Do You Constantly Worry About Your Pet When You’re on Vacation? You’re Not Alone

Maybe you’ve been there: You’re finally on the dream vacation you’ve been saving up for, everything looks just like it did on Pinterest, and you’re ready to unplug from your daily life… but you’re still stressed. Why? Because you couldn’t bring your dog. If you miss your pet too much to relax while traveling, you’re definitely not alone. A new study by Talker Research found that worrying about an absent pup can seriously affect how much fun pet parents have on vacation.

The survey of over 2,000 dog parents found that 40 percent of people with dogs “constantly” worry about them when they’re away — and twenty-two percent of people miss their dog so much that they can’t enjoy their trip. On average, pet parents miss their dog 13 times per day. And the yearning can start as early as on the way to the airport; it takes people 53 minutes on average to start missing their dog.

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To cope, a fifth of the respondents say they’ve asked their pet sitter to put their dog on the phone. Seventeen percent have asked for a video call with their pup — though just FYI, researchers say that pets don’t really understand how phones work.

It makes sense to miss your bestie, of course. But the bittersweet news? Your dog isn’t really missing you that much. Don’t take it personally — they love you, but they’re living in the moment. “The peer-reviewed evidence that we have so far tends to say that our dogs really aren’t thinking out that far in advance, like, When is Mom going to return? And they really don’t have that concern, of like, Where did you go off to?” Daniel Neale, a certified dog behavior consultant, told Kinship.

That means that you can let go of those guilty feelings. And if the source of stress is whether or not your pup is in good hands, there are a variety of ways to vet your pet sitters, keep up with your dog through photo and video updates, and leave your pup all the comforting toys and treats they need. Check out Kinship’s guide to traveling without your pet.

Nothing will ever beat having your pup by your side, but there’s no reason to skip out on traveling. And during times when you don’t have a choice, like when you’re going to a work conference or meeting up with your in-laws, you definitely don’t need to add stress to your plate. If you try to live in the now as much as your pup does, some time apart might just be a lot of fun. Plus, if all else fails, they’re only a FaceTime away.