What to do with pets during birth

[clobert]

What is everyone's plan for pet sitting when you go into labor?  It's kind of tricky figuring out what to do with our dog when I go into labor.  We don't have anyone in town who can be relied on for a random 48 hour period during a 4 week timespan.  The dog lovers I know are busy all the time and might go out of town.  We have some time to find a professional walker for the birth, but they all said that they only do dog sitting for regular walk clients. We've only had her for about 9 months and don't have a dog walker because I only work part time.   We've brought her along on every trip we've taken.  She can't really stay with dogs she doesn't know and has a few minor behavior problems so that adds to the confusion.  We're taking her to a kennel this weekend so that we can attend and out of town funeral and I think this will work ok, but its about a 35 minute drive away.  If I go into labor do you think DH can leave for about an hour and half to go drop off our dog or will that be too stressful? The hospital is nearby but having him leave to walk the dog seems exhausting for him and possibly stressful for me if I'm in labor.  

[AleWife]

Jan 22, 2015 15:05:30 GMT -5 clobert said:

What is everyone's plan for pet sitting when you go into labor?  It's kind of tricky figuring out what to do with our dog when I go into labor.  We don't have anyone in town who can be relied on for a random 48 hour period during a 4 week timespan.  The dog lovers I know are busy all the time and might go out of town.  We have some time to find a professional walker for the birth, but they all said that they only do dog sitting for regular walk clients. We've only had her for about 9 months and don't have a dog walker because I only work part time.   We've brought her along on every trip we've taken.  She can't really stay with dogs she doesn't know and has a few minor behavior problems so that adds to the confusion.  We're taking her to a kennel this weekend so that we can attend and out of town funeral and I think this will work ok, but its about a 35 minute drive away.  If I go into labor do you think DH can leave for about an hour and half to go drop off our dog or will that be too stressful? The hospital is nearby but having him leave to walk the dog seems exhausting for him and possibly stressful for me if I'm in labor.  

We have 3 dogs and no one really available to watch them when the time comes. The hospital is a mile and half away so H plans on coming home to walk them if necessary. I'm following this thread to see what others say, but so far that's the plan. Our closest family is about 2 hours away so worst-case we can call on them for help.

[luckystarz]

My mom will be staying with my big kids, so she'll take care of the dogs as well. If push comes to shove, Hubs will come home and let them out and feed them periodically.

[pearsforpoops]

Last time my mom watched my dogs (3) and DH's dog went to ... I forget. lol. His parents or to the boarder. Somewhere.

This time my mom is watching Haden so my dogs are going to boarder and DH's dog will go to his parents' or sister's house.

Much easier for us since we'll be scheduled this time. Last time, after we found out that I was suddenly being admitted to L&D, DH got me settled then left to go distribute animals, then came back to the hospital (I was just being monitored for the time so his absence was not a big deal).




ETA - Cat stays home because cat.

[snarkysparklefart]

We are doing the same as AleWife because our dog also has some behavioral issues. My mom's dog and my dog don't get along at all, and we live 5 miles from the hospital, so DH can go check in and walk her the usual twice a day. She's slightly older (5) and I'm just not comfortable with our kenneling options because they're either very far or too pricey/boutique like. We kenneled her at the closest one when we went on vacation in the fall and it was not at all what we expected- she was sick and misbehaved some when she came home, and I don't think she liked the experience.


If my neighbor is in town, she will help, but I am not relying on that either.

[mrsk]

We plan to bring both our dogs to my mom's place. In the event that we don't already have them there, we'll have her go to the house and pick them up.

[wamom]

If you don't have friends or family that can pop in and help out I would put an ad in the local paper or craigslist to see if there is any services for pet sitting. Then if you find someone that sounds good you have some time to introduce your pets to the new person before you head to the hospital.

[atangiblewish]

I had an almost 40 hour labor with DD so I'd say that drive is fine. You just never know, you could go quick or take days... Are there walkers that also do dog sitting too? What state are you in? I have a few dog sitter friends in various states. Try rover.com and care.com

[katydid2015]

We don't have anyone in town really either except maybe our neighbor lady could come over and check in her/let her out. Our hospital is about 20-25 mins away. If my mom decides to come down when I go into labor then she could stay here with the dog and wait on us to come home with baby. I really don't want a lot/any visitors at the hospital.

[huggabugga11]

At this time we live with my parents, so even when my mom is at the hospital, my dad and brother will be here to help take care of our dog, and child. If we move out to the area we are hoping to move before baby is born, my uncle (my dogs favorite person in the world) will watch her and take her out for us, since the hospital will be almost an hour from where we would be moving to. Cat will stay at home because cat. But our pooch is older (5) and is pretty well versed on the whole what-happens-when-my-people-leave-me-for-48-hours-and-bring-home-a-new-baby.

[cygnet15]

So glad this thread came up. I can hardly believe it, but I hadn't even thought about our cats! I'll be trying to find a friend close by to be an on-call sitter, but we also live about 10 minutes from the hospital, so DH can go home once each day if it comes to that.

[mrsh924]

Our plan was initially to take our dog to my MIL's house, but the more I think about it I don't know that I want her to know that I am in labor, for fear that she will camp at the hospital. We are lucky enough to have fabulous neighbors so I may ask them to drop in a few times a day to let him out and make sure he still has water and food. We have a chihuahua and he's very much like a cat, so will do fine on his own if it's only for a little while. Depending on length, I may ask one of them to take him for a few days. We've shared pet sitting duties in the past, so this may be the route we take.

[melissat2742]

My in-laws live about a mile away from us and my mother-in-law walks my dog everyday as it is (helps with her depression) so they will watch/check on them while we are in the hospital. After we get home the dog Wil be home to bond with the rest of us.

[racegurl87]

We don't have anyone to come watch our pup when I'm in labor either. Thankfully we take her to doggy daycare a few times a week at a kennel and they're not busy now so I'm sure we'll be able to kennel her last minute with no problems (I've already asked and since I'm not due near a holiday it shouldn't be a problem).

If I go into labor in the middle of the night we're going to gate her in our third bathroom (we don't use it often so there isn't much in there and we put everything up high anyways). She's been in there before for a few hours so we know she'll be okay. As soon as the kennel opens H will get her in there to be kenneled for a few days while we're in the hospital and then H will go pick her up after he's dropped me and LO off at home.

[luvsponies]

The dogs are going to go stay with my parents. However, if we didn't have family in town, we'd either get a pet sitter or H would just have to go home twice a day and let them out. 

[ruemorgan]

My father will be watching our dogs. In the case that he is out of town, I have given two friends a set of house keys for back up.

[winningcolors]

My parents can come over to take care of our dog. We live only 5 minutes from the hospital, so my H can go look in on him as well if needed.

[stargazerlily]

My mom (lives out of state) is hoping to time a visit right to be here for the birth. If that works, she'll stay the overnights at our house and take care of the animals. If not, DF's aunt lives an hour and a half away so she can easily get up here and pet/housesit. And if needed DF can run to the house after little Sandy is here, but the hospital will let him stay with me so that's what we'd prefer.

[abachesta]

I believe my mom is going to take our two dogs as for our chickens the H can run home and give them their scoop of food and fresh water once a day when he checks on the house. I would either kennel your dogs or have your hubs run home to let them out I know our dogs can go for eight-ten hours before needing to be let out. Do you have a neighbor that you trust to give a spare key and they can let your dog or maybe a middle school age child  I used to dog watch for my neighbors when I was 10.

edit due to fat fingers inserting a sad face somehow ?

[cwbandthenewbie]

I'm lucky- my brother takes the dogs while we're in the hospital. I hate to take the dogs from DS but MIL hasn't impressed me with her dog watching skillz and she's going to be here at our house with him.

[corabrie]

I have a friend who will help us out. If for some reason he can't do it, I'm going to have another friend as back-up. Which reminds me that I need to ask the back-up if she's available.

[coozieinmypurse]

I imagine FIL will stop by for feeding and litter duties. The weather should be good enough to keep the dogs outside. If FIL can't do it, we can likely call our pet sitter to stop by a couple of times. If I were you, I would focus on finding a pet sitter. Ours is a nursing student who appreciates the extra cash.

[dm718]

Once again, feeling lucky to live near family. Our dog will be staying with my sister, and I'm sure my parents and sister will split visiting the cat. We got our dog in November, and she hates car rides, so we drop her off at my sister's house while we go to childbirth classes. It's also helping to get her 3 dogs used to our pup and vice-versa.

[wimom84]

We are going to talk to the kennel that is a couple miles from the house. I think if needed I can get one of our neighbors to take him there if absolutely needed. Last time I was induced so we were able to plan everything out wih friends. But they mov3d out of town so we don't have that option this time.

[whitfry]

I hadn't thought about this! Our cats will be fine on their own. I had just assumed we'd put the dogs in the yard and leave them there. But if labor lasts forever then they'll get cranky and hungry and I don't want that. And if it's 4am I don't want to put them out and have them start barking and wake the neighborhood.

I'll have to talk to DH and see if he just wants to board them with the vet for a day or two. That's what we do when we go out if town, and they're all perfect Angels when they're over there.

[clobert]

Jan 22, 2015 15:18:19 GMT -5 pearsforpoops said:

ETA - Cat stays home because cat.

lol, cats.  

After about a week of calling different pet sitting companies and then the places they told me might be available, I happened to ask my neighbor if she has a dog sitter and she recommended someone that actually might be available (not this weekend, but for the birth).  I am going to meet her next week maybe, but she seems ok with walking my dog at the spur of the moment for 2 days in March.  

I should have mentioned that we don't have a yard, so we really need someone to come and walk her, and I feel better with a professional because she's got a couple of issues.