Best way to vacation without codependent 1.5 year old dog?

[ecraigr]

What are your suggestions on how to leave my dog at home while on vacation for a week? I am planning on going to Hawaii, it’s really hard to take your dog and very expensive, so ideally I want to try and leave him at home.

Last year I went to Hawaii and left him with ‘friends’ but they weren’t nearly as attentive as I thought they would be with him. My dog is pretty much with me 24/7 as I wfh and he has a schedule. I was thinking of having my bfs brother live at my home for the week while I’m gone, as he really likes him and my dog will literally be more at home. What do you all think? Also what do you think I should offer if he agrees to do it? I was thinking $500-$600 for the week.

Ideally I would want someone at home with him most of the time. He’s used to use leaving for 3-4 hours but not more than that. I don’t know if I should hire a pet sitter who normally does it full time.

Kind of all over the place with this tbh.

 

[masonp]

@ecraigr You should find a pet/ house sitter- and interview them.

We have a pup we got in Covid, but we can leave him home for a few hours while we ski or are out for the night.

Took us some time but we found a dog and house sitter on rover who works from home and stayed at our house for vacations. She even sends text updates for our pups.

If you need someone with your pups, it’s better to pay someone to do it exactly how you ask instead of friends who may not do it exactly how you want, leaving you feeling annoyed.

It may take a time or two before your big trip to ensure that your house/dog sitter is right for a trip where you’re leaving for a long time.

 

[saddle]

@ecraigr I would start the process now on desensitization to be without you. Dogs that’s are with their owners 24-7 and are never left without them usually have terrible anxiety.

 

[intelligentthinking]

@ecraigr Not sure where you live, but boarding in my neighborhood are about $35 a day and I think can be very nice. You can check Rover to see if you can find a pet sitter that will take them in their home - again, where I live there are lots of good options.

As far as Hawaii - yes it is expensive and very time consuming to bring a dog into Hawaii (I went through the process myself recently) but if you are going to Hawaii regularly, you should definitely look into it, because the blood work lasts 2 years and when you add up the cost of boarding, it isn’t that bad. How big is your dog? If it’s bigger than 25 pounds, then it’s definitely not worth it because you have to put them with the luggage which I worry about on such a long flight.

 

[ecraigr]

@intelligentthinking I’ve been looking into rover. We don’t necessarily go regularly, it just happened that way again this year.

He’s 12lb and would be on the plane under the seat in his carrier.