Time away from my furbabies

Hello again readers and Happy Memorial Day! I hope you are all enjoying your day off. Our girls are festive in their Memorial Day bandannas this weekend.

I just returned home from a trip to NJ for my sisters graduation, other family members graduations, and to do some wedding venue searching. I was excited to go home for a bit and visit friends and family, but I hate leaving Lexi and Aurora.

I am a crazy dog mom and hate leaving them even though Ian was with them. He had some weird work schedules and his hour commute means he was gone for 11ish hours a day and they are not used to that. Luckily for us and them, Auntie Marina and Mikey helped us out and stopped by to let them out, feed them, and give them some extra love.

Since I hate leaving the dogs and Lexi has anxiety and is a mamma’s baby, I thought I would share some tips on what we do when leaving for vacations and how we make life easier for our friends that watch our dogs.

1. One thing I like to do is separate out the dogs food into single servings in zippy bags. This makes it easier for whoever is watching your dog. They don’t need to measure out food, worry about where the food is, how much, etc. Then I also write the dogs name and when they get fed. For example, Auroras food says “Aurora: 1 bag in the morning, 1 bag at night”.

2. Write down their schedules. My dogs are strange and are stuck on a schedule so I like to make sure whoever is watching them know their routine so they know why the dogs are behaving the way they are (especially since Lexi’s feeding schedule is abnormal and Aurora goes to her food cabinet at dinner time). I include feeding times and instructions, bed time instructions (like that they sleep in our bed), crate instructions, basic commands, potty details, where things are located, etc. This helps whoever is watching you dogs make sure they know all the details of your dogs daily life/routine.

3. Emergency contacts. I always include several emergency contacts both local and where I will be. Local emergency contacts are typically another friend or family member and the vet just in case. Other emergency contacts include the hotel we will be at, or the number of a family member we are staying with.

4. Medications. If your dog takes medicine, it’s important to note where, when, how often, etc. your dog needs them. For example, Lexi has medicine for anxiety so if it is storming or there are fireworks, whoever is watching her needs to know the dosage, how to administer the medication, how often to give it, etc.

5. Write down everything. I have one note of instructions saved on my computer and print it each time for the person watching our dogs. I personalize it specifically for that person. My note also includes directions to work our TV, where things like extra towels are located, etc. since people usually watch our dogs at our house. If your dogs go to someone else’s house, then you just need the dog instructions!

Hopefully those tips will help you the next time you travel without your pups. Do you have any tips or things you do when you leave your dogs? We would love to hear them! Comment and let us know. Also let us know if you have any topics you want us to cover in our upcoming blog posts!

Lexi and Aurora are so glad their mommy is home and I am glad to be home with them. Enjoy your holiday weekend readers and check out our Tail of Two Puppies Facebook Page and the Tail of Two Puppies Blog for future pictures, videos, posts, and updates!