What are you doing with your pets on your wedding day?

We have two dogs, a collie mix and a Labrador mix. They are both coming to the wedding ceremony as they are the ring bearers ?

My sister's boyfriend will be in charge of them during the ceremony and he will take them home after photos (in their own wedding car with ribbons and all!). They be home alone for around 4 hours until around 6.30pm when my sister's boyfriend will call in to let them out, feed them and sit with them for a couple of hours. They'll be left again for around 4 hours.They're used to being at home alone for around 5 hours at a time so they'll be fine. I'd never put them in kennels as the youngest (2.5 years) is a rescue and was in kennels for a while when a pup and freaks when in a kennel or cage.

We will make sure they are well exercised leading up to the big day and had a big walk that morning so they'll be truly knackered by time they get home after the ceremony - they'll be glad of the peace!

What about a dog sitter? We have a few in our area that will call in to walk/feed or just keep them company. They often take the time to get to know your dog so they're relaxed with them.

If you do go down the kennel route, as long as your dogs are up to date with their vaccinations and have the kennel cough jab they won't catch anything. I have worked in kennels and they are so heavily cleaned with disinfectant you could eat your dinner off the floor!!

It's a worry isn't it? It took us ages to figure out how we were going to make sure our two were happy on the day.

We are getting married in France so have the same problem. Our dogs go to doggie day care midweek (I know!) as it is the only thing that tires them out, so they will be going there, and one of the young chaps that works there lives just round the corner so he is going to feed them / let them out etc while we are away. At day care they get to run free all day so are pooped by the time they come home and just sleep. Will really miss them while we are away though!

If you can get a dog sitter / neighbour to pop in and see to them that could work. I think this is less stressful for the dogs than kennels, and often a lot cheaper. You could also get a dog walker to come too, they are usually quite cheap, £10 or so.

I've looked into kennels before and it was so expensive, so much so I could have booked a premier inn hotel for them cheaper!

xx

Rosco will be at home in the morning but will have a good walk then he is ocming down for the photos. He might come to the ceremony but I'm not sure yet. Then he will be dropped off at the PIL farm on the way to the reception. They have 5 dogs who love in outside kennels but they are like mini buildings with heating and old sofas in them. He will play with them all day and probably sleep in the kennel a fair bit. The PIL are going home after the reception to check the farm and sort out all their animals so I expect Rosco will be allowed to sleep in their kitchen if it's cold which it may well be in Feb. He will be fine he loves the farm and as long as we are not there he goes into the kennels with their dogs. If we are there he mithers to come in the house. I refuse to put him in kennels as he is a rescue who had been in and out of the rescue centre. We are home number 4 so I do not want him to go back into that again. Plus he hates strange dogs and would just kick off.

I'll still be living with my mum so she'll be looking after my animals (I have a cat, 3 birds and a mouse) but I'm also lucky that if I am moved out by then my mum owns a small cattery where my cat could go.

Have a look around for a pet sitter. They can take your dogs into their home or look after them in your own home for you. We have used them a couple of times and was really happy with them. Make sure you get good references and that the person is crb checked and insured.

Thanks for this, I hadn't even thought about the poor doggie!!

We're going back home on our wedding night - last orders at 11.30pm, we get married at 1.00pm so it's not too bad for us.

I have 4 house bunnies and a tortoise at current all will be at my parents on the day ,so when I get ready they can be part of the bridal prep photos, as for us they're our family. They'll have unlimited hay and water and snugglesafes, and will get herbs/forage before we leave for the ceremony.

The animals will be at my parents mainly in order to prepare for the honeymoon, my parents have 2 bunnies themselves so I trust them with our fur and shelled family too

We've booked our dog into kennels for the wedding day and night and we'll pick her up the next day. My mum has booked her dog into the same place. They're both 2 yr old collies. We don't really want to but everyone will be at the wedding which is an hour from home. Im sure they'll be fine tho! And we're going to try and bring our dog down to the venue for some photos.

If you don't find a kennel you're happy with tho, dog sitters sound good, just have to find someone you trust with your dog and your home.

I'm not sure yet but I've been thinking a lot about it recently.

We are getting married 200 miles from home and a min of and hour away from anyone else so will have to be kennels I think as I can't think of any other solution. All potential dog sitters will be at the wedding and the venue/accom doesn't allow pets. When we booked it we didn't have Chip (our mini dachshund) but in all honestly I prob wouldn't have turned it down for this reason.

I've been researching 'luxury' kennels that are more like a dog hotel as I feel horrendously guilty he can't be with us and he is a bit of a pampered pooch. It will be near the venue so we can drop him off on the friday when we go down then pick him up the sunday morning after the wedding. I'm still worried it will upset him though.

Our dog walker also accepts dogs for home boarding, so whenever we stay overnight elsewhere she's happy to talk our dog, Milo, and he's happy to go there as they know each other well. She charges £20 per night which is very reasonable considering its £12 for a 90 minute walk. If you have a dog walker then you could maybe ask if they offer this additional service? Or internet search local home boarders and have them walk your dogs regularly in the run up to when they stay over? It's an additional cost especially for 3 dogs but worth it if you're unsure about them going to kennels. They'll also walk your dogs and will be kept within their home or a designated room overnight....worth thinking about?

Hoping you get something sorted that you're happy with xx

Can you not just leave them at home?

make sure they have water, food are in a room that doesn't heat up (never a conservatory) - you said you have 2 dogs so they should be fine the only 2 main issues with leaving dogs are:

* they're prone to loneliness and stress (but there is 2 so they wont be lonely, we let our dog pick a friend to live with and she picked a little white rabbit they lived happily for 10 years but the rabbit died last year ☹️)

* toilet breaks (try and get a neighbor or someone you trust to let them out but if you cant you can use training pads or old carpet you dont care about, we used old carpet in the pets because the dog was good but the rabbit never got the hang of it)

unless your traveling a long way I assume someone will be able to collect the animals after the wedding the puppysit

my conundrum is a little more awkward lol, we have Carp and snails and we are just about to get cockroaches, the snails look after themselves mostly and cockroaches could last a bit on there own but the fish need constant work to keep the water chemistry balanced and they are in a 110L glass tank that is drilled to the wall so cant even be moved ? no one seems to want to look after carp, snails and cockroaches and most dont know how

Our dog did that at first, chewed through a door and windowsill but she calmed down pretty quick... we converted the cellar into a room just for them with a sofa and hifi (so we could leave music on) and there toys, they couldn't/didnt do much damage in 10 years and if the did it didn't matter because no one could see it

We are not getting marrie dlocally and have a dog and a cat. The cat is going to the cattery whilst we are getting married and during our honeymoon (i always feel really osrry for her, but she never seems to bothered by it) Our dog is a 7 month old Newfoundland we woudl have loved to have him be part of the day but logistically it's not possible and he is already HUGE so not best placed in the venue we are getting married at, nor would any guests appreciate being slobbered on by him :-( He is going to my parents house whilst we are away and one of their close firends is staying with him the day and night of our wedding whilst my paretn are away and then he will stay with them for the two weeks we are on our honeymoon. I feel realyl lucky that they have sorted all this out for us as I couldn't bear put him in kennels especially whilst he is so young - plus it would have to be a pretty big place for him to fit in in the first place haha!

Ahhhh I adore Newfies, I'd LOVE one, I'd look after yours if you were nearby! :-)

I'm not sure where you are based, but I know the family who run this company http://www.pethomehelp.co.uk/ (the owner Layla is a very close family friend)

They are really wonderful people and have a genuine love of all animals. I seem to remember that they offer pet sitting in your own home as well as at theirs. It's particularly good for pets who get anxious being moved around.

Hope that helps

I would never leave Wispa in a kennel. When we go away we leave her with home boarders. Her dog walker boards, but a few times she's been booked and we've looked elsewhere for home boarders. My coworker took her when we went on honeymoon, then for the wedding day itself a different coworker had told me about family friends who board dogs and we booked them. What we did was have Wispa at the venue until the end of the drinks reception and photos. The boarders came to the venue and then took her home to their house, where we picked her up the next day.

a quick google search will probably turn up some boarders local to you. Ask to meet them with your dog before booking them.

good luck! We doggy people do worry about our little monsters, don't we?

I planned my venue around my dogs and picked the one that will let me keep them in one of the rooms, there will therefore be plenty of people they know to let them out. Have you spoken to the venue/hotel, they may allow dogs?

We'll be abroad so the dog will be home boarded, nad I've kinda assumed my mum will watch the cat... should ask really.

I'm sure she will, he went for a little holiday in October and I think she enjoyed the company! So hopefully she'll say yes.

For those who have done the home boarding how does it work?

Are they people who have their own dogs and your dog stays in the house with them or are they just like a small scale cosy kennel type environment? Chip has never lied with another dog before so not sure how he would deal with it. Also do they need to be a certain age?

I've not had to worry about this before and we don't have a dog walker we can ask. Plus as I said we are getting married miles from anyone so it needs to be local to the venue rather than home. One set of parents will have him when we are on honeymoon but the trouble with weddings is everyone is with you that day!

I've just signed my dog up to a company that have lots of representatives, non of which own their own pets, so my dog being an only dog won't be going into an environment where there are other dogs (he gets bullied a lot)

It's a home environment he'll go into too, which will suit him more than kennels, as he's a mummy's boy.

My Mum actually does home baording, she has done it for a few years now when she stopped bieng a teacher. she loves it, it is much better for dogs than kennels, she only has a maximum of 5 at a time and they just live in the house with her and my dad, she is nearly always fully booked nowadays it seems a really popular choice for people

Home board! The dogs will have a little holiday and change of scenery, they'll love it. Presumably you've got them immunised so illness won't be an issue any more than it is at home. It also means that no one has to take any time away from your wedding to look after them. Have a great day

Our Westie is running the bar.

We had to plan key elements of our day around what we are doing with our hound. We have a greyhound who it would break our hearts to put in kennels as he was homeless and kenneled for a long time before we adopted him and he had bit of a bad time so I'd hate for him to get that anxious again. What we're doing is having him at the ceremony with us (he is super well behaved) then OH dad is dashing him back to his house (round the corner from church), then, his neighbour will pop in to feed him and OH parents will pop back early eve. They also dont plan on staying til the bitter end of the reception so he wont be too lonely. i'm so glad we can have him with us on the day, he completes our little family!xx

I imagine harrycat spent the day asleep on our bed, chasing birds and sunbathing in the window. Much like any other day. I wish we could gave had him there but he's far too naughty. We made do with harrycat cake toppers instead.

aww that would be amazing. Pretty sure my mini Dachshund would make a great barman! (when he wasn't eating all the bar snacks)