It’s that time of the year again and after not being able to travel for two years, this year will be travel galore for everyone. But unfortunately our dogs can't always travel with us so how can we prepare our pets to cope without you while you’re away?

First things first: book your minder/kennels etc. way in advance. Some boarding facilities are already booked for Christmas!

One of the biggest things to consider with today's dogs is separation anxiety. Most of us have been sharing our homes with dogs 24/7 during the last couple of years because of the pandemic. Dogs got used to us being around and a change in that can cause some stress to our pets.  If your dog is not used to being away from you for long periods of time, you need to start planning way ahead on how to train them to tolerate this better. Get a session in with a qualified dog trainer or behaviourist to give you tips and tricks on how to build up your dog's tolerance on spending time alone as well as away from you. 

Choosing the right minder is of course key. If your dog is used to all the mod cons and has a free range of the house during the night, putting them in kennels might not be the best solution. As nice as kennels are, dogs will still need to be used to spending time in a confined space so if you haven’t crate trained your dog or trained them to be in one room during the night, they will find this difficult. Home boarding usually works best with sensitive dogs but make sure you choose the right person to leave your dog with. Check references, make sure they will know what to do in unfortunate circumstances, meet them in advance and do a trial for a couple of nights just to make sure your dog gets to know the person. 

And to make them feel more comfy take their usual bed, a few toys or things that have a familiar smell with them. It'll be a nice little pacifier if they miss you.

Another important thing when dropping off your dog is to make it as swift as possible. Try not to linger too long or say goodbye to your pet for twenty minutes as they’ll just get upset for no reason. Make it a positive thing and if you introduced your dog to the minder ahead of time they’ll be happy coming in with them. 

p.s. Also on a separate note and this is just my personal view….I recently read an article about the lack of dog kennels and dog minders in general in Ireland. It described how the pet boarding industry is hard work, it’s 24/7 work with high costs and not great financial payoff. Some kennels only charge 20 EUR per day so imagine how many dogs they need to take on just to break even? It really made me think. I love to travel and I would hate to leave my dog in a place where she wasn’t happy while I’m away, I would be worried sick and it would ruin my holiday. Leaving your dog with relatives to look after for a week or two is a big ask and it’s also not always possible. There is so much that goes into looking after someone's pet so why aren’t we prepared to pay more for that service so that everyone benefits?