Going on Vacation and leaving your dog with a dog sitter or boarding facility

​Preparing to go on vacation can be very exciting but also a bit stressful, especially when having pets and you are not planning on taking them with you. Then, the question comes up: where can the pets stay?
Over the years, the variety of boarding facilities and dog sitters has become much broader and elaborated, leading to the following question: which is the best solution for your dog?
In my opinion, which option would be the most suitable for your dog depends on your own preferences and your dog's personality. If your dog is easily stressed out in new environments and by loud noises, an at-home dog sitter would probably be the more favorable decision over bringing your dog to a noisy boarding facility. That way, your dog can stay in his/her familiar environment, reducing anxiety and stress. Remember that a dog boarding facility will always be a loud, noisy place with lots of dogs barking, no matter how much the building is soundproofed and insulated. Another benefit of hiring a dog sitter is that the person can also take care of any additional pets in your household like cats, birds, fish etc. 
If your dog has any kind of medical issues, you might be better off with boarding your dog at your dog’s veterinarian who can quickly and professionally attend to any kind of medical distress your dog may experience.
If your dog is a social butterfly and generally acclimates to new environments quickly, he/she will probably not have any issues going to a dog boarding facility. Not all dog boarding facilities follow the same routine; some facilities may keep your dog in a kennel run for the majority of the day, meaning your dog will most likely also go to the bathroom in that run. If it is a more elaborate kennel run, it may have two sides separated by a doggy door so your dog can use one side of the run to hang out and the other side to take care of business. Other boarding facilities may accommodate your dog in a crate in a house or separate building. Of course, to make this work, your dog will have to be familiar with being crated at home; this is not the time to teach your dog to be in a crate.
Another thing to consider with this type of boarding is that your dog needs to be friendly and ok with being leashed and handled by a “stranger” because your dog will most likely have to be leashed to be brought from the crate to the outside. If your dog is not friendly or tolerant of people, it will be better to leave your dog with a boarding facility that accommodates the dogs in kennel runs where they can feed your dog and clean the run nearly contactlessly. If your dog is reactive towards other dogs, it will be more preferable to accommodate your dog at a smaller boarding facility that has less capacity hence takes on only a few dogs at a time which means that your reactive dog will have less opportunity to practice his/her reactivity and will get the needed one on one time your dog deserves. 
Playgroup or no playgroup? While I am not a huge fan of these boarding facilities that let huge groups of random dogs play together because I always see way more risks than benefits in that, it is up to you if you would like that for your dog. I rather advocate for one-on-one time with a caretaker who will take the dog for a brief walk, a play session of fetch, a swim, a run on a treadmill, or any other activity that doesn’t involve an unfamiliar dog. Dogs from the same household should have no issues playing together safely and can hang out together. 
Now that you have made a decision on what kind of boarding you deem best for your dog, it’s time to sit down and write a profile about your dog. 
Nah, that’s not for some kind of doggy dating app but rather to let your dog sitter or boarding facility know about your dog’s preferences and quirks. Yes, you will probably want to include that your dog likes to get belly scratches in the morning and that he/she wants a stuffy for bedtime, but it is much more critical for the person who will be taking care of your furry companion to know, if your dog is sensitive to any touching of particular body parts, do they resource guard their food/water, do they have specific rituals for going to the bathroom or eating, will they need to be muzzled in case they get injured, is there any destructive behavior, has obedience training been done beforeand what are the commands for that, any allergies to certain things. 
Basically anything that is “normal” for you but may catch a different person by surprise. 
Final words about toys and bedding: most places will probably not allow you to leave any toys or bedding with your dog because it could pose a potential safety hazard for your dog. Yes, at home, your dog is fine with those items, but that doesn’t mean that your dog won’t tear, shred, or rip them apart in a new environment because they are mad or stressed about being away from home. Don’t be too disappointed, if you cannot leave these items with your dog, it’s for the better; your dog will be fine without them.
And to wrap this up: Updates. The person or facility who is taking care of your dog will probably give you an update every now and then, but please don’t expect them to update you every day, these people are busy with taking care of your dog, sitting there and texting you or emailing you updates on your dog during all hours of the day will interfere with their primary task: taking care of your dog.