What do you do with your pets while visiting WDW?

[Mickey'sGirl]

In the past, we have used Dog sitting services where the dogs are in a person's home. Initially it worked well, but on the last occasion we used them, our youngest Brittany came home skiddish... so somebody did something to freak him out. We used our Vet's kennel after that, and
recently, my Mother in Law has been caring for our dogs. Our old Rory is going to be 13 this year, and a kennel would be awfully hard on him. My Sister moved in with us this year (with her two dogs), so they will be looking after our boys when we are away in May. No need to move anyone or disrupt anything!

[betteratmk]

We've always had good luck and used the same kennel for our black lab Sabre. he knew theplace well and always seemed happy and content there. We just got back on Sunday from our trip to Disney. On Wednesday, we were contacted by the kennel that our beloved Sabre had had a massive seizure, he was transvered to our animal hospital and our daughter and son rushed to his side. They made the difficult decision and had him put to rest. When we made it home (a 2 day drive) my beloved Sabre was buried under the big pine tree in our upper yard( we live in the country) He faces our home and the family he loved. My heart is heavy and I can't stop crying, I miss him so. Please acclamate your pet to the kennel you choose before you go.

[forever a child]

We've always had good luck and used the same kennel for our black lab Sabre. he knew theplace well and always seemed happy and content there. We just got back on Sunday from our trip to Disney. On Wednesday, we were contacted by the kennel that our beloved Sabre had had a massive seizure, he was transvered to our animal hospital and our daughter and son rushed to his side. They made the difficult decision and had him put to rest. When we made it home (a 2 day drive) my beloved Sabre was buried under the big pine tree in our upper yard( we live in the country) He faces our home and the family he loved. My heart is heavy and I can't stop crying, I miss him so. Please acclamate your pet to the kennel you choose before you go.

I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad that your Son and Daughter were able to be there with him. I am almost crying thinking about it!

You sound just like me! When I had to make the decision to put our White Shepherd down...I had her cremated. I got a lovely rock with her name engraved and years she lived with a paw print on it as a marker stone. We poured her ashes in the creek behind my parents house that she loved so much and placed the marker stone by my parents house so I can look at it every time I visit.

I miss her so much but now we have this Aussie who needed us very much. She was deaf and perhaps would have not lived had we not adopted her...so I think Kimba, our first dog would have been pleased with us helping another one of her canines to have a nice life too. Again, sorry for your loss!

[LandFan]

Our dogs are very people-oriented so I don't think we could leave them home and have a sitter come by a couple of times a day. One of them is a puppy mill rescue too so I would never think of sending them to a kennel as he has not ever had good memories of having been in one and I don't want to totally freak him out. He's timid as it is.

Usually my mom will watch them and we lived with my mom for a while between houses so they are very familiar with her and the house.

We also have a friend who is a science teacher who watches them for us when my mom comes with us. It works out well. I don't trust many people to watch them - especially for any length of time - they are our kids

[mjm12000]

We always have my sister or my ex come and stay at our place to watch the dogs, that way they have their normal schedule and environment and our smells etc. They still miss us to be sure but at least they only have to deal with us not being there and not a whole new environment as well. The funniest is coming home, our Dashhound will come running up and kiss us like crazy but my boston terrier she will first come say hi then remember that we left her for a week and then proceeds to ignore us and give us the cold shoulder for a few days so she knows she is not impressed nor does she need us... of course once she has made us suffer for a day or two she is all snuggles and kisses

[forever a child]

my boston terrier she will first come say hi then remember that we left her for a week and then proceeds to ignore us and give us the cold shoulder for a few days so she knows she is not impressed nor does she need us... of course once she has made us suffer for a day or two she is all snuggles and kisses

Your terrier sounds like our cat. She will come out to say Hi and then not want to hang with us. She does not like people other than us so having someone come to spend time with her is worthless...she wont come out even if she is lonely! She used to drag my DD's stuffed animals out of her room while we were on vacation. Like she was torturing them to say "this can happen to you." Now she just give us the cold shoulder until she has forgiven us. The dog on the other hand is very forgiving, thus making her...a dog. LOL

[MMFreak]

My mother or nephew would house sit and take care of our babies This year it is just me and the kids so hopefully my husband will be around to take care of them if not I will just take them to my moms for the weeks

[mjm12000]

To Bad they don't have a special pet day at the parks... I mean I know why they wouldn't can you imagine the clean up, the chaos etc, but it would be so much fun to see my little dogs at Disney World, they love people and attention so much they would just explode from excitement.

[Lakin]

My mom and my grandma (or, well, my mom's mom) take care of each others pets when they go on vaca, so grandma gets to take care of our 2 dogs and 1 cat when we go to WDW.

[MNNHFLTX]

Currently we have one cat and one dog and utilize a professional pet-sitting service to take care of them when we are gone. Years ago we boarded our (then) two dogs and it was extremely stressful for them. So we researched and interviewed and found a wonderful petsitter. Unfortunately, after caring for our pets for four years she moved last summer, so we had to start the process all over again. Thankfully we've found another petsitter who not only is reliable, but is truly warm and caring with our critters. She comes out 3 times a day when we are not here, so it is not cheap, but worth it.

Ideally, I wished we lived close enough to either my family or my husband's so that at least the dog could stay with them, but both parties live 1000-1500 miles away, so that's not an option.

[mgmnut]

Over the years we have used family, pet sitting services, and a Kennel for our dogs. I feel most comfortable putting them in a Kennel. This way I know they are not getting into any trouble at home when nobody is around and I can relax on vacation. Plus we are not asking anyone to come over two to three times a day to take care of them. Even though there is always a friend or family member that may offer to take care of them, I always feel like we are putting them out. We have 3 dogs, a 7 y/o rescue dog that was from a wild pack in the Cayman Islands, (We saved her as a puppy when the parents got killed and brought her home here, she looks like a coyote), a 2 y/o rescued Deaf White Boxer (how anyone could have laid a hand on this beautiful, sweet, gentle, lovable dog is beyond me), and a 4 y/o faun Boxer. They are always glad to see us when we get home, but also do not seem too upset that we left them. I think they like to socialize with the other dogs. I really like the Kennel we use, lots of private space for the dogs, plus a large enclosed play area for the dogs to play together in. The cat (9) gets an auto water and feeder and get's the house to herself. It is so much easier to relax on vacation if you are not constantly worrying if your four legged family members are ok.

[plutosnana]

We have 2 English Springer Spaniels. And they have puppies. (6!!!) But we never have brought them to wdw or dl but we leave them home with their favorite babysitter. I feel so bad leaving them. (we don't keep the 6 pups we sell them) But I do have to remember this is a vacation. All I'd do is if they were with me on vacation...I'd vist them probably every other day. Give them a bisicut or just walk with them for a bit. Then it would be their vacation too! (Cause there are more places to poop!)

[eandrsmom]

We take our poodle to the vet for the week. We live in a small city, so our vet and staff know us and our dog well. While she's there, I have them give her any vaccinations that she may need, and then groom her the day that I'm picking her up. We've never had any problems.

[septembergirl]

I have my 20 year old niece come and housesit. She gets to have some freedom living alone for a week and we pay her $15-$20 per day.

[#1disneyfan]

We have a rabbit and also a 11yr old Golden Retriever. We have been lucky enough to have a single brother who lives at our house the entire time we are gone. I don't know if our golden would be able to be board at this stage in the game! He actually looks forward to having his "uncle" here while we are gone.

It is great if you have someone to check on them periodically and hopefully give them some attention while your gone. Then bring home lots of treats!!

[Euby]

I always board my cat, Basil (Mouse detective not herb). I'm fortunate that the vet is a cat-only office. They love him! They take turns carrying and holding him. He's got them trained.

[nls721]

Our Chihuahua stays at DH's parents whever we travel. We usually buy them sourveniours from where ever we vacation in addition to giving them $100 for the say. I won't board, our dog has diabetes and requires insulin shots twice a day and I wouldn't trust a regular boarding place do to that. If I ever had to board her, I would probably ask one of the vet techs to watch her (either the tech stays at our house or Chi goes to hers), then I would pay her.

I feel, It gets to be inconvenient with DH's parents watching though and don't want to bother them too much (that's why I also give $100). We will only vacation for about 9 days max because of this.

[Fastpasssteve]

In your post, you said that you have someone coming in periodically throughout the day. It sounds like have made good provision for your beloved pets. They will be in their home where they are comfortable. You will have someone come in to replenish food and water (especially important for cats!) I might suggest one of those water fountains for cats. If water becomes stale, cats won't drink it...and that can lead to kidney problems...and you don't want that. If the caretaker could take a few minutes love on each of your pets, especially the doggie, that would be good.

Try to ease your mind and enjoy your human family's trip to WDW.

[forever a child]

In your post, you said that you have someone coming in periodically throughout the day. It sounds like have made good provision for your beloved pets. They will be in their home where they are comfortable. You will have someone come in to replenish food and water (especially important for cats!) I might suggest one of those water fountains for cats. If water becomes stale, cats won't drink it...and that can lead to kidney problems...and you don't want that. If the caretaker could take a few minutes love on each of your pets, especially the doggie, that would be good.

Try to ease your mind and enjoy your human family's trip to WDW.

Thank you! Just an update....we switched to another person for our pet sitting. He is a dog owner and he watched our dog 1 night this last friday night while DD and I were at swim meet. He walks her twice a day and she goes over to his apartment (2 doors down from us) to hang out it the evening. He also has her on leash for a while to lounge on our front porch. Our aussie didn't seem fazed or overly excited by our return the following afternoon, which is good because that means she was having too much fun visiting the other dog to miss us much. So I am happy with our present situation for our dog sitter. I feel a bit more relieved now before we head out of town. I also know this gentleman went to great lengths with my DD to rescue a lost dog a few weeks back. My DD found an 18 year old dog that had been lost in the woods for 5 days with out food and limited water. The dog was in a difficult area to reach and they had to do a bit of climbing up our rocky hills to get to dog and this man helped my daughter carry the dog down, care for it and helped us get it back to it's owner who believed the dog to be dead after 5 days. So I trust him with my dog now too.

[betteratmk]

I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad that your Son and Daughter were able to be there with him. I am almost crying thinking about it!

You sound just like me! When I had to make the decision to put our White Shepherd down...I had her cremated. I got a lovely rock with her name engraved and years she lived with a paw print on it as a marker stone. We poured her ashes in the creek behind my parents house that she loved so much and placed the marker stone by my parents house so I can look at it every time I visit.

I miss her so much but now we have this Aussie who needed us very much. She was deaf and perhaps would have not lived had we not adopted her...so I think Kimba, our first dog would have been pleased with us helping another one of her canines to have a nice life too. Again, sorry for your loss!

Thank you so much for your kind words, most people don't understand the loss i feel, they think it's just a dog. sabre was a rescue dog as well, he was beaten severely as a puppy while being clipped up. He was able to love and was wonderful to children but never got over his fear of being clipped up completely. He was fine after he was clipped but it took me 2 years to be able to clip him. Then he would put any stick or rock in his mouth to avoid nipping. Even at the end , he would get nervous and I would kiss his head and he would sigh and lean into me. He trusted us and was wonderful with children but never completely got over it