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I am thinking of purchasing an American Eskimo dog. My family and I travel a lot (especially during the summer), and I'm sure there will be times when we will not be able to take the dog with us. Is it ok to leave it (for 1-3 weeks) at the home of a person who comes about once a week for 3 hours at a time? This person currently lives alone 1.5 hours away, is quite good with dogs, and has no pets. Assume that he will walk the dog as often as we would.

If this happens not to be a viable option at the time because that person is also away, can the Eskie be left with a dogsitter (that it has never seen before)? Some of you will go "duh, that's what dogsitters are made for!" but I have heard that American Eskimos are very wary of strangers.

See also: Leaving an American Eskimo dog at home regularly

The only reason I used "it" as opposed to "he/she" is to avoid confusion (some people, when seeing "he/she", will assume I am talking about a human.

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    The stranger wariness is why you wouldn't consider a boarding kennel (I'm from New Zealand it may have a different connotations)?
    – SAM A
    Jul 3 '18 at 3:45
  • That's kind of my question: exactly how wary of strangers is it?
    – bob
    Jul 3 '18 at 15:20
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My advice would be to never leave a dog with a complete stranger. This will increase anxiety and nerves.

If you want to board it with someone, make sure that they are very well introduced to the dog sitter. Any good dog sitter will ask this to happen anyway before taking him/her on. Meet the sitter a few times, get them to make a fuss with the dog, play with them. This builds a connection and relationship with them so it's less nervy when they go with them. Take it around to the sitter's place and do the same too so they are familiar with surroundings. It gives the dog a familiar scent, and the more it recognises it the better.

Taking a dog to unfamiliar surroundings with a stranger could potentially be unnerving for them so the more you can introduce them the better.

As for the duration, I've found a week is enough, but 2-3 weeks may be asking a lot.

I use an app called DogBuddy, but I'm not sure this is available in the US yet, but there may be an equivalent, might be worth reading on. But this is something to aim for if you can get something similar.

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  • This advice isn't breed specific, its for dogs in general. Its more commonsensical, or where you referring to a specific part? You should worry if the said app doesnt operate in that country because there will be no local users on it, given that DogBuddy specifically relies on local users based on your location, Id double check first. Looking at their website they don't operate in the US so you may need to find an alternative.
    – UIO
    Jul 3 '18 at 15:34

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