Dog days of summer: How to plan a holiday when you have a pet
There are an increasing number of pet friendly hotels, rentals and family resorts, but don’t assume your furry travel buddy can stay for free. File pictures
Going away can be a deeply distressing time for a dog or cat. Make a plan to ensure they are safe, well and happy in your absence, or why not take them with you?
The best solution bar none is to leave your pet, dog/cat/small furry animal at their home with someone staying with them or visiting them on a regular daily schedule while you are away. This means that while somewhat unsettled, they are not ripped out of their familiar surroundings.
You can also breathe easy, as the house is occupied and less attractive to other skulking wildlife who might put the patio door in while you’re gone. If you go through the route of an international agency like Trusted House Sitters (based on an annual fee but not payment to the sitters), it’s important to understand that the sitters are there to see the surroundings and won’t be home all day.
Some will be experienced enough to give medication and handle a shy dog, so read their past reviews before vouching for your individual or couple. What we don’t want is someone incidentally throwing a bit of grub at your pet in exchange for a cheap or free house-crash.
Pet Sitters Ireland offers a range of dedicated services, from visits to live-in care, tracking and monitoring every visit by GPS. It covers its work with insurances and contingencies from the first meet and greet, with a personalised quote for the pet care option; from €21 per visit (same price for between one and three pets) and €17-€30 per walk, depending on duration and frequency, Petsittersireland.com
Professional pet-sitting is not free, and this can coax pet owners to thrash around for someone in their circle who might stay for a break (great if they live in some lovely spot in the wilds of the countryside and you live in the city or vice/versa). A responsible adult is going to be key here (not discounting solid characters in their late teens).
Things can and do go wrong, and when the unpredictable moment arises, will they be able to cope? A friend of mine had her tiny, adored dog savaged on the beach by greyhounds while being walked by a close friend. Without her minder’s fearless and quick reaction and immediate access to a car, the dog might have died before she got back from her travels.
Ensure everyone understands the house rules, the telephone number of your vet (including out-of-hours services), and don’t expect even a friend to do this incredibly important work for nothing.
Youngsters, even your own grown children, may see a house-sit as an opportunity for a house-party, something that might terrify a dog or cat unfamiliar with noise and crowds. In short, being cheap could cost you dearly.
Ensure you return any favour if and when your pet-loving friend travels. Having someone feed, exercise and check on the animal once or twice a day might seem acceptable, but dogs are especially social creatures and may feel frightened and abandoned if they are abruptly left alone in the house. Introduce their minder well before you go.
Most dogs and cats despise boarding kennels — at least until they settle in. I’ve driven to the airport with the urgent MGM screams of my three JRTs ringing in my ears, tears welling, feeling like a complete Cruella. How and ever, what a good boarding kennel offers is experienced 24-hour care, and complete and total physical security.
Once a dog gets used to the experience, they may even enjoy a good doggie-daycare set up, mingling with a pack for the first time. Your choice of kennels or cattery will really count. We lived in a country area with an unregulated boarding kennel which regularly had canine break-outs, leading to a posse of willing neighbours hunting the local woods by night.
The best person to ask about kennels is your vet. Some practices even offer these services, and catteries attached to veterinary practices are not uncommon. I always like this arrangement, as when and if an older cat does grow unwell, help is right there on hand.
There’s one voluntary (subscription paid) register for boarding kennels in Ireland, the Irish Boarding Kennels and Cattery Association (Ibkca.ie), but this does not include every reputable premises.
Britain's RSPCA offers the following points for choosing a kennel:
- a suitable, safe environment;
- their own kennel unit (unless you've given permission for your dog to share with another dog from your household);
- access to their own sleeping area at all times;
- enough space in the kennel to allow all dogs to sit and stand at full height, lie down fully, stretch out, wag their tail, walk and turn around;
- at least one walk a day outside their kennel;
- toys to keep them occupied;
- their behaviour to be monitored by staff;
- a record of their stay.
Boarders who aspire to higher standards will offer two walks per day, each lasting for at least 20 minutes. This is a solid, basic list to bring with you to your potential kennel.
For cats, there must be a highly secure and clean area for sleeping, eating and exercising in complete comfort.
Do visit and review the premises before booking your dogs in. Any reputable kennel or cattery will offer a tour and answer your questions and concerns. If you have a particularly nervous or challenging dog, the expertise and husbandry in some places will be better than others.
Note the mood of the dogs and the cat at the kennel when you visit. The staff will explain the requirements for a full vaccination record for your cat or dog (including kennel cough), required of any registered establishment. Liaise with your vet, and ensure you have this for the day of your departure.
With home boarding, where you leave a dog with a person in their property, rooms for a dog don't include crates, conservatories, garages, cellars, outside buildings/sheds, balconies or outside structures. Prices for professional care and attention range from €20-€50 per day, including foodstuffs.
There are pet-friendly hotels, B&Bs, camp-sites, self-catering accommodation and Airbnbs right across Ireland and Europe if you cannot stand to be away from your dog. I do know people who take their cat with them around Ireland, secured at all times on a leash or in a crate, but the idea of trusting my holiday to the mysterious nature of a cat makes me nervous.
The age and behaviour of your dog and your own manners and consideration of others will count here. If you leave an agitated puppy alone in strange surroundings while you wander off to dinner, the pooch may do damage that you will be responsible for, including extensive decorative peeing and worse.
Bring their own dog-bed and foodstuffs with them as their bedding will smell of their scent and make things that bit more homely. Their tummy may already be churning with anxiety.
This is going to be a highly exciting time that can either enhance your holidays or potentially totally destroy them with a wild, unsocialised dog. If you let your spaniel bound through a barley field for an Insta reel — well, shame on you.
Every place will have a pet policy, and if it doesn’t display this prominently online before you book — ask.
Can a dog come to the hotel bar with you? Is the owner’s garden at your summer rental open to your dog without a leash? Are there other pets on-site? Is the floor tiled? Which rooms in the B&B are pet-allowed? Does the room have direct outdoor access? Is there an extra nightly charge (€25-€40 would not be unusual for a smarter hotel)?
You can assume that dogs may not be allowed in indoor food and beverage areas of hotels and B&Bs and must be accompanied at all but short times in the rooms. Some hotels like Muckross Park in Kerry are very well boned up with their own pet concierge on hand.
If you have a dog on the Restricted Breed List, let the accommodation know ahead of time, as some do not allow these or very large, boisterous dogs on site.
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