"I'll feed your dogs while your gone"

My husband and I are starting to make plans for visiting family for the Christmas holiday. He gets a pretty long vacation this year. I was trying to find someone that I knew and trusted who might be able to watch Bear for me while I'm gone and take Dixie with us. The car isn't big enough for the 2 dogs and our daughter in the backseat.

A boy in the neighborhood was over when I was talking with my husband about the planning of the trip. And theboy offers his help.

boy- I'll feed your dogs for you while you are gone. How long will you be gone for?
me- we'll be gone about a week. I think I'm just going to take them both with me.
boy- Well I can feed them for you everyday.
me- I don't think your parents will allow you to take care of my dogs since you already have 2 of your own.
boy- Oh, well, I wasn't going to take them to my house. I'll just come over your house every day and feed them.
Me- I can't leave them here in the house by themselves for a week.
boy- why not? Nothing is going to happen to them.
me- who's going to let them outside to pee a couple times a day?
boy- ummmm.
me- No thank you. I think i'm going to just take them both with me.

I was trying to be nice since this boy was 15. But still should know better about leaving a dog alone for a week maybe more. Yeah feeding them is all well and good but what about everything else? I cannot and will not leave them home for a week without any kind of supervision. It'll be cramped but I think we'll just figure out a way to cram both dogs and our daughter in the backseat. We'll scale down on stuff we take and bring back.

Yikes, I don't blame you! Plus, you wouldn't enjoy visiting with your family if you were worrying about your dogs the whole time.

I lady I work with had her friends daughter watch their dogs while they were on vacation. The girl is like 20, so not a kid. She was supposed to stay at their house and that way she could let them outside, feed them and they would have company. When she came back from vacation, the dogs were ok, but they had went to the bathroom all over the house. I mean all over it. She ended up having to replace the carpet everywhere. She was just thankful the dogs were ok, but she said never again. Next time they go to a kennel.

I know exactly how that is! Luckily I've got a friend that was willing to spend the weekend at our house to stay with them. I work pt at a kennel and I could get boarding for free but I was afraid my older two would freak out and Zoe would relapse (she's a rescued weim). I paid my friend well so she didn't mind doing it. Plus she got free food and board for the weekend.

Yikes! Poor kid. He probably meant well, but didn't think it through.

I would try finding a good kennel. My two board at their vet's office, and they love it. They get spoiled outrageously over there. Try asking other dog owners or vets for some recommendations.

Yes take your dogs WITH YOU! Please do! While My parents and I were on vacation we left a family friend in charge of our dogs. Feed em and block the doggy door at night. NO That simple task could not be done. We came home and Sadie, our oldest dog had gotten attacked by a coyote. Her face was SO swollen she couldnt even move! We checked the other weens and they all had bite marks on them. We took sadie to the vet and she had to stay over night in critical care. When we asked the friend she said "Oh, I didnt even notice!" and "Oh I was supposed to BLOCK the doggy door?" Yes, we left STEP by STEP instructions on the fridge on WHAT to do and HOW to do it correctly! Their was also tons of old poo everywhere that she didnt even bother to clean up. We were going to pay her too. So please, dont let someone watch your dog. Take them with you or board them somewhere!

Yeah I'd take them aswell.

We always board ours, no matter how much I trust a friend, I know a kennel is set up to keep dogs safe.
We go in, tell them that we want Harry with Sophie and Buster with Mac so there are no fights, that they can run all 4 of them together at daytime but with no other dogs as that woudl be disastrous.

Although in this case, I agree... take them with you.
But, a friend I graduated with (20 years ago) and a "dog" person did an exceptional job at taking care of two of our dogs and a bird for almost a week. I very much preferred my dogs stay at home than in a kennel environment. They were much happier at home than in that kennel, where they were hoarse from barking, weight loss, and didn't stink.
So some friends or family could be better if they are "dog people"!
Just wanted to mention the "other" side...