Finding a Dog Sitter

Finding a decent, reliable dog sitter is virtually impossible. We are planning a trip to London in April and the dog sitter we had been using pretty much flaked out on us last year.

At the beginning of the year, I began trying to locate another dog sitter. I looked into local dog daycare facilities, a local doggy day camp, Craig's List, and the Internet. We had a meet-and-greet with someone we contacted through the website Dog Vacay. I was looking for someone who would be home all day. I thought I had found the perfect match, but she was worried about the dogs getting on her furniture. I don't think she was accustomed to the high energy these kinds of dogs have. We mutually decided it was not a good match.

Over the years we have used a variety of people to help us with our dogs. Professional dog sitters are difficult for us because our dogs are used to us being home all day with them and basically catering to their every whim. Most professional dog sitters have other clients they need to visit every day so you're lucky if you get two 30-minute visits.

Basically what I need is another me. A fairly young retired person, or someone who works from home and can bring her work to our house, like a freelance writer, and who loves dogs and loves to be interrupted frequently! Tall order, I know.

I do think, however, that Dog Vacay is a great website and good service. After our experience, we were contacted by the folks at Dog Vacay who helped find a few other possible sitters. But we reluctantly decided to board the girls at a local kennel. We had tried it once before with Anika and she was fine. At least with a kennel, I don't have to worry about the girls getting into fights with other dogs, getting away from the sitter, being too much to handle, getting on someone's furniture, chewing a toy they are not supposed to have, etc.

What do you do with your dogs when you go on vacation?