Pet Sitters?

[mom2of2]

lol! Jersey here too! $25 per day kennel for my Newf.

 

[ZachnElli]

Wow, I'm shocked how cheap most of you have it!! I pay $45 a day for 3 visits!! I have 4 dogs, but she only charges $2 extra for more than one dog! She does take care of the whole house, watering plants, bringing in mail, turning lights on and off, opening and closing shades and taking care of the fish. I know there are kids in the neighborhood who would do it, but with 4 dogs, they can be overwhelming and I prefer a professional who's insured and bonded. It's a big chunk when I'm gonna be gone for 9 days, but what can I do? The other babies need taken care of too!

 

[Moonmom]

Sigh... very overprotective dogmommy here... never used a kennel... and well... never used a "stranger." Actually, Grandma, (my mom) looked horrified when I suggested a kennel the first time we were going to go away after we became Moon's parents. But.. gee.. I was trying not to burden my mom with his care... it's not exactly a tiny little bit of fluff. I'm lucky...she will NOT take a penny in payment..in fact... her payment is the luxury of staying at our home... enjoying the solitude that comes from being married to for 55 years and listening to someone that watches the history channel 18 hours a day!
We often watch a neighbor's beagle when they travel. One year she had a twenty something son of a co-worker stay at her home instead. Well... we noticed that night #1 was BIG party... day #2...he was gone all day.. I kept wondering about the poor beagle..wondering about him... night #2... another big party... the next day; the guy's car was gone and I was gone most of the day. I came home and could hear the beagle barking ..he'd been left on the back porch...shortly after the guy came back. Night #3 --yup..you guessed it..another party. Now..this guy had been told that I was across the road and was available for backup...and also had a key.... and since the beagle was terrified of thunder that should it storm if no one was home and it stormed I'd be over to take him to my house. Well, the next day, the guy's car was gone... the beagle was on the back porch.. howling...barking..howling... he never howled and barked like that. It was raining..not really thundering...but..welll..... it WAS stormy looking... SOOOO. I called...no answer. I couldn't take the barking.. Went over, let myself in.. and there's the poor beagle.. on the porch...no water... soiled messed newspapers,,, he's dirty... I went inside to get his leash... the house was a disaster... broken dishes, food spoiling on the counters. I left a note...simply that I'd taken the dog home to my house. We now watch their new beagle!
A couple of weeks ago we had a dog parent's worst nightmare.. on Sunday he was fine... at Midnight on Monday my husband was rushing him to the vet..we spent the next 48 hours with the vet tellling us he was doing everything he could but he wasn't sure if our beloved greyhound was going to live.. somehow, (we still don't know how or where) he ingested poison rat poison. Thanks to our wonderful vet, Moon is now happy and healthy. But, it's so frightening... would someone else have noticed his symptoms? Heck, even my DH had said at one point..."oh,,, let's wait til morning to call." Later, the vet said, that if we'd waited til morning he would've been dead.
I'm really actually kind of surprised that by now there isn't a number of "pet hotels" in the area of Disney. I know there's the Disney kennels... but that's not the same... some of the "pet hotels" I've heard of actually sound pretty nice...like a pet vacation.
BTW..... for those of you that mentioned about doing pet sitting as a profession...how do get started in it... I'd like to hear more...by PM, of course...

Thanks....

OH.... BTW... don't forget.... Disney has some new stuff for our dogs and cats at the parks!

 

[chi-mom]

The last time we boarded our dogs (one large one small) it cost us about 250.00 for 5 days. This was in a luxury kennel with indoor -- outdoor runs, AC,toddler beds,potted palms,individual daily play times,and daily movies (yes movies) and treats.

It was a very nice place, but my little dog is a barker and came home very hoarse-she probably barked the whole time.

I was thinking about having a college aged nephew come over to sit when we go to WDW. After reading the going rates, I think he would be happy with 300.00 for the week. Now if I can keep the little dog from biting him (she's a little over protective of her brood) .

 

[PugLover]

Leaving a pet is so hard, especially when it is a kennel type situation. I know there are many that are very against the use of kennels, myself included, however sometimes very little choice is left.

When we have to kennel our pug, which isnt often, it is always a hard choice. Like I said... usually my mom stays with her but when our whole family travels together obviously that plan doesnt work.

Here are a few tips I learned when choosing a kennel. I think when choosing a kennel price should not be a consideration. Expensive isnt always best, least expensive isnt always a bargain.

Our vet has cared for our pug since she has been 8 weeks old (she is now 5.5 yrs old). The vet also cared for all my DH's grandparents dogs for many years. She is wonderful. That is where we started looking for recommendations for a kennel. She gave us the name of two kennels she refers people to. A good starting point for info.

Thankfully one of the kennels she recommended also came highly praised by many teachers at the school where my mother in law teaches. We called the kennel and asked for a tour.

The kennel was very clean, beautifully set up and all the dogs had their own suites. Every four dogs were assigned to their own handler which means lots of private attention. We also asked for names/numbers of other customers to call for referrals.

Lastly, we made two surprise, unannounced visits to the kennel (both at different times of the day). At both visits we were very pleased with what we saw.

The first time we had to kennel the dog we were wrecks. On the way there I was just sobbing, DH was a wreck and Cali (the pug) was sitting in the back seat just clueless. The owner helped us get her all settled in. We left them with a ton of numbers to reach us at. That owner, bless him, called us every day with an update to ease our mind and even sent us a fax "from cali". It was an incredibly sweet gesture.

Do your research on kennels, there are good ones out there. It certainly is not a last minute decision to make.

Perhaps this will help some of ya'll find a perfect "home away from home" for your fur babies!

 

[KristinU]

We actually kennel rather than using family or friends because I don't trust anyone but a professional...when I was a kid my aunt was taking care of our dog and she (the dog) ran away from my aunt's house. We did find her in the dog pound a couple of days later thank goodness, but that experience left me totally afraid of leaving my baby with a family member or friend.

Like PugLover recommended, we started with our vet for recommendations. They gave us a list of a few but said that their favorite was a bit more expensive than the others and a little further out. One of the techs at the vet had owrked there and had nothing but wonderful things to say...needless to say, after looking at a few their favorite stood way out and that is who we use.

It is around $30 a day and that includes 2 playtimes and we typically have them give her a bath on the last day. The kennel is also very picky with new guests and they make you do a trial 2-4 hour period before you can board there to make sure that the dog is comfortable in their environment. Our girl gets all excited when we turn down the road to get there and happily goes in back to her quarters without giving us a second look when we drop her off so I think she's pretty happy there. She's always tired from so much play time, but is always in tip top shape and disposition. I feel really lucky to have a great place to use and trust so that we can have a good time while she has a good time (their philosophy is that the dogs are on vacation too and should have just as much fun as the parents are having). And from what I'm reading here the price isn't that outrageous at all.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

Originally posted by KristinU
my aunt was taking care of our dog and she (the dog) ran away from my aunt's house. We did find her in the dog pound a couple of days later thank goodness

That reminds me of a very funny story. Before we were married DH had a pet iguana. As hard as I tried, I couldn't warm up to this liazrd..I even bought the thing a leash and would try to walk him!! Well anyway, my mother in law "baby" sat this iguana while we went on our honeymoon and guess what, she killed it It wasn't intential, the thing just died. She felt so horrible, she even saved it for DH to bury. Needless to say, my MIL and I became instant friends.

Please no flames, I don't mean to offend any iguana lovers


Laura

 

[ducklite]

Laura--That's priceless...and I have a similar story with a cockatiel...

Anne

 

[disney4me4ever]

One of the vet techs at our Vet's office comes and stays at our house for $25.00/night. We have always had an in-home pet sitters for our westie. We stock the 'frig and I always leave something from Bath & Body Works, along with a tip for her. I know that Murphy is getting good care, and I have peace of mind. Well worth it!

Nancy

 

[mylilnikita]

I am also debating what to do with my dog, Nikita. Either have my parents watch him or take him to where he goes to day care and pay 12.00 a day while I am away. He does well when he goes to day care and he is always tired at the end of the day, but I am always there to pick him up. I think I will board him for one night to see how he does and if he does well maybe take him there. The manager of the day care loves my dog, she had one that looked like him, so I would never worry about him staying there.

 

[LSchrow]

we've been on both sides..........
we boarded our one (at that time) dog at a breeder's home for $50 a day (including food, etc). we checked out the home, her other dogs, etc first. blackie (a pure white shepherd, btw ) absolutely LOVED it ~ her dogs & mine "hung out" together in the house & fenced yard, constantly supervised (she did have a run, but they all got along so well, there was no need to seperate them). her dogs had proof of all shots ~ i checked , as did mine. btw, we justified the higher expense over a kennel because of the extra attention & care a "home boarding" situation would give our four-legged family member.
now, sending our 2 goldens "on vacation" would cost over $100 day (& we norm go for 12 days), so my parents take care of them in our home. they come at least 2X daily ~ feed them, let them out, & most importantly: play with them. since my 2 cats need to be taken care of
(somewhat ), & fish fed , they can "do it all".
my now 19yo DD has taken care of our neighbors 2 cats for about 10 years. she goes there at least 2-3x daily, no less than an hour each time. she feed them, changes the litter boxes, waters plants, brings in the mail/newspaper, brings out garbage, & does any small tasks asked. the most important part (in my eyes, as well as the neighbors') is that she plays with the cats, cuddles them, & makes sure they know that they're very much loved even if "mom & dad" have gone away for a bit. since we've always had pets, she is very much aware if anything appears wrong with the cats.
she gets about $20-25 day (she's never asked for compensation & would do it for free, but they insist saying, "she's worth much more"), plus they give her movie tix, or some sort of souvie (water bottles, t-shirts, etc).
main points: check references, check EVERYTHING!, make sure whoever watches your baby will take care of them at least half as well as you do.

 

[pokeysmom]

we are going on vacation for 19 days and I am freaking out about what to do with our pets. They are used to sleeping with us. We had a friend stay last year. I thought she was trustworthy I have known her for years but she had another family with several children come over and stay at our home several nights and our home was trashed, I didn't dream that she was going to use our home for her vacation but that is what happened. Our dogs weren't injured but they definitely were scared, needless to say we aren't friends anymore. What should I do?

 

[PatriciaH]

Originally posted by pokeysmom
we are going on vacation for 19 days and I am freaking out about what to do with our pets. They are used to sleeping with us. We had a friend stay last year. I thought she was trustworthy I have known her for years but she had another family with several children come over and stay at our home several nights and our home was trashed, I didn't dream that she was going to use our home for her vacation but that is what happened. Our dogs weren't injured but they definitely were scared, needless to say we aren't friends anymore. What should I do?

Try visiting www.petsit.com and searching for a pet-sitter by your zip code. Members of Pet Sittiers International have to follow quality standards. Or get a reference from your vet. Good luck!

 

[K9pal]

This is an eye-opener for me too! We are lucky to have a 15 yr old neighbor who loves animals and is willing to do practically anything for $$ (I'm sure that will stop once he gets his driver's license!). He comes over 3 times a day when we're gone to let our chocolate labbie out, feed both our dogs and check on the cat. He usually plays ball with the dogs on one visit to exercise them. He also brings in the mail and paper. His mom makes sure he comes when he should. We were recently gone 3 days and gave him $25, so I guess we've been getting a bargain!
I'll have to re-think what to give him when we're gone to WDW for 10 days in September...

 

[rachael95]

Reading this thread makes me glad I have cats. The Litter-Maid makes it so our friends who pet sit don't have to clean the box hardly at all. We have a water fountain that as long as they add water to it once a day gives them fresh flowing water and we usually leave them enough food in the bowls for a month if we're going to be gone 2 days. Mainly, we want someone to come to the house to just play with them more than anything else.

They charge us a meal out and ask for a return favor when they go on vacation.

I think we get the raw end of the deal though. We have two cats and at one point, they had three cockatiels and two iguanas. They're down to two birds and only one lizard now though.