Dog Sitters

i don't board my dogs, but not because of the cost - i just don't trust them with my dogs. we have always had good luck with having one of our vet's younger vet techs or a trusted college age babysitter or a college age child of a co-worker house and dog sit. i like someone to basically move in and be here when they're not working or at school. start putting the word out with people that you know and trust and maybe you'll come up with something. since you're on mamapedia, i'll assume you have kids - do you use a babysitter with them that you would trust?

We had a friend house/dog sit for us when we went out of town last time. The last time I asked about it at our vet's office, one of the tech's did it on the side. Call your vets office and ask if they have anyone there who does that on the side or if pet sitters put up cards in their office. They may have a network.

That is of course if you can't think of a friend or reliable teen willing to do it. I paid our friend $100 for her to live in our house from Monday night to Saturday morning, and give our dog meds and take care of her while we were gone. It would have been about that much for the same # of days at a kennel somewhere, but I wouldn't have been able to pick her up at the time we got home (they'd be closed) and would have had to pay for extra days. Not to mention, that our dog is SOOOO much happier staying at home with someone giving her one-on-one attention. Our "sitter" has a full time job and was gone a lot. But it is no different than when my husband doesn't go with us on overnight trips. And it is a lot easier on ME to not have to deal with dropping her off/picking her up. :)

Go to Craigslist. I see postings on there all the time about pet sitters but just use caution....like ensure they are licensed and insured maybe even do a background check on them. Or try to get a college student that you trust like a friend of a friend or something. I wouldn't trust just any ole person in my home with my pets.

Get a trustworthy high school or community college kid with a car to come over and take care of the dog at your home. Cheaper, easier, and the dog will be happier.

Try stopping by a couple of local vet offices - they usually have boards that post business cards for these type of services.

I found that professional sitters cost as much or more (depending on the visits) than boarding. I was able to have a friend take my dog in her home when we gone for three weeks. A friend of mine has a another friend staying out her house.

I don't like to board my dogs either so use a pet sitting guy.
He has his own company, came w/neighbor referrals, is licensed and insured.
My pets are in their "happy home environment), worth the money, he picks up our mail, comes as many times per day you need/want to pay for etc.
So how do you find these professional sitters? He has a van w/advertisements/biz name on the side so I saw it but I have now found a couple of other ones that had coupons that came in my mailbox.
So check that out and/or google "pet sitter" with your city & state.
Highly recommend it. He even stays awhile and throws the ball for them and makes sure they eat their food! :)