Boarding Alternative

What do you do with your pups when you travel, and you can’t take them with you? Consider this.

We hire a house sitter for many reasons. Primarily, because it is better for our pets. Secondarily, because with five pets it is less expensive. Thirdly, because our house isn’t empty.

You may be surprised by the number of pet sitters in your area. I was. Also, consider a RELIABLE college student you know, who is home on break. There may be a local vet tech who would like to make some money on the side. Do a web search for “pet sitters near me”. You may be surprised.

We hired Ben, and he was great. It was his first time pet/house sitting. He not only notified us when our cat’s eye looked “odd,” he took care of an emergency situation with our hot water heater. We knew what was happening at our house, and we knew our critters were in good hands! Our dogs loved him, and the cats warmed up.

What to Provide Your House Sitter

• Guidelines: Provide SPECIFIC care instructions
  • Present these at your first contact with the potential sitter, so you both can determine if they will be a good fit. ASK if there are questions, or if something is confusing.
  • Leave a hard copy at your house for them to refer to
  • Be clear and let the sitter know EXACTLY what you expect
    • How much time they need to spend with your pet
    • What part of the house they can use/not use
    • Expected pet care (be specific – short, but clear)
    • Whether or not they can bring their own pet
    • Whether or not they can have guests
    • (I suggest you don’t ask a sitter to clean, except for cleaning up after themselves)

• A list of words you use for commands that may be different than traditional (EX: Do you say OFF or DOWN, or something else if you dog tries to jump up on you?)
• Tell them your priority (for example: dog’s mental health, old dog meds, etc)
• Your pet’s idiosyncrasies

What You Provide to Your Dogs

• The security of being on home turf
• A fairly normal routine
• Fun??? Play and new toys???

What to Provide Your Sitter

• A comfortable place to sleep and keep their stuff
• Whether or not they can eat your “human food”
• Emergency phone numbers (vet, relatives, friend and/or neighbor)
• Your phone number (international text app if needed)
• Code to security system
  • (I add a new code which is the last four digits of their phone number)
• Location of
  • Electric shut off
  • Water shut off
• DON’T FORGET WRITTEN GUIDELINES
• DON’T FORGET WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS
• Generous payment and a tip if they do something special

What to Provide Yourself

• Relaxation
• A text/photo daily from the house sitter
• A break from your fur kids