Traveling for 2 weeks - Do I drop my dog off at my sitter's home or have her go home with sitter after her playtime?

[Anita Lee]

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[Anita Lee]

For some reason, my description was lost. Basically, we're leaving for 2 weeks and it's Zoe's first time alone. She's 1 and very confident, and we have an amazing walker to watch her the whole time, but for some reason we're still worried about leaving her.

We're leaving 2am on Friday night for our flight and were initially going to have her walker come by at her usual time (8:30am), give her a walk/playtime, and then take her home but then thought it might be better to have someone with her all night.. just in case. Do you guys have any thoughts on which is a better option for the dog?

Also, if we have her stay at the sitter's Thursday, should we drop her off there or have her go home with them after the walk? Normally, she has her playtime and then goes back to her own home. Which is less confusing for the puppy? Does it matter?

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Personally, I would drop her off the night before and bring her stuff and kind of settle her in a bit.  I also think you are going to have a much harder time separating than the pup will have!  LOL  I can say that from experience by the way.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's generally easier on the dog to be going somewhere rather than to be left somewhere. This is why DRC tries to always have the adopters go to the foster home and pick up the dog rather than having the foster bring the dog to the adopters, even when that's convenient. We find that when a dog is dropped off at a strange house, they sometimes sit and watch the door through which their person left, waiting for them to come back. When the adopter picks the dog up, the dog is looking ahead and focused on where they are going and this new adventure rather than on their person having left them. This is not really such a big deal but it is something to consider.

I would definitely not leave her alone overnight. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this.  Generally I think it's best to do what is most normal for the dog.  It's normal for the dog to have the walker come and take her out....so I would have the walker/sitter come on Thursday and keep her.  We board our buys at their Daycare.  We bring them and they spend the day at Daycare and then stay while we're away.  I think because they know we always come to get them from Daycare they are assuming that we'll be back to get them....just not as soon.  We treat it just like any other Daycare Day when we drop them off....no long "goodbyes" to make them think there is anything different.....then I go out in the car and cry a few tears...LOL.

[Anita Lee]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! We've read so many books and taken so many classes on our dog I sometimes feel like a seasoned puppy guardian but then we think of these odd questions - that inevitably someone knows the answer to on DK.

Based on the responses we'll just have the sitter keep her on Thursday. Lori, I totally know we'll miss her way more than the other way around! Good thing she's a happy girl and will likely have no problem being away from us.