First time bringing dog

[jolynne28]

Hi all. It's our first time at the fort for Halloween and we're super excited! We're only staying 3 nights, and are considering bringing our standard poodle. He's just over a year, so not a baby anymore, but he is very attached to us and doesn't like to be alone. We've rented a golf cart for looping and aren't going to the parks at all on this trip. My only concern is that we have a dinner reservation at Artist Point on the first night. He sleeps in his crate at night just fine, actually goes in it while we get ready for bed. But during the day, if no one is home (which is not often since my husband works from home), we crate him and he does bark at first. He eventually settles, but I'm worried that at the fort he will constantly hear noise/people outside and just bark the entire time we are gone. I don't want to disturb our neighbors at the fort, and I don't want him to be stressed out. Does anyone have experience/advice/suggestions for this? I remember talking to a cast member while checking in to the Hoop Dee Doo Review last year, she said she and her husband also worked one of the dog sitting apps, but I can't remember her name or which one it was. I thought it might be a good idea to have someone check in on him, even though I know we'll only be gone a few hours at most. TIA

 

[Cousin Ed C]

As a dog lover, who has spent many winters at the Fort with our big dogs; I have to say one of the most annoying things is to have listen to a dog barking and howling because he thinks he has been abandoned.
Dogs love the Fort and it's great dog park but you have to be a responsible owner!

 

[Traveling on cc points]

does he like the dog park? If he does, my suggestion would be to take him there an hour before you dinner reservation and get him good and tired so he will nap while you are gone.

We have a cheap Wyze camera from Amazon in our house that allows us to check on our dog while we are away. The camera has a speaker where we can talk to her if needed.

 

[Corgidad]

An option for you might be Disneys Best Friends Kennel which is only minutes away from the Fort. They even do pick up and return now. Anyone I have ever spoken to who has used them loves the place. We took a tour of it when it first opened and it is very nice, that could be an option for you when you go out to dinner.

 

[jolynne28]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. We've used best friends before with our previous dog over 12 years ago. It was fine, we weren't impressed with the way they handled feeding (they basically threw his food out if he didn't eat it by a certain time) but he seemed fine with it. They aren't doing pick up until March I believe, but we have no issues driving him over if we go that route.

I agree with the annoyance of barking dogs, but we also don't know how he'll actually handle it until we try. He does bark whenever we first leave him at home, but he settles down once we're gone. I think tiring him out right before we go is a fantastic idea. If we decide to crate him inside for our dinner I would probably leave a note on the door with my phone number explaining that it's his first time alone in there and if there is a problem we can be reached and one of us can head back.

 

[jolynne28]

And Cousin Ed I do agree, but I'm not sure how we could be more responsible than not going to the parks at all on this trip. We have one dinner planned, the rest of the time we will be onsite and he will be with us. I doubt most dog owners never leave the campground for their entire stay. We just need to see how he handles it to determine what our options will be for future trips.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I don’t have a pet but did find this article .
It might help :
PreventiveVet.com
How to use music to calm your anxious dog.

Maybe the article about the music used in the Journey of Water for Moana would be perfect.

 

[team bradfield]

we close all the blinds, leave TV on and have a ring camera we can hear and see them. our coach has AGS system so we don't worry about temperature, power goes out, our genny auto starts the AC, we do this everywhere, our dogs are used to traveling

 

[cruising spud]

The first time we take a new dog camping, we pretend to leave, walk away from the rv a bit, and then sneak back and spend fifteen minutes or so just listening to the dog. Barking? Scratching at the windows? Jumping on the sofas? Then we come back into the rv. Next time, same thing, but then we take a walk to stay away longer. Etc. I can't tell from your post if your dog has ever camped with you. If not, could you try a camping trip before the fort?
Our last dog was very anxious (she was a rescue and was six years old when we got her). She never barked but spent a lot of time worrying and looking out windows (we could tell by all of the nose prints. ) So, we got her doggy cbd and gave it to her if we were going to be gone more than an hour or two. This helped keep her calm. Also brought a few of her toys along.
I also agree with the adage-run her ragged to tire her out.
Good luck.

 

[Scootin'By]

So, we got her doggy cbd and gave it to her if we were going to be gone more than an hour or two. This helped keep her calm. Also brought a few of her toys along.

Doggie CBD? That sounds amazing! I have to look into this now.

I was going to suggest the same thing -- not the CBD, the pretend trip with short times and then longer ones. It worked on my 3yo daughter, and has worked on dogs too.

 

[cruising spud]

Doggie CBD? That sounds amazing! I have to look into this now

We got our Pet CBD at CBDistillery on the internet. It was a good fit for our dog. We did the chewables.

 

[jstaff]

Hi all. It's our first time at the fort for Halloween and we're super excited! We're only staying 3 nights, and are considering bringing our standard poodle. He's just over a year, so not a baby anymore, but he is very attached to us and doesn't like to be alone. We've rented a golf cart for looping and aren't going to the parks at all on this trip. My only concern is that we have a dinner reservation at Artist Point on the first night. He sleeps in his crate at night just fine, actually goes in it while we get ready for bed. But during the day, if no one is home (which is not often since my husband works from home), we crate him and he does bark at first. He eventually settles, but I'm worried that at the fort he will constantly hear noise/people outside and just bark the entire time we are gone. I don't want to disturb our neighbors at the fort, and I don't want him to be stressed out. Does anyone have experience/advice/suggestions for this? I remember talking to a cast member while checking in to the Hoop Dee Doo Review last year, she said she and her husband also worked one of the dog sitting apps, but I can't remember her name or which one it was. I thought it might be a good idea to have someone check in on him, even though I know we'll only be gone a few hours at most. TIA

We had similar concerns with our labrador the first time we took him to the cabins. What worked for us is we fed and walked him like his normal routine before we left for a dinner reservation. We kept a lot of lights on, closed curtains, and turned tv on to tune out any outside noises. We did a mini test run saying we were going out and will be right back and waited outside for a bit to see what he would do. When we were ready to leave we pulled out and looped around making sure he wasn't going nuts then actually left. We brought some toys for him and also a blanket he liked to lay on.

We did not go out to eat the 1st night just because it was a new environment for him and we didn't want him anxious. When we did go out the following nights for dinner he had napped in the back by the bunk beds and was fine.

Also, keep in mind you can hear fireworks from the cabins which might hype him up as well especially if someone isn't there with him. We always tried to make reservations early enough so we would be back by fireworks time for him.

And if thunderstorms are a problem (don't know Florida weather in October) for him keep in mind the afternoon/evening time prevalence and dinner reservation time.

 

[tetera]

Seconding pet CBD- we have tried several types of pet CBD to help our dog chill out at the Fort but prefer the pumpkin digestive chewable treats (which also work for calming) from Lazarus Naturals: https://www.lazarusnaturals.com/products/forpets

 

[jolynne28]

Thanks so much everyone, great recommendations! We bought a cheap camera so we can watch him and talk to him if necessary, and will tire him out before we go. When he's home alone he's crated and it's very quiet and dark, so I don't think leaving the tv on is a good idea. He barks like crazy if there is a doorbell on a commercial, doesn't understand it's not someone at the door. But our A/C fan is nice and loud, great white noise, and we also use a sound machine at home so we'll bring that. I don't think we will try CBD yet, he's never had it and overall he's not a super anxious dog.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Does he have a Kong? Maybe freeze it full of something yummy to keep him busy while you're gone. Wear him out like others have suggested, then give it to him right before you leave.

 

[Mle8308]

How did it go with your dog?