So, my cousin from Hartford, CT planned her wedding over Memorial Day weekend which means that I'll have to leave my babies for almost 4 entire days! Hubby isn't going with me so that he can stay with them, but I'm still totally bugging out! He adores them both, but doesn't do anything for them ever. I do everything for them!

The feeding is fine because I wrote down specific instructions for him, but my two main worries are that a) he'll leave them outside alone for more than 2 seconds (he tends to trust them and I DO NOT AT ALL) and b) that they're going to go nuts because they won't get their daily walks. He had a full knee replacement surgery back in February of last year due to a pre-existing issue. Long story, basically he used to play basketball in high school, developed a bump on his knee, they made him go check it out and it was cancer. He spent 3yrs in and out of the hospital/kemo, the whole 9 yards.

His knee isn't stable enough to walk Mya. Kody he can still handle, but Mya pulls pretty hard. It's not fair for him to walk Kody and not Mya.

Everything will be fine...I'm sure... but i'm totally freaking here!

Awww it's hard to leave your babies! Do your dogs play together a lot? Maybe that will help drain some energy....or what if he just drove them to an offleash park for them to run around?

I know how you feel!!! We havent' had to leave Mikko alone yet as one of us is always able to care for him while the other is away. But we have a wedding out of town in July and won't be able to bring him to the hotel where we are staying. A friend of ours offered to house and dogsit for us but she has a 3 year old son and we just dont' feel comfortable leaving Mikko with them as he gets rambunctious and bites and just don't think they will be able to handle him.
So we found a lady on kijiji that lives on an acreage and takes dogs on walks through trails....I think this will be like a mini-vacation for him too.

Melissa,
i know how you feel, i do most of the care for ours and kens does feed and walk them but i know if i left them with him, have in the past, i always wonder if they get as many walks with him as with me. i know ken likes to cut them short and does not think they need to go out as much!

do you think hubby can ride your pink bike with the hook up to get them out? don't worry to much and try to enjoy your weekend away!

Mikko'sMum wrote:

Awww it's hard to leave your babies! Do your dogs play together a lot? Maybe that will help drain some energy....or what if he just drove them to an offleash park for them to run around?

So we found a lady on kijiji that lives on an acreage and takes dogs on walks through trails....I think this will be like a mini-vacation for him too.

Yeah, they play together all the time, but I don't think that tires them out as much as their walks. At least they have each other now so that's definitely a good thing! We do have an off lease park pretty close to my house, but the thing is getting them there. He can't handle both of them alone. They go pretty nuts in the car =(

jbealer wrote:

i know ken likes to cut them short and does not think they need to go out as much!

do you think hubby can ride your pink bike with the hook up to get them out? don't worry to much and try to enjoy your weekend away!

Ivan thinks the same! Some days when I'm really tired he's like "oh, just don't walk them today". YEAH RIGHT! The minute I get home Mya is already begging to "go to the park". Kody doesn't really expect it yet, but Mya TOTALLY KNOWS! She can't even see start changing because she starts going pyscho..lol.

I thought him using the walky dog with my PINK bike also..lol. Don't think he's going to go for that though..lol.

I completely understand how you feel. I'm going away right after memorial day. I do almost everything for Frankie even though I live with my parents. Frankie has little respect for my mom and dad and they have trouble walking him. I hope they will just let him play a lot in the pool to wear him out. I also suggested to my mom to do some training sessions in the house with him for mental stimulation which can wear him too.

Ditto here! (I see a pattern here...)
I do EVERYTHING for my 2. JD doesn't think they need to go on walks as often as I take them, and he leaves them in the yard by themselves, and when he feeds them, he'll just scoop, pour, or grab. I'll have to write out instructions for feeding too!

JD's has been away to visit family, and I'm due for a visit back home which means JD will be with Ginger and Storm - and I'd be bugging out too!! In fact, instead of going home for the usual 10 days, I'm thinking I'd have to cut it in half!

Oye!

MAJOR PATTERN HERE! Oh, I'm so glad that I'm not crazy for freaking out! Claudia, 10 days...no way! I'll die! It's funny about the feeding instructions though. I didn't realize how complex it really is until I wrote it down...haha! He's like "woah, WTF!". That was funny.

I've already read him his cards like 10xs though so he knows that I will kick his a$$ if he loses one of my babies or does anything wrong to them! LOL!!

Claudia, can i go with you when you go home!!!!

jbealer wrote:

Claudia, can i go with you when you go home!!!!

YES! I would LOVE the company!

cmanding wrote:

jbealer wrote:

Claudia, can i go with you when you go home!!!!

YES! I would LOVE the company!

Hmm...and if you DO come with me, we could do a little beach camping!....Maybe I should hold on to my tent after all....

MelissaI wrote:

MAJOR PATTERN HERE! Oh, I'm so glad that I'm not crazy for freaking out! Claudia, 10 days...no way! I'll die! It's funny about the feeding instructions though. I didn't realize how complex it really is until I wrote it down...haha! He's like "woah, WTF!". That was funny.

I've already read him his cards like 10xs though so he knows that I will kick his a$$ if he loses one of my babies or does anything wrong to them! LOL!!

JD said one morning, 'Wow, it's like we're scientists when we make up our food for our kids!'

i do have like 13 vacation days for the year...... wonder how much a flight cost?.....

Since I am the only pooper scooper (go figure) that is one of my biggest worries when I leave. Four dogs make a lot of poo!!!! Also I sleep with my Pit mix and worry that he will miss me LOL. I worry about these dogs just like I did about the kids when they lived at home!! I try to take them with me when possible.

I can't leave my dogs, I would have the most severe separation anxiety!

LOL at the feeding instructions, I would not even attempt to write down my feeding instructions...the hubby would look down and if it's more than 1 line he'll ignore it. I don't trust my hubby with caring for the dogs, I do everything for them and for good reason.

I want to go on a trip to WA (HOME) this summer so bad and the only thing holding me back is the dogs...I cannot leave them....I can't even think of leaving them.

Huskyluv wrote:

I can't leave my dogs, I would have the most severe separation anxiety!

LOL at the feeding instructions, I would not even attempt to write down my feeding instructions...the hubby would look down and if it's more than 1 line he'll ignore it. I don't trust my hubby with caring for the dogs, I do everything for them and for good reason.

I want to go on a trip to WA (HOME) this summer so bad and the only thing holding me back is the dogs...I cannot leave them....I can't even think of leaving them.

TELL ME ABOUT IT!!!!! I'm completely freaking here. People are like "oh, but they're staying home with your hubby...they'll be fine". They just don't understand the attachment that I have with them and that in my mind I'm the ONLY one that can take proper care of them.

I have to go though. Most of my CT family came down to Miami for my wedding (that's a lot of $$ on airfare, hotel, meals, gifts for us, etc). It would look horrible if I didn't go.

About the feeding instructions...yep...i'm about 85% sure that he's going to ignore most of it. He'll probably rehydrate THK for 3min, mix it with kibble for Mya and MAYBE add some green beans to Kody's. Forget the ACV and supplements. Oh, and the raw...ha!

cmanding wrote:

JD said one morning, 'Wow, it's like we're scientists when we make up our food for our kids!'

It's so true!

and its times like this that i am glad i feed kibble, sierra has hers pre mixed and just 1 level scoop, jack has his own scoop and its half and half from the containers. easy for the dog sitters and my husband! Melissa im sorry your freaking out so bad. i hope you can enjoy yourself some while your gone.

Thanks Jen. I think that I should be ok by the 2nd day that I'm there and he tells me that they're doing fine. I should be feeling bad for him because not only is he going to be alone on memorial day weekend, but they are going to drive him INSANE! LOL! I just hope that if he does decided to go hang out with his friends at some point that he keeps track of the time and doesn't leave them alone for hours! Every time we go somewhere with his friends I'm always the "bitchy wife" complaining that we need to go home b/c of the dogs..lol.

I haven't gone on a real vacation in years either. I do everything for the dogs. My son just breezes in once in a while to get his things and leaves again. Everytime I turn stuff down, people are like "can't Colton just take care of them" Ummm NO! I wouldn't even enjoy being away for fear he would forget to feed them or let them out to potty, let alone taking them on their walks! I always get a look when I say I don't trust him enough to do what needs to be done. They just don't understand.

I think I would have almost severe seperation anxiety if/when I had to leave them. JD at least knows how to mix up Ginger's THK, and Storm is pretty easy (kibble and Nupro, mix with water to make gravy).

The sad thing is, I probably would be more at ease leaving them with you one of you than my own hubby! LOL!

cmanding wrote:

The sad thing is, I probably would be more at ease leaving them with you one of you than my own hubby! LOL!

Omg Claudia, you took the words out of my mouth! After reading Mindy's post I was going to say that I'd feel much more comfortable leaving them with one of you girls since we're totally on the same page...LOL! I really would leave them with you. Anybody want to move to Miami?

MelissaI wrote:

Anybody want to move to Miami?

I do! I do!

26nikita wrote:

I haven't gone on a real vacation in years either. I do everything for the dogs. My son just breezes in once in a while to get his things and leaves again. Everytime I turn stuff down, people are like "can't Colton just take care of them" Ummm NO! I wouldn't even enjoy being away for fear he would forget to feed them or let them out to potty, let alone taking them on their walks! I always get a look when I say I don't trust him enough to do what needs to be done. They just don't understand.

The last real "vacation" I went on was in October of 2009 that we rented a 7 bedroom house in Orlando, FL for halloween weekend. At that time we only had Mya and between my mom and his they took turns coming to see her. Now, with Kody though, things have changed a lot!

Mindy, you sound like my mom with brother. My dad was supposed to be the one attending the wedding, but they have 2 dogs and geez I think like 4-5 cats. I don't even know anymore. Anyways, my mom says the same thing about him. He WILL NOT take them out or feed them when he needs to. So now my brother is going instead and my dad is staying with the pets.

Oh, and people DO NOT UNDERSTAND! They look at you like you're stupid or something. Ughh...gets me so mad!

I think this is why I like camping so much, I can take them with! We have a hawaii fund going for my mom and us kids are suppose to go with her. I have 2 years to find someone out there I can trust with my babies! I have a small panic attack every time I think about it, especially since Dakota is older now. I would be horrified if anything happened to him while I was on vacation.