When we take long vacations (one month) in the future we will need to have someone get the mail, check on the house, and feed a cat and walk and feed a dog. This would be asking too much for our elderly neighbors or close friends. I would like to know if you have done this with a company. What you look for and what to avoid. We are in a small town, so this is will be harder to find but I am going to try. My D did this in Germany and it works out well at her apartment for their cat. They don’t have boarding there so it was common. I figured I would make a code for the house entry panel and this would eliminate giving them a key to the house in case in the unlikely situation where there was a problem I would not have to change the many locks. There are no neighborhood kids. We are not looking for them to stay overnight. Ideas?
We had a wonderful experience with a service provided locally in our town of 20,000 by a woman who labeled her business as providing pet sitting, though plants could be watered and mail brought in as part of it. Rates varied with time required. i would ask friends who they or their friends use, check yelp reviews, etc. Your vet may also know people who do this and are reputable. My daughter also did this for neighbors when she was a teen. She was very responsible and we made sure she was able to leave the houses secure as well on the first visits.
Good luck!
Do you know anyone with a 20 something who is living at home who might like to live at your house for a month instead? With a dog, it might be easier to have someone there rather than just someone popping in twice a day to feed and walk. My daughter has done this for neighbors and friends. It’s a nice break for her, and a huge help to them. She charges about $100 to $150 a week…which is far cheaper than boarding the animals.
Travel-I did not think about asking the Vet.
Thumper- my D’s used to do the daytime thing too but they were the only kids on the block. I thought of boarding and having mail saved, etc but checking on the house (leak, etc) would be good and I thought - what if I get a jury local or federal notice? They give all of 2 weeks to respond here.
Rocky. My daughter did NOT do daytime only. She actually stayed at the homes where the pets lived. She took care of the pets, brought in the mail, cleared the walkways if it snowed, kept the house at a decent temp so pipe would not freeze, basically manned the home in the owners’ absences.
I wouldn’t leave a dog alone for a month with someone coming in the house only a couple of times a day. Dogs need to be with people.
Personally, I am not a fan of boarding at the vet or in kennels. It’s an unfamiliar environment, with lots of animals, some of whom may be sick, and being locked up in a cage for long periods of time.
So, when I go away, I board my my dog with a service that has a number of homes in their network where the dog can stay as part of a family. Key to me is that a dog that is not crated at home will not be crated or locked away. You can choose a house that has the environment most similar to yours - for example, no other dogs or no kids (I always choose one with a fenced-in back yard). My dog is allowed on couches, just like at home. You get to meet the family first, and they meet your dog, to make sure it’s a match (by the way, they do cats too). And you get to speak to people who who have boarded with them before.
Personally, I would not leave my animals with a random 20-year-old. I would want someone who has experience with animals and their care and behavior, can handle emergencies, and just someone I have some evidence is actually good with animals.
I am not recommending a random 20 something. Did I say that? My kid is a 20 something who house and pet sits for friends, neighbors and families who go away for any number of days…or weeks. She stays at their house.
I was suggesting that perhaps the OP knows someone in the same position who already has met her pets, or who has hired some one who does this and can give a great recommendation (my daughter gets her jobs by word of mouth now…folks tell their friends what she is able to do).
I wouldn’t hire a stranger to be in my house at all…and that includes those who are hired by services. Sorry…I’d rather get a personal reference for this type of service.
My daughter also spends a couple of hours at the home, with the pets and owners sometime before the owners leave…so she knows the drill, and the animals feel comfortable with her in their house.
I wouldn’t hire a random person of any age!
^^^The service around here that will come to your house and/or stay overnight starts at $60/day. That’s even worse than the doggie spa! When we went to NZ for three weeks, a good friend of ours took care of Kira. Kira knows her and our friend is a real dog person. Our friend needed to get back to Ohio to deal with family business and with our OK, took the dog with her. While there, they did the trails together and had a blast.
I made a special dog tag with our friend’s name/numbers so that if Kira were separated or lost, whoever found her would be able to contact a responsible party. (My cell did not work overseas.)
Do you have a local college? Perhaps there’s someone who’d be interested in house-sitting for a month? My daughter used to house-sit for one of her profs, who had medically needy cats.
I’ve found there really wasn’t too huge of a difference between having someone come let my dog out at least three times a day/feed them, etc. and having someone stay overnight (probably around $10/day) or sending our dog some place overnight (not a boarding facility).
I’ve often used a service called Sleepover Rover, which is like the one acollegestudent described. You leave your pet with a family they have under contract and they have checked out. You take your pet to visit the home with you before you give the “ok” to the company, and if you aren’t happy with the situation you can request another family. I think I’ve used at least three different homes now and they have all been fine, but one stood out as exceptional, so I request that family now.
You can then give your key to a trusted neighbor to take in your mail, water plants and text you if anything important arrives and just to make sure the house is ok. But pets need humans and a month is really too long for a dog to be basically alone at home.
We traveled to Hawaii for nine days over Christmas and my normal Sleepover family couldn’t take our dog because they were doing some remodeling. Instead, I found a pet sitter (through google!) who was willing to stay at my house- with her two college kids- over the vacation. I didn’t know them beforehand, but I checked out their references to my satisfaction and it worked out very well. I met with them twice before we left in order to go over the routine, but it also let me get to know them a bit. They unlocked the gates for the gardeners, the pool person, took out the trash cans, brought in the mail, watered the plants and Christmas tree, as well as walked, fed, played with and slept in the same room with my beloved lab. All of this, and they asked $45 a day. I paid them $55 because I felt it was worth it to me and I’d love to use them again. It was only a little more than the Sleepover company charges, and I had my house cared for as well. A bargain, imo.
My son and DIL have an arrangement with friends who have dogs and it works well for them. When each goes away for long weekends or vacations, they pet sit for one another. That way their doggies have playmates while they are gone, and the price is right.
I’m sure if you keep looking and asking around you’ll find a situation that will make you feel comfortable so you can enjoy being away but also feel good that your animals have good care, too.
I have had friends who have had luck using college kids. She found a girl that friends knew to be responsible. The girl was home on break and was happy to be living close but not with mom and dad.
Before kids we when we went on vacation we had a company come in and bring in the mail, water the plants and feed our cat. Some thing that we felt was important was that they were licensed,bonded and insured.
I don’t know if you have “Task Rabbits” in your community, but I found a great pet/house sitter through them…If you google them (task rabbit - all one word) you can see if there are any near you.
Just want to mention this service: http://dogvacay.com/. We haven’t used it but it gets rave reviews whenever the newspaper does a story on it. For a whole month I would separate the dog care from the house/cat care, as dogs are much more needy. If you find a good solution for your dog it will be easier to find a pet/house sitter to stop in during the week.
I agree! I can’t imagine leaving a dog for a month with only pop in help! Even my cat would be traumatized. I brought her to my stepdad’s house (as per usual) for our two week trip to Europe. The first night my stepdad wasn’t home. My brother came to stay the night with her, and he said she sobbed loudly and continuously for 12 straight hours!
Geez… I totally read past the part of the OP being gone for a month.
Agree with others. I would NEVER leave a dog alone for a month with only pop in help.
Our cat sitter is a member of this organization https://www.petsit.com/ and we’re delighted with her, but the longest we’ve been away is about 10 days and that’s only one cat, no dogs. But it might be a place to find a bonded sitter who might be willing to be a house sitter while you’re away.
Thank You for all the ideas and I am checking them out. Some do not have home sitters or pet homes in the area, some do. I see the concern you all have for leaving a dog alone for that period of time. I need to ask my vet and neighbors also for references/ recommendations. This has been very helpful to me.