Doggie Vacation

Happy Friday!!! 
Brian and I are leaving early tomorrow morning to go to Atlanta. Brian has work meetings there, so I figured I would go along for the ride. More on that next week, this is about Peanut's vacation. 
Anyway, I had been stressing out trying to decide what we were going to do with Peanut. He's a little spoiled and has never been boarded. He usually stays with family or friends when we go out of town. I just can't imagine dropping him off somewhere not knowing if he's going to get much affection and playtime and possibly be in a crate most of the time. This dog has been like my child since I got him 5 years ago, I just couldn't do that to the little guy. Since we didn't really have anywhere else to take him, I reluctantly started looking at boarding places. All of the boarding places that I thought seemed decent were ridiculously expensive. I was getting really upset about the whole boarding thing when I came across a website called DogVacay. You put in your location and the dates you will be leaving your dog and it pulls up a list of dog sitters that will watch your dog in their home during that time. I was a little skeptic of this at first, but the more I thought about it I liked this idea WAY better than boarding. The sitters talk a little about themselves and how your dog will be spending its time there. I searched through quite a few listings and finally found someone who got glowing reviews, was available this weekend and only takes dogs under 25 pounds. We emailed back and forth a few times and I finally felt comfortable enough to go ahead and make the reservation. We drop Peanut off this evening and drop him off Tuesday evening. His sitter has a dog of her own and will be watching two other dogs, so it will be a little puppy party for Peanut. I'm so nervous leaving him with someone I don't know, but I am confident that he will be in good hands. 
His sitter asked for a list of some things about Peanut and this is what I made to give to her. 

Peanut

Chocolate Miniature Dachshund

5 years old

Mommy: Lindsay 

Daddy: Brian 

Brother: Chance (Schipperke mix)

Food: ¼ cup twice per day

Potty breaks: Morning, late afternoon and before bed

1.)   Peanut LOVES to cuddle. He’s definitely a lap dog and is happiest curled up right beside you under a blanket.

2.)   He is very affectionate and LOVES giving kisses!

3.)    His favorite game is fetch. He will chase the ball as long as you keep throwing it to him.

4.)   He might be a little guy, but he will make it his mission to get the squeaker out of a toy in 15 minutes or less.

5.)   He’s very friendly and loves playing with other dogs.

6.)   He is a little explorer. He loves to sniff and mark every tree, flower, piece of grass, etc that you come across.

7.)   He loves mommy and daddy and will probably sit at the door for a little while waiting for them to come back.

8.)   He likes to work on his tan in the morning. He will find any little sliver of sunlight he can to lay in.

9.)   He is protective and gives a little growl and barks when he hears doors open, knocking, doorbells, etc. We tell him “no barking”, so feel free to let him know it’s not ok to bark.

10.) He loves treats and can sit up and roll over if he knows a treat is coming his way. He’s not too good with “sit” though.

11.) One of his favorite things is having his head scratched.

This is our first time ever leaving Peanut with someone we don’t know, but we know he’s going to have a great time with you and the rest of the pups. Thank you so much for opening up your home and taking the time to care for him. We are confident that he will be in good hands and might not even want to come home when we pick him up. Thanks again for letting Peanut join the puppy party!!! We will be back to Tuesday evening to pick him up from his vacation. 

Happy weekend!!! I'll be back next week with a full recap of our (and Peanut's) mini-vacay!