A Trip!

I guess this qualifies as exciting news - I'm going on a mini-vacation the weekend after next. I haven't done anything even slightly vacation-like since mid 2004, and I can thank my student loans for that. Maybe I'll be able to go on a real vacation in 2016, but judging by how much this mini-vacation is going to cost me, it's probably not going to happen. Anyway, I suppose I should mention where I'm going. It's Maine. Kai's sister lives there, so we are going to visit her for the weekend. We're taking a plane to cut down on travel time. Our flight departs at 7:15pm on Friday, April 30th, and we'll be back on the plane sometime Sunday night. Kai tells me that Maija's got an itinerary planned, but she won't share the details. So, I can't tell you what I'll be doing during the visit. I hope a lobster feast was squeezed in somewhere.

I can't bring my dogs, of course, so when I first learned that we'd be going to Maine, I had to look into lodging for them. After hours of research, I came to the realization that kennels are rip-offs. For the sake of brevity, I'll only go over what I learned about one, the Petsmart PetsHotel. I called for a quote and nearly fell over when I heard the price for a weekend stay - $200. I know that kenneling two dogs is more expensive than kenneling one, but in my opinion, $200 is a little steep. To make matters worse, the $200 quote applied to the barest of accommodations. The dogs would be stuck together in one cage, and they would only be let out 3 to 5 times a day for 5 minutes to potty. I don't mind the idea of putting them in a cage together, but I do mind the idea of putting two rather large dogs in a cage meant for one. What really bothered me was the thought that my dogs would have to stay cooped up in a cage all weekend. That thought led me to inquired about Petsmart's doggy daycamp, as I had read about it, and it seemed like something my dogs would enjoy. It's an all day program meant for owners who work but want their dogs to be exercised/supervised. Long story short - Petsmart collects money from each owner and then puts all of the dogs together in a room to play. The price for said program is $18/day per dog. They offer no discount if you're already paying to kennel your dog, so signing my dogs up for doggy daycamp would have added an extra $108 to my bill. Ouch! I should have known at this point to quit digging, but I continued on since my options were limited. Shortly thereafter, I came across a deal breaker - Petsmart's "breedist" rules and regulations. Apparently Petsmart does not allow certain breeds to participate in doggy daycamp, namely the "bully" breeds. In addition, any mix that looks remotely like one of the bully breeds will be excluded from the daycamp. Darby looks an awful lot like a pit bull mix, and I couldn't bear the thought of Xerxes being taken from the cage to play and her being left behind. That was it. Petsmart was crossed off my list.

What I've learned from this experience is to avoid kennels at all costs. They aren't good for your dog(s) or your wallet. Most offer all kinds of "add-ons" that cost extra, but how do you know for sure that your dog received that extra treat, or playtime, or belly rub? Nothing about kennels sits well with me. In the end, I hired my brother to watch them. Although it'll cost me a pretty penny, at least I'll know what they're eating, what they're doing, and that they're not being beaten.