House & pet sitters and where to find them?

mrs_sparrow

Not sure if this is the right place for asking but I was wondering if anyone used or has used a house and/or pet sitter and where you found them.

I do not know anyone who would be able to house sit so wondered if anyone had used sites to get people in to house and pet sit.

I found the website http://www.trustedhousesitters.com and put my requirements on there but someone else has approached me today and I've suddenly got a bit jittery about it so thought I would ask. I have not put dates on there as I do not want to advertise to all that the house will be empty.

Thanks for any help.

Sally_A

Think it depends on what pets you want looking after, I often look after the neighbours dog, or neighbours sons dog, but always in my home. No payment as I enjoy having them. (Boggers always sneak on the bed at night).

I'd feel a bit twitchy at having someone staying in the house, access all areas.

I also believe that the dogs behave better out of their normal home environment, as they are eager to please the new carer, and have nothing to get protective and aggressive over.

rising_from_the_ashes

Certainly I'd want to see things like Police Check certificates .... also recommendations from other clients (but this is always difficult as how do you know it's not a friend ....) etc.

I remember M&D using someone years ago when we went on (our only!) abroad holiday when I was young but we're talking 30 years ago so no use now unfortunately.

krlyr

You could try asking your vet, or local vets. Vet nurses or other staff may do pet sitting on the side to boost their income and at least they're tracable to an employer, even if it's not directly related to the pet sitting.

Errata

Sevendayweekend is a house sitter. You could try PM ing her, she may be able to give you some info / pointers.

mrs_sparrow

Thanks for all the info, I've been inundated with replies from this housesitting website since my ad went live, I am going to contact the people mentioned on the thread and speak to them.

I can find somewhere for the dogs to go if need be but having a house sitter would just make me feel better about leaving the house empty.

I can see why lots of people do this. Many of them are travelling and housesit in exchange for not paying for hotels, a few people are in the UK on work placements so they want specific dates. It's quite interesting to be honest. Most people are in their late 50's which was a surprise as well.

pippa80

Hi mrs_sparrow,

We used trusted housesitters when we went overseas earlier this year. We were inundated too, but chose a housesitter who had great references, police check etc. We spoke to two of her references by phone as well.

All went fine, though of course that's just one experience!

jumpedtheshark

OP, I don't where you're located but we have a very reliable pet sitter who's based in Banbury (we're in Oxford), whom I can recommend. PM me if it helps. I don't know what distances he covers.

We also tried agencies. One agency sent a couple, who visited us before agreeing to sit, and then declined to sit as we didn't have a TV at the time! I was quite annoyed as we'd told the agency we didn't have a TV and we had to pay for petrol, etc. for their visit. We successfully used a second agency (but wouldn't use them again if we could avoid it) when our regular was already booked, but found the couple less attentive than our regular - the husband got the names of the dogs confused when we called to check up (very worrying for us as one needs significant daily medication), and they even already had the engine running when we wheeled our suitcases up the street!

When comparing agencies, make sure you pay attention to what's included/excluded such as food, mileage, etc., and the number of hours per day (as well as the time of day, if that matters to you) during which they're permitted to be off duty and out of the house. Finally, make sure you check their liability insurance policy.

axomoxia

We found ours at the local vets - we just asked who the recommended, turned out the one that they recommended worked their.

ThriftyMummy

I found my sitter on TrustedHousesitters.com over the summer. I was a bit unsure at first as well - always a bit of a worry having someone you don't know in your home. But I had my brother house sit last year and he broke so many things I decided not to ask him back.

I was inundated with replies as well and it did take me a while to sift through them and choose a sitter. I choose someone with references and a police check - they had even made a video of themselves. We then spoke on Skype a few times which put my mind at rest a bit.

Anyway, it worked out really well in the end and the dog was happy, no one broke in to the house and we had a meal waiting for us when we got back from holiday. Would definitely do it again.

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

Sevendayweekend is a house sitter. You could try PM ing her, she may be able to give you some info / pointers.

seven-day-weekend - I'm sure she'd be delighted to give any help she can.