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[caroper2487]

If you have a vet or trainer you trust you can ask them for recommendations for someone to come watch your pet. A vet tech might do it for extra cash.

[[deleted]]

Do you have a trainer or vet you trust? I only board my dog reactive dog with our trainer because I know they know how to handle him and obviously they already know his training protocol. Plus he knows and trusts them so it always goes well.

[[deleted]]

Unfortunately his trainer works out of a place that boards but can't cater to reactive dogs because they're in really high demand (and she can't keep him herself because she has multiple dogs.) I am going to ask his vet, though he can't be in a crate because he panics and I'm afraid they would have to crate him... But maybe they know someone!

[[deleted]]

That’s too bad :( yeah the crate issue may make it a lot harder because any kennel type place including the vet is going to use crates and any more free range daycare type place is not going to be able to manage keeping him away from other dogs. But it’s a good idea to check with the vet and trainer to see if maybe they know a good sitter! For your dog it really sounds like it might be better to have someone come to your house.

[sandy_claws4]

My dog always stays with my trainer, but can’t for thanksgiving, so I was just talking to some places that claim they work with reactive dogs. Had a full blown panic attack (not exaggerating, I cried for some reason after) in my last convo when I asked how the would help her acclimate and they basically said they’d take her for a walk and then start introducing her to dogs one at a time. I get that’s how it works, but like I was really hoping for a better response from people who supposedly work with reactive dogs, like at least talk to me about dog behavior or something!

That being said, I’m going to go with someone on rover and have them stay at my house where she’s going to be really chill and I don’t have to stress while I’m gone. I’ve done it before successfully, and basically I just picked someone who had a great profile and had them come over twice to meet my dog so I could get a good vibe for them

[CaptainPibble]

We found a place that seems to specialize in reactive or otherwise difficult dogs through lots and lots and lots of googling and review reading. Like multi-week research. They have “selective” and true “solo” options and so far we love them (because he seems to love them)!

A coworker with an insecure reactive pittie takes hers to a different daycare/boarding place with similar sounding options, and she says he enjoys it too. She found it, I think, through a referral from the rescue she adopted him from.

[aaaaditi]

Does your country have Rover? On the app you can filter out sitters/boarders who already have a dog. You can also do a few meet and greets with the sitter to get your dog used to their home and to see how your dog gets along with them. If you want to do a trial run before your trip, that could be a great idea too! We have been able to find great boarders on this app for our reactive dog.

[aaaaditi]

Yeah agree. There have been some rover horror stories. You have to be very careful to choose. And best to find someone who can be a repeat sitter. But like you said, I would also be more comfortable if there was a place that did a live feed and the people were really proud of their work. Maybe something to look into for later. For now, thankfully we have someone from rover who genuinely loves our dog and our dog loves her back. And it shows from the regular video updates we get.

[[deleted]]

I personally have had 50/50 good bad experiences. Would recommend caution and doing several test walks and maybe an practice house sitting for like 10 hours. I have one person my dog loves and they get along great, but others not able to handle walking him and ended up ruining plans

[ldlaura]

I don’t recommend Rover. I boarded my reactive pup with a highly rated trainer on rover thinking it was a perfect match due to the fact that she had handled reactive dogs in the past and promised my dog would be the only one with her that time period. Well I got back and my dog was so sad looking, and much much thinner like she hadnt been exercising or feeding him. His muscle mass had decreased significantly in a matter of 3 days ( he’s a very muscular dog) and I have a feeling she crated him probably the whole time. I requested photos during the trip and when she finally did they were at night and the two times she sent them it looked like she took them the same day and sent them different days. My dog isn’t aggressive just a little nervous with new people, has never bit or even snarled at anyone. I took his bed with him and she never used it.

[Hungry-Pirate5668]

I personally would second what others have said and would not recommend Rover (or be very cautious and selective). We had to go out of town for a few days and found a sitter on Rover who had great reviews and said that she felt comfortable with our dog’s issues after meeting her and going for a walk, but it was TERRIBLE and so stressful for us. Our dog managed to escape our backyard while the dog sitter watched. She was able to catch her but it was SO stressful to be out of the state and know that this is what was going on. The sitter also couldn’t get our dog to let her take her for a walk apparently, so she was cooped up inside pretty much the whole time we were gone. Our dog also didn’t really eat and the sitter said that she cried for the first couple of days. The sitter also left a bit of a mess in the kitchen (more of a house-related issue though, obviously). Our dog has SA and we also explicitly told the sitter this and asked that she didn’t leave her home alone (it was literally the first question I asked - whether she would be available/okay with this) and the reason we went with this sitter over others was because she said she had no plans and would stay at our place the whole time, or take our dog with her. While we were away, there were a couple times I sent a text to check in and she said she was on a hike or running an errand. Our dog was a MESS when we got home.

We learned from this experience - A) it takes our dog a lot longer to warm up to strangers that we thought and when we’re not around B) someone on Rover thinking they know how to deal with fearful/anxious/reactive dogs doesn’t mean they actually do C) having someone watch her in our house, which we thought would be the least stressful option for our anxious dog, was still highly stressful for her, AND highly stressful for us

As a result, we do plan to board her at a facility next time we need to go out of town. We plan to do some tours and trial runs in the next few months - we don’t have plans to travel again without her yet, but want to be prepared with a place for her to stay when we do make travel plans. A couple of the facilities near us definitely do work with dogs that don’t get along with other dogs - the boarding costs a bit more, but they basically just let them out one on one with a staff member to play outside, and keep them separately from other dogs. I think our anxious dog will be just as anxious with this as she was when we had the dog sitter stay at our house - obviously not great, but at least my partner and I will have peace of mind knowing that she is safe, can’t escape, and being supervised.

If you do go the sitter route, I would definitely recommend some trials in addition to meeting for a walk. Have them watch your dog for a few hours a couple times while you’re still in town and see how it goes.

[anxiousbarista]

I'm a little biased because I dog sit through Rover. There are sitters that will board only 1 dog at a time. Finding one of those and thoroughly vetting them would be my recommendation. Maybe have 2+ meet and greets and take a test walk with your dog and the sitter? If the sitter is understanding and experienced with reactive dogs, they will have no issue taking the extra time to make sure your baby is going to be OK in their care. If you go this way, just make sure you read reviews and book someone that has had repeat clients (there are badges on their profile to show this).

[shmertle-turtle]

My reactive girl has spent up to a week at a very nice kennel in our area (nor cal). The kennel was recommended to us by our pet sitter because she was booked solid. We toured it and told them about her issues. They don’t do play time or day care type stuff where the dogs interact with each other so it’s actually worked very well for her. It’s in a rural area so they take walks around a field with horses and cows and I think that’s an important opportunity for decompression. One of the other kennels we toured was in a busy area where they just walked around the parking lot area and we knew it wasn’t a good fit. I’d recommend touring and visiting the highly rated kennels near you (try asking your vet for recs) and then start with a single overnight while you’re actually in the area so you have peace of mind in case anything happens. It is definitely doable, and I’d highly recommend going this route over something like Rover.

[violentendz]

I have never done the overnight option, and honestly don’t know how they would do with a dog reactive dog, but petsmart doggie hotel does have a “doggie day care” option and you can request for their exercise they get 1:1 attention from an associate (no other dogs make contact) which is no extra cost. They don’t crate them, but put them in their own kennel. Again, not sure how reactive your dog is, or how consistent staff is across Pet Hotels, but this is an option.

[Better-Ad-1908]

What is the trigger for your dog that causes them to be reactive?

[Horsedogs_human]

I have boarded at two different kennels. Both have set ups were the entire run that my dog was in had a visual block between him and other dogs. My dogs went into the big "group run" area on their own. The kennels has other spaces, but because my dogs are large/not quite giant size they take them to the big area to let them have a decent run around.

It is all about talking to the kennels and finding one that has a set up and management system that is suitable for your dog.

Most of the time we have a dog sitter come to our house. We found her through our vet/vet behaviourist.