In the winter we ski one day each weekend. We usually leave around 8:30am and back anywhere between 2-4pm. That feels like too long to leave a dog alone. So am wondering how other dog owners manage ski days? I guess a dog-sitter is the answer but wondered if anyone manages it another way?
Looking into getting a dog.
Take your dog with you and take turns looking after him?
(Tip. Don't let the dog off the leash near the end of the piste. One came yapping at me and nearly got his paws sliced off... fortunately I managed to effect a quick turn before I hit him. I had VERY strong words with the owners, as you can imagine).
Can you find a suitably-trained neighbour to look after your dog and take him for a long good walk during that time? For a fee, or for a return dog-sitting favour?
Many of my friends who bring their dogs with them on their skiing holidays hire a dog sitter from the town they are visiting to ensure proper care for their dog while skiing.
Others use a kennel or Hort close by the ski resort. Many of these let you book day-only stays.
FYI, given that there are sitters who are - let's just say less than reliable or responsible - it's important that you interview and assess the sitter well in advance of the trip. And confirm the booking close to the date. And have a Plan B such as one adult only skis a half day, for instance, if the sitter flakes on you.
Many years ago, a few luxury resorts offered help in finding sitters, sort of concierge style. (I knew a sitter who worked this way.) Don't know if that is still something resorts do, but you could always ask.
Some owners I know who have 'special needs' dogs - dogs who can't be left in the care of just anyone - bring their usual sitters along on holidays.
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Alternatively, the dog stays home in the care of your usual sitter, Hort, or kennel while you travel to your skiing destination.
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What we do is simple: Dogs come along, but I hike with them while the family skis. No sacrifice, though, as I am not a skier.
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Whatever you decided: Book well in advance! As in, if you are restricted to the school holidays you might need to book months or even a year in advance.
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It's good that you are thinking of pet care solutions before you get your dog. Finding truly good pet care can be quite a challenge in Switzerland. (At any price!)
We live in resort. If we going skiing together it's normally just for the morning so we get back for him. Or we go separately with friends and one looks after the dog. Dog sitters exist, but our dog is a moron, so don't like to make him someone else's responisbility. Were we to go away to another resort for a week, we would put him in the kennels like any other holiday - he loves it there.
With our last dog, that had a phobia re being left alone (a long, sad story- we adopted her aged 12) - we just could not go away for any length of time- so we only went to a local resort for a few hours, and she went to our neighbour.
Depends on the dog, too. We have also left her in the car in the car park next to the slopes, with her favourite blankets, and one of us went to take her out and sit a the café at the bottom of the slope, in turn.
Having a dog is just wonderful, but it does seriously limit your freedom, for sure.
Thanks all. Husband is currently vetoing the idea anyway so a bit of a moot point. I grew up with cats, he grew up with dogs so we have different romantic vs practical ideas about what having a dog in reality will be like.
I own a fairly needy cocker spaniel and come from a background of dog training. I can honestly recommend a well trained dog can be left for the 7 ish hours you are suggesting.
With proper conditioning and training out separation anxiety, dogs will be ok to to be left that long as long as its not every day. For Older dogs its fine as they generally sleep all day and only wake up for walks and food. Puppies up until 2 or 3 will want more attention. A young pup will get restless and want to destroy a cushion or two if you leave them that long. They sleep a lot, but need more frequent bursts of exercise to engage the brain and tire them out. As with others here, i'd suggest a day sitter up until the age of 3 for 'furniture' safety sake.
We get a sitter, or I leave him with my mother. I don't like leaving him alone more than 2-3 hours
For the first year of our dogs life, whenever we left him alone we put him in a puppy pen, until we could trust him not to chew the furniture 😂
do you know if he cried and howled though?
The first few times, god yes. We had to sit outside the apartment for 5 mins, then 10 mins etc to get him used to it. It was traumatic. But then he was fine!
My last dog, the one that died in September could be left for 7 or so hours. She had access to water and our terrace, a stuffed Kong or two, but mostly she slept. Nothing was disrupted. This was after the age of 3. she was crate trained in the US from 1 to 2, and came to Switzerland at 3.
My 5 month old pup - we‘re working on an hour or so in the crate.
I agree with those who mentioned a dog is okay to be left alone for that many hours - if you get it as a puppy and properly train it. Obviously not when it is still very young, or old, sick or rescued/adopted and is suffering from anxiety etc.
With all the dogs I've owned in my life (all since puppies), never had an issue. Pen/crate training: yes, some puppies cry but that's the same with raising little kids. If you entertain them the moment they whine, they'll whine anytime they want things their way. So, if you take your puppy out the moment it starts whining, it'll whine/bark forever. Dogs are smart- they learn fairly quickly.
My partner loves skiing and is very good. I am a normal skier, but after two bad falls due to some unruly kids cutting me off at crazy speed, I said no more and we swapped to snow shoe walking. We are active people and "climb/walk" from the bottom all the way up and you realize it's a much harder and great work out than skiing. We usually make it a 8-9 hour snow shoe hike and the best thing is: we bring our dog with us. It's a chihuahua, so when the snow is too deep or we are going up a steep slope, we carry him in a K9 backpack but he walks a very good portion of the journey where he can. We see several people with their big dogs loving it. (never seen people bring a small dog like ours but hey ) We get to enjoy the scenery more than skiing, it's safer, we get a better work-out and our dog gets to enjoy the mountains/snow as much as we do. A win win win win situation
Of course not telling you to give up skiing, but just an idea that once in a while you might want to try snow shoe walking with your dog too
Over 40 years I've had 5 poodles (mini and toy), 2 schipperkes, 2 salukis, 1 Dalmatian, 1 Alsatian, 1 chow, all very well trained. The only one who was a cry-baby about being left alone was a rescue saluki, and that dissipated with a radio left on and her advancing age.
OH i get you summergirl - but for those of us who grew up on skis- it is just not the same, somehow I can assure you.
Has your OH also given up skiing???
He hasn't necessarily given it up, he still has his skis and everything. Last Christmas my sister was supposed to visit us in CH and since she is a great skier too, we had scheduled for them to go skiing while I would take long snowy walks with our dog. But, due to Covid those plans got cancelled. I started skiing when I was 7 and we went every year (so we kind of grew up on skis too) but I never got into it like my sister did, so I don't miss it at all
The snow shoe walking/hiking was his idea though and like I said, it's usually quite a strenuous route that we take, so he actually really likes it. At the end of the day we enjoy a really nice meal and we feel like we earned it Especially since Covid hit, he prefers it as we could stay away from the crowd, not having to queue in long lines at the lift etc.
If I were back home in my single family house on a large lot, I would agree that my dogs could be left for longer than 4-5 hours. Back home, my young, healthy dogs*, well trained to stay by themselves, enjoyed the odd sleepy afternoon amusing themselves in my absence.
But I'm not back home.
I am in Switzerland, where not only will a random bark mean a post-it note appears, but where the neighborhood curtain twitcher keeps track of how long I am gone.
The constraints of living under a microscope mean I have to do things differently here. I have to go along with Swiss expectations. Or perhaps more accurately, I have to go along with my Swiss neighborhood expectations - and those are that a dog should not be left alone for a day. And certainly that dogs should not disturb others. Disturbance being wholly subjective.
(Irony - since the dogs have each other for company, they are occupied and tend not to make noise. It's the lonely single dogs in the neighborhood who bark when left for longer stretches.)
I also have to protect my dogs. There are several dogs in our neighborhood, but mine will be blamed first if there is any noise, as my multi-dog household is the most visible. So for their sake's, to stave off unfounded complaints, I have a sitter come in whenever I leave the dogs at home for a longer period. Everyone is happy.
In a hotel, where we would be imposing on other guests, and where staff might enter the apartment, I never leave the dogs alone. Not for one minute. They come with me on my holiday adventures. Heck, for me an outdoor-based holiday is no fun without the dogs.
YMMV. If you have more tolerant neighbors than I do, after solid training and assessment do what you feel is right for your own dogs. But a new dog owner, such as the OP, must be aware of Swiss expectations, and the potential consequences if a neighbor gets upset. And make plans, including a Plan B, accordingly.
*Obviously does not apply to puppies, oldies with weaker bladders, and dogs whose health means more attention is required. Given that for the last many years my life has been oldies, wobblies, and crazies I go for the option that is better for my dogs and get a sitter in when I have to be gone for a full day.