What to do with your working dog when you go on holiday?

What happens to your faithful friend when you need a holiday?

It  was disconcerting when we returned from a pool-side holiday to greet our dog Dutch to discover that instead of Dutch reclining on the sofa being fed chocolates, he had literally been put in the doghouse by the pleasant, retired couple who were home-sitting. There was a distinct chill in their greeting. It later transpired that relations between Dutch and the home-sitters had frozen rapidly when he jumped up to inflict his usual extreme form of affection and knocked out the lady’s front tooth.

Dogs when you are on holiday

What to do with the dog when holidays come around remains a thorny issue for most households. The ideal, of course, is for you all dog, spouse, toddler, teenager and the goldfish to share a shooting break together. Sporting dukes just throw the dog in an airline-approved carrier, grab the pet passport and head off for their partridge-shoot in Spain. The Duke of Wellington always used to enjoy watching his little cocker (suitably crated) sailing majestically round on the luggage carousel at the end of a shooting trip. (Sorry, we don’t have a photograph of this.) Or there is Scotland, with equally good sporting fun for you and your dog and less immigration hassle at the border.

But even in the most organised families, holiday planning is sometimes less than heavenly, and the day inevitably arrives when the dog is not wanted on voyage. What then? Should you pack him off to boarding kennels like Paddington Bear with a marmalade sandwich and a label reading, “Please look after this labrador” or should he stay Home Alone inflicting various injuries on a succession of well-meaning callers with all the enthusiasm of a young Macaulay Culkin?

What are the solutions to dog sitting?

There are drawbacks to every solution. I know, I’ve tried them all. The first choice for most of us is to dump the dog on the nearest neighbour, friend or relative who will have it, promising vaguely to return the favour one day. With trialling dogs, this isn’t really an option. No one will have them (well, certainly not twice), and you run out of friends rapidly. Indeed, if the dog has reached the highly tuned level of training we have been aiming at in this column, do you really want your neighbour giving it the chance to let off steam chasing newly released pheasant poults?

One of the best ways is to link up with fellow shoot members and put together a rota for each other’s dogs. Avoid gamekeepers though, as they can be surprisingly non-dog orientated, and the late summer months are a particularly busy time in any case.

Live-in professionals

Another answer for the stay-at-home dog is to employ a live-in professional animal or house-sitter. Although this option is considerably more expensive, it does have several plus points. If you have a Gerald Durrell-style household with not just dogs but horses, hens, cats and a sprinkling of hamsters, it works out quite cheap per animal. Also, you get the added benefit of having somebody in the house all the time for security.

There are several reputable and well-established animal- and house-sitters country-wide. To get the best out of them it is important to build a relationship. Give plenty of information about the kind of sitter you need, and remember that the most experienced sitters get booked up early. Animal-sitters vary greatly in their skills. We had one who was a veterinary student and had house-trained our pup by the time we got back from bronzing in the Med. But many are unused to gundogs. You can return to find your dog has been allowed to run riot and has forgotten all his training with only days before the partridge season starts.

Professional gundog trainer

The perfect answer is to send your dog to a professional gundog trainer while you are away. You can relax on the lounger and bask in the knowledge that you will return with a tan and to a better-behaved dog. The snag is that few trainers take a dog for just a fortnight. For it to be worth their while (and yours) you need to be prepared to part with your faithful friend as soon as the season is over and get him back at the end of the summer holidays. If this suits you, get in touch with a professional trainer as soon as the trialling season has peaked in January. There are many web-based directories of trainers (try the Gundog Club), but word of mouth is usually the best way to find a reliable trainer. When you see a dog whose work you admire, introduce yourself to its handler and you should find he or she is clued up about the local training network.

What about boarding kennels?

Those of us whose dog is already beyond training (in one way or another) could consider boarding kennels. Today most are more like five-star hotels than the barrack blocks of the bad old days. You can be sure your dog will not have any opportunities for getting into trouble and that he will cared for round the clock. Visit a few kennels before making your choice. You want to see boisterous, happy, barking dogs and immaculate accommodation. Be suspicious of quiet, sedentary dogs and lots of vacancies.

There are so many different models for boarding that you should be able to find something that suits even a dog that doesn’t take well to kennels. Some agencies will match individual dogs to hand-picked, private landladies who take only one or two dogs at a time into their homes. This can be a great solution for a less confident dog although it is a bit humiliating to have to drag it away when the time comes to go home.

Rules for travelling with dogs in cars

Most working dogs are used to being in the back of a vehicle so a journey isn’t a problem, though a proper pen and good ventilation are essential. The footwell is not an option. Agria Pet Insurance advises: “Your dog must be suitably restrained so they cannot disturb the driver of the car. This requires you to put them in a dog crate, pet carrier, or dog harness or use a dog guard in the rear of the vehicle.”

The Pet Travel Scheme, allowing pets in and out of the UK, is somewhat complicated. Check exactly what is required for the country you plan on visiting, and leave plenty of time for whatever vaccinations, veterinary certificates and so on may be needed.  If that gets too much, there is such a range of specialist dog-orientated UK holidays that every member of the family, whether canine or cussed, should be satisfied.

This article was originally published in 2008 and has been updated.