on the beach, their pets are often less than impressed about being left behind.
Often, cats and dogs aren't afraid to make their feelings known about the fact their mum or dad is leaving them for some fun in the sun.
Animal lovers have been sharing pictures online of their pets reacting to them packing a suitcase.
In these pictures, the furry creatures are seen looking deeply hurt - or hiding in the luggage in a vain attempt to be taken on the journey."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-3213977/Take-Heart-breaking-photos-miserable-pets-watching-owners-pack-holiday.html#ixzz3k90fLazj
Following on from this article today I wondered if your pets hated you leaving for a break or holiday when they saw the suitcases come out too? My cat Winston hides in my suitcase amongst my clothes and makes a sad face.
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Thanks for sharing Bengals are lovely cats very unique looking. I bet you spoil them both like I do. I'm not away often if I am my mum or dad will stay with my cat. The last time he went to the cattery he was ill when he came home so I don't want to chance it again.
That's sad. I know they say to gradually build up the time you leave for so that the dog knows you are away but you are coming back. There is great advice online. Hope he gets on ok on Monday.
I've never done 'beach' or 'drinking' holidays - even in my youth - and when I take breaks now, it's invariably well away from towns/cities, and always somewhere dog-friendly.
Because he kips in the corner of our bedroom, he's never spent a night away from me since we got him at 10 weeks old - same goes for our younger dog, (Mia, 2 yrs old now) since we got her as a rescue at about 10 months old.
They do both go a bit mental though, when I come back in after anything longer than about an hour. They even do it if my wife is in the house when I'm out - much to her dismay (Mia is supposed to be 'hers', but clearly identifies me as her master)
If it ever comes to a situation where I do go away overnight or longer, I really don't know how they'll react - but I don't think it'll be in a good way - thankfully we have nothing planned in the forseeable future where both myself and my wife will be anywhere at the same time, where we can't take them.
Of course I missed him and couldn't wait to get him back, but when he was picked up, generally he was kipping, looked well fed, didn't have a smell about him, so I don't think he was unhappy.
If I (then later we) were going away which meant a stay in a cattery for the Beast we wouldn't do any going away prep until he was dispatched.
The first he knew of it was being picked up and led towards his carry box, where the fun of getting him into it started.:p
If we were going away for a weekend to my parents, he would be left behind with epic amounts of dry food and water and we would prepare whilst he was scampering about outside.
The last thing we would do, when the car was loaded was put down his food, in lots of little portions. He had a radar for this and would pile in and snarf, and we would quietly leave.
On return he would have the hump with us for a bit.
Now he is a bit older, I worry about him more, and we went through a period where another cat would come in and steal the Beasts uneaten food and spook him. That time has passed but being home alone is one thing, being home alone and having a random stealing ones grub is another.
So mum suggested we take him with us on the trips to my parents, and we have to be a bit more cunning; if he is not around at breakfast time on the Friday morning, he is not called and no food is left down, so when we get home he is hungry and is waiting for us.
So he OH puts a bit of food down and I quietly lock the cat flap, by the time he realises the trap, it's too late. We quickly finish packing, shut him in the dining room, load the car, then get him in the carry box.
He squeaks for the first 10-15 mins until we get onto the straight roads then he kips for the duration.
Three hours later we arrive, he is taken in first, where my parents have his litter tray and a bowl of food down.
His 'throne' (a laundered, ratty old sofa throw on a chest of drawers near the window in the guest room) is waiting.
He sniffs, eats, does his do, and leaps on to his throne and glares at us:D:p
He has come with us a few times now, the most recent this weekend past, and I reckon he knows the score a bit, because this time he was more his git self; in the past he would spend most of his time kipping on his throne, appearing only to be nosy and make sure we hadn't forgotten his stomach.
But this time he was wandering about, he sneaked into where my nephews were sleeping at night, he put his claws into dads leg when were playing a board game, because he wanted attention and be picked up, and was generally getting involved.
And getting spoilt by my mum boiling him some chicken:D
In fact, Monday lunchtime, we started to pack, he 'disappeared' only to be found sitting behind the sofa.
I like to think, like humans, he was a bit sad the holiday was over and didn't want to leave:p:p:p
Opps, another long waffle, with no real point,
If your pup is crying just because you move out of the room, you need to do some training fast, or you'll end up with a dog that has separation anxiety and you can't leave anywhere for a second. My aunt made this mistake and ended up completely ruled by her dog, she couldn't even go to the shop across the road without him:o.
All puppies should be taught to be on their own at various times, they should never be with you 24/7 as you end up with a dog who has no confidence without his owner present and can't cope if their not there. You need to teach him that he doesn't need you around constantly and that he's capable of standing on his own four paws.
Start by getting some toys and chew treats or a toy you can put treats in so they take a while to work out and keep the dog busy. Put them on the floor for your pup, then whilst he's occupied with them, move a few paces back towards the door. If he takes no notice, move a few more paces. Keep doing this until you can get out of the door. If he starts getting anxious or coming after you, go back , get him interested in the toy and start again. Once you can get out of the door without him looking for you, close it for just a few seconds then go back in the room. Take some really good treats like little pieces of cheese or chicken in with you, hopefully he'll be too absorbed with his treat toy to notice you'd even gone, but if not and he's there waiting for you, praise him and give him a treat. Keep doing this, building up gradually, leave 10 seconds between you leaving and returning, 20, 30, 50, a full minute, 2 mins, 5, go upstairs, step outside into the garden for a few minutes, wander down the road and back etc all the time increasing how long your gone for. Don't say anything when you leave the room, just get up and go, but praise and reward every time you return, that way, he will actively start to look forward to you going because he knows he gets a reward when you get back!
Eventually he will realise that your not there all the time and that's ok as he can manage quite fine until you return. It is up to you if you want to keep going him a treat toy by this point, though it does help keep them occupied, but once he's 100% ok being left, start phasing out the return treats, just give one every other time your back or intermittently, so he's not completely expecting a treat every single time you get in the house:D.
As for grooming, a lot of dogs and puppies will bark, cry or play up when their owner is there, but once they leave they quickly settle. I have not had a dog yet who hasn't settled down once the owner has dissapeared from view, their like little kids playing up at the school gates on the first day:p . It is really important, especially for a breed with a high maintenance coat like a Shih-Tzu, to get them used to being groomed as early as possible, it makes less work for the owner and whoever is going to be grooming him, so taking him to be done as a pup is a really good idea. Even if they don't tend to really need much of a clip at that point, I like people to bring me puppies so that they can be introduced to having clippers and scissors put on them, a bath, the dryer, being combed and brushed, having their feet, ears and tails picked up and having somebody strange stand them up, turn them around and handle them, which also helps with their socialisation skills. You want his experiences to be all positive if possible, it makes life much easier when they get a bit older:D.