My partner and i are looking to go on holiday either next year or the year after. The only major problem is we are both anxious leaving our dog at home.

Hes a rescue dog so a kennel isnt an option and we have a few people who offered to come and house/dog sit but im paranoid nobody will look after him like we do!

Has anyone been in a similar situation and left a dog in the care of others? And were they ok when you got back?

Its really difficult because hes been abandoned before we dont want him to think hes been abandoned again. So we want to keep him home where hes settled. But the thought is there that someone else might do something wrong. Ive thought in my head about everything we can do such as insisting he doesnt go out in the car with them, ie hes only walked where he usually goes in the week. Make him wear a muzzle just for precautions, not let other people visit etc. it sounds paranoid as we would only be looking at going for a week but im worried that i wouldnt be able to relax.

Having had DA dogs most of my life I never trusted them with anyone but me so they came with us wherever we went, now got two friendly dogs and still don't trust anyone with them LOL so we are still holidaying with them.

No help to you sorry but I do know how you feel you are not alone.

And there you go.

Sorry I am no help to you either. I only had my family (son/daughter) looking after my pets when we went away. Is there a family member you could/would trust to stay in your home with your dog?

Have you ever been away from them before? If not start by going away for a night and have someone you trust look after them.

We have rescue cats and was nervous about leaving them but have a trusted family member look after them. Still nervous about our 2 week holiday in 2 years but plenty of time yet. We can't put ours in a cattery as they don't have up to date shots and can't get them done - long story!

Or maybe try him in the kennels for a night and see how he reacts. I'm not convinced that a dog will think its been abandoned again after a number of years.
My cat is a rescue but shes going into the cattery for a week soon. I'm sure she'll be bored and won't like it, but she has it pretty cushy the other 51 weeks of the year.

Thanks for the replies. The longest weve been away from him is just during the day and my partners dad came round to walk him.

Hes offered to house sit for us but i do worry because he seems to have a short attention span and thinks he knows best. Our dog is great with people but we were told he couldnt be rehomed with other cats or dogs. When we take him out we have to keep him away from other dogs and make sure he cant reach cats or squirrels or anything that moves! The problem is when we mention in to partners dad his reaction is oh hes a lovely dog, he wouldnt hurt another animal!

So you can see why we are reluctant especially when the shelter specificially told us about the dog.

I do panic too much but i just have visions of him forgetting the rules and opening the front door and losing the dog or mistrusting him around other animals or even trying to take him round other peoples houses.

On paper hes ideal because hes family, he doesnt mind staying here etc but i cant help but worry. Last time we went to visit him the dog was inside off his lead. There was a knock at the door so my partner put dog on lead just as his dad opened the door, but had he been seconds later hed have bolted it out. His dad just said he forgot the dog was there!

We arent going on holiday this year so we are looking at having him for about 2 or 3 years before leaving him, making him about 6 or 7 when we do go.

Eta partners dad is the obvious choice as hes keen and would stay here. The main problem with him is he tends to do things hoping nobody will know. So if we say not to take the dog to peoples house, he probably would thinking we wouldnt ever find out.

We've had this problem with our dogs too. Our first was a rescue collie and she had been abandoned at least twice before we got her (taken to the same pound both times) and for me it wasn't even an option to leave her any where although she was about 11 when we got her so I think she would have 'remembered' being left.

Our current dog is an abandoned puppy - now 3 - and we left him over night in a fantastic kennel but went absolutely crazy the minute we left & the kennel owner took him in to her house for the night because he just wouldn't settle. So we tried a local K9 nanny and she is fantastic - he stays in her house and she keeps the same routine we do and is so sympathetic to his needs. Is there anyone near you that offers this service?

i looked after my friends dog, and her mums partners dog for a week back in february. staying at my friends house with the dogs.

now the second dog had never met me before, i was a little apprehensive about that, as she was a rescue and i wasn't told anything about her by her owner at all (not even how to feed her, so i just guessed. and had to buy more food as there wasn't enough :/)
but she was fine, apart from the one day she was ADAMANT i took her for a walk. she barged out of the front door as i was leaving for home and wouldn't come back until i grabbed her lead to go to the field.

when her owners returned, that was that, she was happy and toddled off without a care in the world back to them.

the same night my friends dog, when i left for home, screeched the house down!
didn't miss her own owner at all, just decided she missed me when i left, her owner was fuming
i'm not sure why she did this, especially as with having to walk home every day to my dog walking job and to feed my rabbits and guinea pigs, they were left in the house on their own for 4-5 hours and as a result, didn;t get taken out anywhere near as often or as far as my friend normally takes her.
but apparently she sulked all night as i'd gone. bless her.

How does that follow? We've always had rescue dogs and while mostly we went on holidays in the UK where we could take the dog, they have always gone into kennels if we've gone abroad.

I can understand your concern, but after you have done it once and they know you are going to come back for them, I don't see a problem.

In any case, I believe dogs just accept their current situation, and you coming back to collect them is just an added, but very welcome, bonus.

It sounds unreasonable i know, but when we adopted him he was very underweight and bony and the shelter said that he hadnt been eating well and was very upset being there. So in my mind it would be cruel to put him back in the same situation of not knowing if we will come back or not.

Ive looked into the k9 dog sitting but the closest around here is either a dog walker popping in, or just people advertising themselves and im not keen on letting strangers stay here when they dont have experience etc.

My partners dad is the best option but its just i dont know if i could trust him to follow the rules and then if something did happen it would cause friction because hes family. Hes ideal because he would live here, the dog knows him and he doesnt work so could be here most of the time. Its just the fact that hed think since we were abroad we wouldnt know if he took him round a mates house, or took him in the car or took him out without his muzzle etc.

I know holidays abroad are better as you're guarenteed the weather and what not. I know we don't have great weather in this country but my last couple of holidays have been in the UK and we had fabulous weather (pure luck I'm sure!).

Would you ever consider holidaying here so you can take your pooch with you?

It's a shame there's no K9 service by you as that sounds perfect.

The plan is to holiday in the uk and take him but we were hoping for one big final abroad holiday since weve never been abroad alone.

Weve gone abroad as part of group holidays and i havent really enjoyed them that much. But weve never been in the position before to be able to organise and get around ourselves abroad. Thats why we arent planning to go until a few years time.

Also the holiday we are hoping for is to go to vegas, so its the sort of thing that we cant do in the uk! Had it been just a general holiday then we would stick to uk.

OK, I understand better about the dog's situation. It's a pity you can't trust your partner's father (really?) as that would obviously be the best solution.

Blackpool?

I get you now, and you're a very good owner to be considering your doggy at this time even though it won't be for a couple of years, awww. I'm sure something will turn up to enable you to go away. I don't blame you for wanting the very best care whilst you're away when there's so much at stake.

Did you get him straight from kennels or was he fostered in a home? Some of the rescues fosterers will dog sit over holidays if they have space.

Straight from kennels. He was in the pound for two weeks while they tried to reunite him with his owners (already chipped) but they didnt want him back. He was then in the shelter for about a month. When we got him he was underweight, had to have treatment for sores on his legs and had a bad cough. So when i see him happy now its hard to think about the state he was in so it seems nasty to up and leave.

Our current plan is to get partners dad spending more time with him so that we can trust him. He wouldnt do anything to hurt him as he loves dogs but its just the fact that with our dog you have to be on the ball!

The other week we let him out for a night time wee, wasnt watching him and he ended up trying to play fetch with a hedgehog!

I could not trust any of these mobile pet sitters going around. Trust a complete stranger with my house keys - No Thanks. We used to leave our dog in kennels. Friends would help but popping in and out your home, on occasions is not enough. Unless you have a family member/friend stay at your home for the time that you are away.

We've always got a friend to pet sit for us - paying them is well worth it if necessary compared to paying for a kennel. I'm not sure I would trust a total stranger, but if it is someone you know its the perfect solution.

My partners dad doesnt work and has offered to move in if we ever went on holiday to look after the dog and the house. So that would be ideal but we just dont trust him. Only last month he came round and left the gate wide open and let himself in, luckily i managed to grab the dog as he tried to leg it out otherwise wed have had to chase him round the park

At the moment weve thought maybe we could holiday in the uk for a few years before we go abroad. I dont know how quickly dogs age but maybe when hes older and a bit slower he would be more trustworthy (im on about the dog still btw!).

The main problem, apart from him trying to escape, is he can be unpredictable around other dogs. Some he would sniff and ignore but some he can get defensive around if he feels threatened. My partner therefore pays attention when walking him and if a dog off its lead runs up to them he picks the dog up to avoid the possibility of anything happening. I prefer to muzzle him which makes me feel more in control and i can relax more. We both agreed if anyone else looked after him we would ask them to muzzle him just to be safe but his dad would probably ignore that because he would think its cruel and if we cant see him we wouldnt know.

haven't got a dog now but if I was in your shoes I'd pay for someone to come over and look after him, loads of places do house sitting services for pets these days and some just do walking etc.

If I "DID" have a dog ATM I'd rather pay someone to live in my house for a week or so or pay to have someone pop in every few hours at home as at least at home I know my dog will know the surroundings and not get stressed.

A lot of retired people do this as they have the time to spare and so can look after the animals properly.

I see your point but can you imagine telling someone whos offered to house sit for you (who lives 5 mins down the road) that you are paying a stranger to do it because you dont trust them!

Its an impossible situation really because hes so keen to help but i just dont trust him and i know he would be offended if we asked someone else.

You could tell a teeny weeny porky pie and say that your poochie "needs" to take medicine at very specific times and needs a special diet while you are away and these people can supply these (pretend they are kind of... ex vet nurses?)

I do feel your pain though, had a neighbour that kept forgetting to feed my cats when I went away once (luckily for us another neighbour stepped in!) so am dreading the next weekend away!

I like your thinking!

I guess my problem is being too nice. My parents live about half hour away and my mum has offered in the past to have a weeks holiday to move in here to look after the dog but then we would still have to explain to partners dad why we didnt ask him.

Its frustrating because we he visits hes good with the dog but just when we come round to the idea he does something stupid like leave the gate wide open or think its ok to let the dog meet his partners cat he doesnt do it on purpose but it seems that everytime we tell him something he knows better.

I think you should let father in law look after the dog, ideal I think, family member you can trust with your house. Dog stays in its own home. And I am sure the dog will be fine.