Anyone with experience boarding an older dog?

[TKay]

We're planning a vacation in July and will be gone for 6 or 7 days. I have an old (9) Great Dane who is sweet and lovely, but does not get around very well anymore. In fact, she can't walk on tile or wood floors because her legs just go out from under her. Ideally, I'd like to keep her home and have someone in to care for her. The person who usually does this for me isn't available and I think I'm going to have to board the dog. I'm nervous about this because she's not in the best of shape.
Anyone with any tips or suggestions on the best way to go about this? I'm just going to call local kennels and see if they can make provisions for her. I'd also like a place with a vet around in case she has problems. Do you think I'll find a place without tile? I can't imagine any boarders have carpeting in their facilities.
Also, have you heard of hiring someone to come into your home to care for your dog? Say, twice a day? I hate to hire a stranger, but I can't think of any neighborhood kids or family members who could do it (without being majorly put out).
Any and all thoughts welcome.

[Autumn]

I have seen ads around here for pet-sitting services, but I don't know details. Local pet supply stores, grooming businesses, etc. might be good places to check for information.

[Gumbeaux]

Don't just call boarding kennels, call vets. Our vet has "luxury suite" boarding kennels with rugs on the floor and french doors for the dog to be able to look outside. These "luxury suites" look better than some hotels I've stayed at.

[armel]

The assistants at my vet's office also do pet sitting. so your vet may have a referral that way too. i would try to keep her at home since that is what she is use to.

And you can check out pet sitters international for listings for folks in your area. that is where i found a pet sitter. she came and visited with me and my dog and gave me references that i called.

also, petco or petsmart have trainers that also will do pet sitting and come by 2x a day. so you could call them to find out about that too.

[Robyn1007]

I would definitely get a referral through your vet for a pet sitter and, as mentioned before, many vet tech do pet sitting on the side. A friend of mine used to and the great part about that is they have a very close relationship with the vet should something go wrong.

[misskitty100]

I was also going to suggest going thru your vet. I wouldn't have a problem asking one of the assistants if they wouldn't take your dog home with them (assuming they have carpeted floors). You could pay them the going rate at a boarding facility but your dog wouldn't have to be in such a chaotic and noisy environment.

[ljt2r]

I would definitely get a referral through your vet for a pet sitter and, as mentioned before, many vet tech do pet sitting on the side. A friend of mine used to and the great part about that is they have a very close relationship with the vet should something go wrong.

I will ditto this. I too have a geriatric dog (12+ yr old German Shepherd with hip displaysia and arthritis) and I absolutely will not kennel him. Too much stress--both mental and physical. We usually have a pet sitter for all our pets, but right now while we are selling the house, we kennel the cat and the other 2 dogs and take him with us (we are visiting relatives, not hotels). But normally we use the pet sitter, which we found through the vet. This is so much easier on your dog, they get to be in familiar surroundings, etc etc. Our pet sitter was willing to come out and meet the pets for free--and she has even been willing to come out and re-meet them if it has been a while since we have used her. As uncomfortable as having a stranger in your house can be, I think it is really preferable to the stress on a dog of being kenneled--especially if it is somewhere new.

Laura

PS The close relationship to the vet and professionalism of a pro pet sitter if something goes wrong is key too. The aforementioned dog had a catastrophic explosive growth of bacteria in his stomach when we went home for Christmas 2 years ago (forget what it is called), our sitter not only checked on him multiple times that evening (before she knew how serious it was) but also took him to the emergency vet (coincidentally and happily OUR vet was on call that night--we have no hospital here) and stayed to help the vet until 1 AM since she had no vet tech with her. Serous antibiotics took care of it, and we came home ASAP, but having a professional pet sitter probably saved his life.

[Cookin4Love]

We always have someone come in and stay at our house when we're away. It costs us around $60 a day for the two dogs, and she is great with them. We first started using her through a licensed, bonded company. There were issues within the management of that company, and the pet sitters bailed out. (By then, we knew her pretty well, and she also provided us the documentation of what was happening, so we've had no problems hiring her independently.) She calls and e-mails me regularly just to check on "the kids," and adores them. They are happier dogs when I get home than when I leave--because she totally dotes on them. I have boarded the dogs, but am much more comfortable with having someone stay with them. FWIW, my dogs would never do well if someone just came in to check on them a few times; they would tear the house down by the time we got home. (They're very...um...needy.)

[TKay]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I think my dog would do fine with someone visiting her--although I do think she'd get lonely. She wouldn't do anything to the house, in other words. She's extremely docile and mostly lies around all day. I will certainly call my vet (great idea) and then search around for pet sitters. It breaks my heart to leave her for so long. I'd feel much better to know someone trustworthy is looking after her.
Btw, we dog sit for my SIL and would love to leave the dog with them. Alas, the entire downstairs of their home is tile. :(

[Home Chef]

We have an 11 1/2 year old Great Dane and she's having some problems getting around, but not so bad yet.
We do usually board her at the vet, I feel more comfortable doing this because he's familiar with her and has her history if there would be problems. A couple weeks ago we boarded her and he was full. I was in a panic and almost decided not to go away, but really had to. Our vet recommended the Pet Hotel at PetSmart and while I was not convinced, my husband thought it would be okay.
She did fine. They have a room that she could have to herself which I think helped because she does sleep a lot. They also had a low cot so she didn't have to sleep on the floor. She can still step up on the couch or chair so that was fine. They gave a complete report on her when we picked her up, when she ate, when she went out, what she did. And she did eat while there, sometimes she doesn't.
The only thing I would ask next time is if they could walk her some. She was a little stiff when we picked her up and had trouble getting in the car. She bounced back quickly though.
We haven't used them for the dog, but I've had Critter Sitters come in to the house for the cats and the woman we've had is very nice and loves animals.

[luv2cook]

I have had a geriatric dog and my first advice would be to keep her home if possible. You've gotten great recommendations. Second, I would look up luxury pet hotels. They have raised beds for large dogs, individual indoor kennels and people to walk them 3 times a day. You can also schedule "play time" but in your case, probably just people time.

third, if this turns out to be the case, VISIT THEM, DON'T JUST CALL. That is very important. When I had to board, i went to 15 places! one place actually had rocks on their "kennel" floor! rocks!

[pointerhaven]

I too have a senior, who until now was healthy and happy to go to doggy daycare. Now with Nates seizure situation I will be having someone come to the house to care for my babies. I luckily have an employee who has two wonderful daughters who doggie sit for people often. I truely trust these girls to treat the boys with dignity and care. And the fact that they both like to do yard work is a plus...they will even weed the garden for me...

However, in the past I have taken the boys to a Doggie Daycare that treats them special and tends to their needs on a one on one situations. Even my Blind Boy goes there with special needs.

Good luck. Wanda

[Mpenny1001]

We boarded our 11 year old dog at our vet's office and he was very comfortable there since he knew the vets and assistants. When he was 12, we didn't feel comfortable boarding him any more so we had one of the assistants pet sit at home. She came over before and after her work shift and spent the evening with him. Another benefit to using the vet's office is that is was much less expensive than a regular kennel. I think we paid $10 a day.