Home away from home

One of the biggest problems with having pets is how to take care of them if you are going on a vacation. For a couple of days, its an easy thing. We just leave Nero with our full time maid at home. But this time, it was a longish 8 day visit and we needed to close up the house.



The Decision

We had a few options:

1. Put him in a pet kennel. Heard about a good place from a colleague who regularly leaves his lab there. Huge place, lots of dogs to run around with and people to take care of the dogs.

Pros: Professional care.

Cons: Nero is not very socialised with other dogs. In fact, he tends to get aggressive if he sees other dogs on the roads, especially leashed dogs. Plus, we were not very comfortable leaving him with strangers and in a strange place. Also, he's mostly a house dog, plus not used to being tied or confined for long periods of time. And of course, cost.

2. Leave him with his trainer. Though he's been out of training for quite a few months now, his trainer had left his card and said, they do keep dogs at their home and look after them in the owners absence. And they usually don't keep more than 2-3 dogs at a time.

Pros: Part professional care. Known person, Nero knows the trainer so only the place would be strange.

Cons: It turns out, the trainers mostly go out to work and his sister in law really takes care of the dogs. Plus there still are other dogs there. Also, trainer though reasonably competent, was not very confidence inspiring. Lastly, cost again.

3. Leave him with my mum. He's been to my mum's place a few times and knows my parent and the house. My mum's maid likes dogs and is fine with keeping an eye on him.

Pros: Familiar place and people. No other dogs. No need for lengthy chaining. Garden around the house for walking and doing his doggy deeds. No cost.

Cons: Too strong for mum to handle if he doesn't behave. Loose hedge with gaps, so he can't be left open in the garden as he tends to run away from the house/garden. Trouble for parents who havent really kept a dog for ages and never managed a big dog. Both parents are working, so Nero would be alone in the house during the day.



Finally, we decided to leave him with my mum. Deciding criteria was Nero's familiarity with the place and mum's & her maid's comfort with keeping/ looking after him. What helped was that he has a pretty set routine of needing to go out in the morning/evening and sleeping during the day, which fitted in well with my parent's routine. So the decision was made.



The Preparation

Having decided, the first thing we did was on an earlier weekend, take Nero to my mum's place to get him more used to staying there. His delight on reaching there and clear recognition of the place was an affirmation of our decision. He immediately went around the house sniffing everything and marked his territory in the garden. He seemed fairly at home. We also got some dog tags made for him with his name and our phone numbers in case of any trouble with his running off. We hung the one with mum's phone/ voice mail before we left him.



On the day of departure, we loaded up dog, crate, mattress, few rugs/mats he sleeps on, leashes and chains, food bin, food bowl, water bowl, packet of biscuits, assorted bones and assorted toys into the car and set it up at my mum's place. The crate and mattresses were set up at the back verandah. A long chain (made of 2 chains actually) was locked into the front verandah, where he could sit and watch the world go by (as he likes to in the mornings). His bowls were set up, mum and maid briefed on food and mum briefed on how to leash him and walk him. We cautioned mum to walk him either in the garden or nearby and not go too far as she would find it difficult to control him if he saw other dogs (and there were plenty of them in her locality). With all this set up, we left them.



Smooth Sailing

It all went off without a hitch. Nero was as good as gold during the day, when no one was home. He did his deeds when mum took him out mornings/evenings and good as gold indoors. The only time he got a bit frisky was the day before we came back. He couldnt expend much energy indoors so he put on a bit of weight as well. But overall, everyone, dog and humans were happy! All is well that ends well :)