Thread: Home & pet sitting services

V8Ian has quite the reputation for this sort of thing, so I've heard.

When we went to Melbourne in 2020 we had a "pet sitter" move in. As we progressively extended from the original 4 months out to 6 months she found short term replacements to cover her as she had existing commitments. It was brilliant. The house got looked after, plus both the dogs for less than it would cost to have kenneled the dogs.

Pam found her basically through word of mouth and Facebook referrals, and she in turn knew other people to cover the gaps. We used her a number of times subsequent to the original until we lost both the dogs.

From the flip side my Mum & Dad used to house/pet sit for others - they were retired and found it a great way to get get free accommodation around the country - from a weekend to weeks/months. They treated the animals like their own (who were long gone but they wanted to travel in retirement so never got any more) were keen gardeners and looked after all the properties they stayed at really well.

They had a high rating - but I can't remember the name of the service they did it under but it was win/win.

Make sure any potential candidates have plenty of good ratings on whatever platform they are on - and ideally ask for references (that aren't family or friends) and get them to come around before you head off to check them out.

Funny Story about this

Years ago we had a large Maremma named Mac.

We wanted to go away for a few weeks so found someone who would walk him, feed him & spend time with him at home.

She came and spent time with him while we were still there and everything looked ok.

Anyway off we went a week or so later.

Mac locked out the dog sitter and would not let her in.

Got a panicked phone call, cursing the dog & indicating she had never seen anything like it.

Had to come home.

Now we look for holidays with the dog.

Originally Posted by Saitch

V8Ian has quite the reputation for this sort of thing, so I've heard.

Contact details in Grumpy Old Man thread.

Originally Posted by V8Ian;[URL="tel:3178180"

3178180[/URL]]Contact details in Grumpy Old Man thread.

Out of date Ian. I can update them for you.

My neighbours have someone doing this for them at the moment. Looking after their house and chooks. They are a retired couple who travel around doing house sitting, can get their details if you like.

We do it but only for guide dogs (we are up to dog no. 64 or 65). We have a lab with us now for a month while the carers are in Japan skiing. The dog is owned by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT but he's a court dog (does support for kids and witnesses in his local** court.)

**Local as in local, not local as in the Local Court - Local Court of New South Wales

One of the previous court dogs we had caused a bit of a ruckus at court one day - a miscreant thought she was drug detection dog and went off!