How To Leave Your Pets Behind On Vacation

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This week I did the unthinkable – I left my dogs and cats at home with a pet sitter while my daughter and I went on vacation…alone!

I have not had issues leaving my cats home before. But Grace and Benson have gone EVERYWHERE with me before! During Covid, I decided last year to drive the 30 hour drive home to see my family rather than fly. And I couldn’t even think of leaving my dogs! So what did I do? I rented an RV, booked campsites and drove the dogs and my daughter home from Ontario to Saskatchewan!

What did I learn? A LOT. Driving a much bigger vehicle than I ever have before was a lot of work alone, never mind with two young dogs who have never travelled or camped before. It was a lot of work, a lot of stress and I was way more tired getting back home than when I left.

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This Year

So this year I decided to drive once again. For those of you who have never driven the north side of Lake Superior before the scenery is simply stunning. Last year we missed out on a lot of things like the Agawa Pictographs and the amethyst mines because we had the dogs with us and couldn’t bring them.

As much as it pained me to think about leaving them, I knew that they would ultimately be more comfortable in their own home. Benson stresses out really easily which leads to bouts of diarrhea. I’ll never forget him running to the basement with my mom and having what we call “helicopter poops” where he spins and it flies out of his bottom right at my mom’s feet.

I also cleaned many messes in the RV and spent countless hours taking him out at night since I couldn’t just let him out like we could at home with the yard.

Separation Anxiety

While I wrote about separation anxiety in dogs (you can read that HERE), it was ME who was having separation anxiety thinking about leaving them for three whole weeks! These dogs are my babies, my lifeline, particularly when my daughter is not around!

My cats are great pets as well, but they still do their own thing. Where I am the center of my dog’s universe! How could I leave my dogs behind???

Find A Friend

So a few months ago when I was starting to think ahead to my annual summer trip home I started asking around to see if any friends were available to stay over at my house with my house full of animals! Two big Bernese Mountain dogs are not for the faint of heart!

After asking one friend, she said she would be able to and I was thrilled! Knowing the animals would be well taken care of eased my mind a great deal! I didn’t think much of it again for some time.

A Hiccup In The Plan

As the trip grew closer, I got a text from my friend. She adopted a rescue dog who is reactive with other dogs (and not sure about cats) so house sitting was off the table! Oh no.

I went into panic mode! I hit about every contact who might have been suitable in my address book…with zero luck. And being the overprotective mom that I am with my dogs, I didn’t want someone I didn’t know in my home with my beloved pets.

My mom has two cats who are getting on in their years, Zoey and Emmy. My dogs are really good with all other animals, even the mean cat who stalks us on walks! But the cats are fearful of dogs and it created a lot of stress when I brought them home last year. But it was either see me with the dogs or skip this year at this point.

A Miracle!

The next thing that happened was truly a miracle! A friend of mine that I used to work with has a daughter in her early 20s who loves animals! We had spoken in the past about her coming to stay with the pets, so I asked if she would be available to help out this summer. Unfortunately, she wasn’t this year.

A few weeks later I got a text from him – asking if I still needed someone! Yes please!!!! It turns out that his ex-wife has a friend who’s Mom has a Bernese Mountain dog! And it had come up at yoga that I was looking for someone to stay at the house with the crew!

To make a long story short, she came a few times to meet everyone and much to my relief she wanted to stay! She was even able to laugh off Benson’s goofy antics and excited jumping! But wait…that means leaving my dogs for the first time ever!

Anxiety – Mine not Theirs!

As the trip grew closer and closer I started getting a LOT more anxious about leaving them! My cats have been through this drill many times so I really wasn’t worried about them. But my dogs are my BABIES! And they NEED me right???

Even my daughter was having bouts of anxiety about leaving the dogs at home with someone who wasn’t us! I ordered all the food I needed, wrote detailed instructions and the day came closer and closer…I spent more and more time cuddling with my dogs and giving them lots of loving and kisses.

Leaving Day

Finally the day came when I was leaving my dogs alone for the first time ever! Were they going to be ok? Was I?!?

It was a pretty chaotic morning of finishing packing the car and getting ready to go so I didn’t get to cuddle with my bears as much as I would have wanted to. Then it was time to actually leave them! The dogs came with us last year and got pretty excited when they saw all the travel stuff ready to go! I felt SO bad!

As with separation anxiety leaving for period of time during the day, I felt it best just to quietly exit the house. Both dogs kind of sat there watching us go like “HUH??”

On The Road

The woman who came to stay with my dogs is amazing. She loves the dogs and I was getting pictures the first day!! By the time I pulled over for a break I would usually have a few and it made me smile and it also made my heart hurt a little bit too!

But…It looked like they were having an absolute BLAST! I have to admit, it made me a little sad that they seemed to be having just as much fun without me! Do my dogs really need me?

Best. Sleep. Ever

Well, since the dogs first came home that is! That first night in the hotel it was so quiet. I mean SO quiet! And I didn’t have to worry about getting up with the dogs! Or turning on the fan for them when they started panting incessantly! No cats purring on my head and kneading in my hair! Don’t get me wrong, I love all that stuff but the break was definitely nice.

No joke, I slept like a baby that night! I woke up feeling rested and refreshed and ready to hit the road! I think the first few days of being away from all the animals has taught me is that no matter how much we love our pets everyone can use a bit of a break now and then!

Less Worry

It has now been four days since I left my dogs. I have been able to leave the worry behind! It has been probably harder for me than it was for them! But I am starting to relax, and I am taking advantage of the freedom!

But at the same time, I find myself wondering what they are up to and how they are behaving. And if they are missing me as much as I am missing them. The break is nice though, and I’m hoping to go back with more energy to deal with those two crazy dogs!

And I know that no matter how irrational it is that they aren’t missing me, I know that they are. If the reception I get after going out for a few hours is any indication, the reception after three weeks…Well…I figure it’s only a matter of seconds before they manage to knock me down and climb all over me! And I will be enjoying every moment of that fluffy dog pile of love!

Maybe for next time I will look at getting some sort of a pet camera so I can check in and see what everyone is up to! If you are thinking of getting a house sitter, Rover has some great options for having someone come and take care of your furry crew! Check out their website here.

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