Dear Perils: As a former professional pet sitter, I’m very familiar with young puppies needing to stay home while the family vacations. There are pros and cons to each option regardless of the age of your pet. But since your pet is still in the “learning and training” phase of puppy hood, extra care must be taken not to create a situation that will traumatize her and create behaviors that will last into adulthood.

Let’s look at your options.

Pet Sitting

One of the main questions you need to answer about your puppy before turning her over to a pet sitter is, “Is she housebroken?” If the answer is yes, then I’d be more inclined to let her stay in the family home while you are away. However, at her age she most likely is still in the chewing phase and will need to be either crated or put in an area where she can not get at anything dangerous to chew on, like electrical cords, toxic substances, etc.

When taking care of young puppies, I used to insist that the puppy stay in the crate the entire time the family was away. I would visit four times a day, (roughly every four hours) to let the pup out to go potty, feed and exercise her. Even on this schedule at 30 minutes per visit (and some visits were shorter) the puppy will only be out of that crate for two hours per day. If you are going to be away for a week that is a long time to be cooped up in a crate. I also don’t recommend putting any bones or toys in the crate to keep her busy in case she eats the toy and might choke. You can hire some pet sitters to stay at the house overnight, which would give the puppy more free time.

Boarding Kennels

Since your puppy is young and energetic and curious, I would suggest that you consider putting her in a boarding kennel for this weeklong trip. There she will have more exercise, more interaction with people and more opportunities to relieve herself. Do some research ahead of time, visit the facility and be comfortable about where your puppy will be boarded. Some “resort” type kennels have bigger “suites” for young dogs and extra activities to keep them busy.

One down side to kennels is that by state law they are not required to have someone on the premises overnight. Inquire if there is someone who does night checks or if an employee or owner may live on the property.

As your pup matures, and gets into a safe, reliable routine at home, then I would say go with the pet sitter. Start with a day visit or overnight trip and gradually build up to long trips away from home. After your puppy bonds with the pet sitter, taking trips without her will be stress free.

Lisa’s Pick of the Litter

One of my readers writes in about itchy dogs, “I read your article in The Bee regarding Labradors, my lab also has some of these symptoms. Would you please let me know where I can purchase the Wellness Fish & Sweet Potatoes dog food? I have taken my lab to a dog dermatologist and she had been on the Potato and Venison, this has helped the scratching somewhat. Returning to the dermatologist has been quite expensive, so I would like to try this food. Somebody I know also strongly recommend this particular brand.”

To find the Wellness distributor near you go to http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/locator/locator_form.asp and type in your zip code and the mile radius you are willing to travel to get it. There are several stores in neighboring towns such as Bethel, Monroe, Danbury and New Milford that sell this brand of dog food.

Good Luck!

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club. Reach her at ask@lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470.