Don’t let your dog stop you from taking a holiday
If you have ever had to cancel or postpone a holiday because you couldn’t find suitable dog sitting in time, then you are not alone. In a recent survey, 83 per cent of Aussie dog owners said their dogs made it harder for them to go away.
I personally know this and the more I talk to friends with dogs, the more I realise this is a common conundrum. Lots of us are ditching holidays, or not even bothering to plan them, because we can’t sort out the dog.
But it really doesn’t have to be this way! Help IS at hand so you can not only plan the holiday you all crave, but enjoy it too because you know your dog will be well looked after.
When a holiday feels too hard
About a year ago I struggled to even organise a weekend away with my family. I didn’t have an established dog-minding relationship, nor had I ever engaged a sitter or someone to stay in my home and look after our little guy, Toffee. My parents usually mind him for us when we go away, but they were cruising around the country in their caravan for a few months at the time.
I looked into dog-friendly accommodation thinking we’d just bring him on our holiday, but then felt uneasy about leaving him in a strange environment if we say, ducked out to the movies or went to the beach and he couldn’t come. I didn’t like the idea of a kennel either as Toffee is a rescue dog and I didn’t want him to think he’d been abandoned again at a shelter with lots of dogs.
So I gave up. I resolved that my family can only ever go away when my folks are home to mind him.
How silly!
Help IS at hand
I realise now that this is ridiculous. There are LOTS of wonderful local dog sitters who could of helped me out, I just didn’t know how to find them or how to ensure this was something that would work for us and also, Toffee.
If I’d known about the North Shore and Beaches Dogs directory – a listing of local dog sitters near me, I could of searched for a sitter and read their listing. Then if I felt they might be a good fit for our dog, I could of messaged them to see if they were available for our holiday dates. If so, then I could of met the sitter in person and introduced them to our dog. Then we could of worked out a dog-minding arrangement together.
That or I could of posted a cute picture of Toffee asking the local members of the North Shore and Beaches Dogs Facebook group if anyone was available to mind him on the dates I needed. Again, I could of arranged a doggy play date and have taken things from there.
I know now that there are plenty of kind dog-loving people who would of either minded Toffee at our home or invited him to have a little holiday at theirs while we were having ours.
Everyone needs a holiday
Everyone needs a break, but we can’t let our dogs be yet another reason not to take one. Finding a dog sitter you love and establishing a good relationship with them (and also, their dogs and yours!) is the secret to being able to go away with ease.
If you have this arrangement in place, chances are you will return from your holiday feeling rested and to the biggest face lick your dog has ever planted on you! He will have missed you, of course, but also felt looked after, safe and loved the entire time you were gone.
