# What do you do for holidays?



## Tara (Jun 9, 2015)

Hi. What do you do with your cockapoo when you go on holiday? I have wanted a dog for years and now the children are not babies any more I think now is the right time. I am ready to go full steam ahead but the only thing putting my husband off is what we do with the dog when we go away.

I know ideally you would go somewhere in the UK where the dog can come with you but we do like our 10 night annual holiday abroad. We also occasionally go away for a night or 2 through the year. I am not really a fan of kennels, so what does everyone do?

Tara


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

First choice is family/friend/sitter coming to your home to stay with your pup. Second choice is for pup to go to family/friend/sitter to stay. If you find someone who has a dog to exchange this service with it is ideal. There are some good boarding type places where the dogs live in with people. A last resort is a traditional kennel. Rufus would not be able to handle this, but a dog who has been left alone from young and trained in a crate probably could.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

There seems to me lots of home from home boarders in the uk now, some are independent, some work for national companies(barking mad, holidays 4 dogs are just a couple I can think of), have not used any myself yet as we holiday in the uk, but I'm sure we will get abroad again sometime so that is what I would do (if family didn't look after him for me).


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## Lorac (Sep 23, 2014)

Google doggie day care and your home town. We have a fantastic one near us where The owner has only four boarders at a time. All the dogs play in her acre plus paddock, are allowed in her large kitchen during the day and she even has them In her lounge during the evening. It's like home from home. Mutley loves it and has made a couple of friends there. 
In my opinion, doggy day care is definitely the way to go. Handy too if you just want to leave them for a few hours. Good luck.


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## Aly (Mar 27, 2015)

I have a caravan so Lucy comes away with us all the time.
I also have a dog friendly cottage booked in Cornwall this year.
The only problem is I have booked a B and B to break up the journey to Cornwall but dogs aren't allowed in the dining room so we are going to have to go to breakfast separately as she'll only whimper and bark if we leave her.
Next year I'm going to take her to France where apparently dogs are made welcome in most places.


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## Florida Cockapoo (Aug 24, 2012)

Can't tell you who to use in the UK. But I have tried a "kennel". I didn't like that, so looked for on "In Home" care taker. We bring Piper to her house and she takes care of her. Piper loves it there and its in her "home". She only has two dogs of her own and only takes on 2-3 more dogs. So a low number. We have Piper going to her on the weekends for a few months. Works out great.

Our last big trip was for 12 days. She is not anymore expensive then a kennel would be in my area. Plus Piper gets "personal" care and even sleeps with the home owners in their bed. 

By the way I'm in Florida, we also have a "cat sitter" check in our cat at our house. She just stops by everyday for about 30-45 minutes to check the house and make sure the cat is taken care of.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

My dogs are collected from my home and walked by a friend who is also a 'dog walker' one day a week during term time. When we go away the dogs go and live with the same friend. I occasionally walk her dogs for her, have them for the odd Saturday and just recently had one of them for a long weekend. My dogs are super happy with her and her dogs and I have absolutely no worries. Perfect all round.
My advice would be to see if there are any dog walkers in your area that also do home boarding and if so, trial them as walkers so that you already have a relationship with them.
I would love to take my dogs with us when we go on holiday in the uk, but also recognize that our dog free week allows us as a family the freedom to do things that would be more difficult with the dogs in tow. It also means that if it rains all week (holdaying in the uk in the summertime, this is always a possibility ) I get to sit and read a book instead of getting soaking wet!


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

I always put mine in kennels. They are absolutely fine and I would much rather they were safe and secure in a kennels than looked after by someone in their own home. My fathers dog ran out of the home boarders front door and got run over. 
I did the rounds of all the kennels near me and quite frankly some were terrible! I found 3 good ones and chose a "mixing kennels" where the dogs spend most of the day in a large field with shelter, paddling pools etc. 
I never worry about them and they are bathed and sweet smelling when I pick them up.


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## erinafare (Dec 9, 2012)

my two stay with my friend Jan there second mum and of course it is home from home. They sleep on her bed along with her dog Ozzy don't think she gets much sleep.
They also go to Tina of Precious Pets they live in her home and are thoroughly spoilt. She only takes two dogs at a time for overnight stays as she has a dog of her own. They also sleep in the bedroom with her. She picks them up but I go and collect them. They have their own food and take all their toys. It can be expensive and has to be factered into the price of your holiday.
I also have a caravan that we go to often. My dogs are used to traveling and sleeping in different places.
Attached picture of Poppy at Precious Pets I think she looks comfy x


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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

We went away for two weeks. Bear stayed with my aunt, who has a very gentle labrador that will put up with puppy shenanigans. Bear is obsessed with her and was constantly following her around and biting her ears. Next time we go away, we have a stream of family arguing over who gets to look after him.


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