How long can dogs be separated from their master & still "remember" them? (shepherd, vet) - - City-Data Forum

piperspal · 08-23-2009, 09:05 AM

OK - feel free to bust on me!!!

I have to leave my dogs behind while I'm gone for at least 2 weeks. It could possibly be as long as a month. They will be in excellent hands and I doubt they will miss me even a 10th as much as I will miss them. Has anyone here had to leave their dogs for an extended period of time? Did your dog remember you with enthusiasm or act like he had to get to know you all over again? They will be getting lots of attention & interaction with other dogs and kennel staff at my vets...lots of outdoor time, etc. I think I am the one with separation anxiety!

Driller1 · 08-23-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piperspal

OK - feel free to bust on me!!!

I have to leave my dogs behind while I'm gone for at least 2 weeks. It could possibly be as long as a month. They will be in excellent hands and I doubt they will miss me even a 10th as much as I will miss them. Has anyone here had to leave their dogs for an extended period of time? Did your dog remember you with enthusiasm or act like he had to get to know you all over again? They will be getting lots of attention & interaction with other dogs and kennel staff at my vets...lots of outdoor time, etc. I think I am the one with separation anxiety!

It will be fine. They will remember you.

SXMGirl · 08-23-2009, 09:37 AM

You really are the one with separation anxiety! We adopted Darcy from the pound about a week before we left on vacation (and we visited her at the pound several times before we adopted her), which was for several weeks. I knew that she and Simon were well taken care of but I still worried especially about her rememering us. She was all over us when we got home. So don't worry. You will be both missed and remembered.

cat1116 · 08-23-2009, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piperspal

OK - feel free to bust on me!!!

I have to leave my dogs behind while I'm gone for at least 2 weeks. It could possibly be as long as a month. They will be in excellent hands and I doubt they will miss me even a 10th as much as I will miss them. Has anyone here had to leave their dogs for an extended period of time? Did your dog remember you with enthusiasm or act like he had to get to know you all over again? They will be getting lots of attention & interaction with other dogs and kennel staff at my vets...lots of outdoor time, etc. I think I am the one with separation anxiety!

I can safely say yes, your dog will still remember you. They do have that keen sense of smell and will detect that from you when you're reunited. NO,, you don't stink and need a shower. It's just that there's something on us that dogs seem to pick up no matter how long we've been separated. I suppose there could be something newly prescribed by doctors that might alter that and may confuse our pets. That's always a possibility. My husband had to be separated from us while serving his last tour of duty. It had been way more than one month. Our dog immediately recognized him, wagging his tail wildly about. My husband had thought the same as you and was more than pleased when he was greeted with open "paws".

Trucker7 · 08-23-2009, 09:40 AM

My dad usually comes to town about once a year and stays for a week. My dogs not only remember him, but when they see him, they get so excited that they pee on the floor.

zugor · 08-23-2009, 09:48 AM

They can be separated for a very long time. Several years ago I got to be a driver on a transport of a 10 year old shepherd mix who was a Katrina dog. Her foster folks cried buckets of tears when they handed her over to me for the start of her journey home because they had really come to love her.

Her family had located her on the web a few weeks after being separated. They had lost their home and both husband and wife had lost their places of business. Sandy had made it in to foster care here in VA. Her family hoped it would be just a short while until they got on their feet again and could be reunited.

It turned out to be a year. She had to get all the way down to Dallas. Two long days of traveling with volunteer drivers and Sandy was brought all the way to the door of her new home/original family. It was late Sunday night and at first she seemed a bit confused but when grandma come over she figured it out. Just about turned herself inside out, almost doing back flips, etc. acting like a young pup not the old dog she actually was.

A while later I adopted a 10 year old dog who was dumped on the Blue Ridge Parkway with a note on her collar about her need for a new home.

I named her Sandy and it was about 2 months before she stopped pacing up and down the fence looking for her people. During that time she more or less ignored me and my attempts to comfort her. Finally she realized that this was her new home and settled in as best she could and she was with me for 19 months before her health got beyond help and I let her go over the bridge.

Bluw · 08-23-2009, 10:00 AM

I have placed many rescue dogs who have done extensive stays with me. They would be stand offish with strangers, but even a year or so later when they see me they are happy. But with the rescues it always makes me the happiest that they have great bonds with their new family. If you are concerned and have to make future trips, try to use the same kennel. That way there is always a familiar face to make them feel at home. Less stress for both of you.

Driller1 · 08-23-2009, 10:09 AM

We always use the same kennel. When we pulling their driveway our dog get all excited. It is like kids going to camp. They are also just as glad to be picked up.

piperspal · 08-23-2009, 10:19 AM

Whew! Thank you everyone - it's kind of embarrassing to feel this way but I have always been able to take my pets with me, or have never been gone
longer than a week. Fortunately the kennel they are staying at is with my vet & the dogs go there for agility & "day care/day camp" (

) a few
times a week. Moose was bounced around from place to place before he adopted me & he was very standoff-ish also. I kind of think that's where
my fear stems from in the first place - now he is my right hand guy! Thanks again for all your comments.

brightdoglover · 08-23-2009, 10:36 AM

I have boarded my dogs a couple of times for up to three weeks. Most of them were late-in-life rescues, and they certainly remembered me. My first adoptee, a 4-year-old Springer, was with me for two months before he saw his former family again. He bonded with me very quickly. When he heard their van coming up the street, he got very excited, just hearing it, and was very happy to see them, although he was still clearly bonded with me.
I had an adoptee for a year and a half who was four when I got her. She was a very shy, feral dog who bonded very carefully and very slowly with me or anyone. I had to send her back after a year and a half because she became obsesses with attacking one of my little seniors for no reason. When she got back to Best Friends, she didn't remember her original caretakers, but did bond very much with her new caretaker (who is adopting her). I visited briefly after about two years, and she certainly didn't remember me, although I didn't try too hard to get her attention, as she was so clearly happy to see her caretaker.
I certainly miss my dogs on vacation. I think they might miss me and their whole home and schedule, but most of them came from "institutions" and I think adapt pretty well.
My one boy who always growls at new people stayed at the vet kennel (to get his eyedrops while growling) and they said he didn't growl at all, got used to them overnight. And he was still pleased to see me, but I think just as pleased to get home.