Question about Pet Sitters - Page 2

Zmelli,

Hello, I also own a pet sitting company:  http://hometown.aol.com/beinhappyathome/, and have been pet sitting since 2001 .  Using a pet sitter is a good choice as long as you do your research! 

You did mention taking your dog to the pet sitters home and I have to disagree with this!  If you take your dog to someone elses home you loose control of who interacts with your dog and your dog is taken from it's environment.  With your dog being a SchH titled dog I would hesitate to put it in an environment where you can not controll the people he/she comes in contact with.  What if a visitor to their home acts in an inappropriate maner towards your dog?  That person could get bitten!  Also, when you take the dog out of it's home and place it in the home of a stranger the dog may tend to feel confused about the situation and want to find his/her home.  I have seen this many times!  And being a person's home, they do not always have the proper fencing to contain a visiting dog!  This spells disaster all the way around!!

If you are looking for a petsitter please make sure they are bonded and insured.  Bonding is not as important as insurance though and you also want to make sure the petsitter you choose has a contract for services and a veterinary release in the event your dog should become sick in their care.  Do not hire the neighborhood kid!!!!!!  You can look at the Pet Sitters Internatioinal website that was given to you above and find a reputable pet sitter in your area! 

When you have a petsitter your pet receives food, water, playtime in the comfort of it's OWN home and this is a good thing for your dog to stay in his/her familiar surroundings!  You can taylor your pet sit visits also and tell your petsitter if you want them to throw the ball for your dog or take it for a walk or just whatever!  Most petsitters are happy to do these things!  Your dog is not exposed to any contagious illnesses, or accidentally fed another dogs food or medication or mistreated!  I have also worked in a boarding kennel and the barking noise is at such a high decible that it is above what OSHA says is safe for humans!  We were required in this kennel to wear hearing protection, a luxury your dog's sensitive ears do not have!!  Your home is looked after and all the pet sitters I know, we network together in my area, will get your mail, newspaper and rotate lights and open and close miniblinds.  We also do things like water the plants and put out the trash on trash day!  This gives your home a lived in look while you are gone and reduces the chance for burgerlery to your home......as if the dog is not a good enough deterent!  LOL!!

sorry guys, didn't mean to post that twice!

Also something I ask my prospective pet sit clients is this:

Would you take your kids to the HOSPITAL and leave them if you wanted to go out of town?  Then why would you leave your pet at the vet's office?  Your dog is exposed to illnesses and sick animals at the vet just like your kid would be exposed to at the hospital!

Hmmm, I think I would rather have my dog safe and sound in it's home with a "buddy" coming in to visit a couple of times a day!!!!!!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

If you have someone who will stay in your home 24/7, then petsitting might be a good option.  Otherwise the animal is left unattended for too long, and too much can happen.  In fact, during the recent fires in Malibu, 2 dogs died because the pet sitter was not there when the neighborhood was evacuated. 

Sueincc,

I also do overnighters and it is rare that a petsitter will stay at a home 24/7!  They have other sits to do durring the day or they are not going to be able to make a living at it!  Also, most all pet sitters have pets of their own at home to care for too!  I do overnighters but I must go take care of business at home and other sits too!  A boarding kennel can just as easily catch on fire at night when unattended!  Boarding kennels and vet clinics rarely have 24/7 coverage also.  I have worked at both and was a senior vet tech for about 9 years and can tell you of 1 kennel and 0 vet clinics (with the exception of the emergency clinic and they don't board) that have 24/7 coverage!  I do know of a veterinarian that accepts dogs at the clinic for boarding and then kennels them in their garage at their home!  They don't tell their clients this is what they are doing and they have lost at least 4 dogs in the 8 years I have known of them, YIKES!  

I am sure that there have been fires at both types of facilities causing hundreds of pets being killed!  It can happen anywhere and anytime!  At least a dog in it's own home isn't usually caged like at the vet or kennel!  I would think a dog in it's own home stands more of a chance escaping a fire or some other sort of disaster than one that is kept in a imprisioned at the vet or kennel!  And if a person thinks their dogs gets more care at a vet or kennel than it would at home you are kidding yourself and have no clue!  Dogs at a kennel that have indoor/outdoor runs get very little interaction excpet to be shouved outside so that their indoor area can be cleaned and then they get their food thrown in the cage as the kennel tech runs down the isle to get everyone fed and get out of that noise!  Vet clinics usually kennel dogs in smaller cages and the dogs get put outside in runs 2 times a day so that their cages can be cleaned an a new towel thrown in!  The vet and kennel facilities are often under staffed and workers are often overworked!  It really sucks if you are not fast enough to get all the animals out and you end up cleaning tons of cages of poop and pee so as a employee in the vet or kennel you HURRY to get everyone out and you hurry to get yourself out of the unpleasant environment! 

Just call several pet sitters and set up some meet and greet appointments, ask good questions, interview, interview, interview!  Your dog will love you for it!  Just call a few petsitters and talk to them!  Some of my pet sit clients have become some of my best friends!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

That's exactly why I think a dog is safer in a kennel, being supervised 24/7.  I  don't want to leave it to someone who drops in on the dog a couple of times a day.   Personally, I don't want people "interacting" with my dog and I don't think dogs particularly like being messed with by strangers.  Dogs are not human and do not have the same requirements as humans.  While they may be happier at home, they are safer in a secure facility.

Sueincc,

But they are NOT supervised 24/7 at a kennel or vet clinic!  Everyone locks up and goes home about 6:00 and comes back at 7:30 the next morning!  Only 1 rundown kennel in my area has someone there 24/7 and they are 1 of 2 very large kennels I have worked a short time for and the conditions were less than desireable! 

My pet sit dogs also LOVE me!  I am the lady that puts food in their dish!  I am the lady who comes and throws the ball or plays tuy with them!  I am the lady who gets them treats out of the cookie jar!  I am the lady that hangs out on the couch and cuddles them while we watch Animal Planet!  Even the toughest and most agressive of dogs loves me after a couple of visits!!  I am the highlight of their day!!  Now, cats can be another story!  I have had more trouble from cats than anyother type of animal including Peekaboo the 5 foot iguanna!  She is REALLY cool and smart!  Only goes potty on the papers in her walk in enclosure!

Vickie

www.PowerHausKennels.com

I never suggested boarding at a vet, and as a matter of fact I know of a number of boarding kennels that have someone on premises 24/7. 

We are going to have to agree to disagree on this subject.

I'm surprised no one has brought up the behavior of a protection trained dog when a stranger enters the home! I left my dogs home with a friend once, but this was a girl who had handled my dogs for me before, and they knew her very well and liked her. Maybe for an average pet a quality pet sitter is fine, but when you are talking about sport dogs, or protection dogs...thats a completely different story. If a complete stranger walked into my home, or even a person my dogs had met a small handful of times walked in without one of us there...oh, boy. No way.

I suppose it is different in US.  Here it is a legal requirement of the licence conditions that someone lives on the premises of a Boarding Kennel.

Margaret N-J

I live in a room just a wall away from my kennels. I am in and out of the kennel area all day, from 6 am to 10 or even past that (my bathroom requires me to go down that kennel hallway). Many, many kennels do have people in attendance 24/7, but many do not.

The bottom line is that there are some decent pet sitters and there certainly are decent kennels. One need only know how to discern a good one from one that is not. I have NEVER sent a dog home ill or stressed. It does not happen. Why? First of all, I have very stringent health requirements. Secondly, the dogs are outside off and on all day from the time I get up until the time I go to bed. When and where appropriate, they have supervised time with other dogs, but many just go out into the large exercise area alone.  They have large kennels indoors, the walls are not chain link so they are fence fighting all the time, no one is allowed to bark just to bark, they are watched for any type of stool or other problem, they are fed high quality food, they are in an appropriate temperature, the facility is routinely disinfected with top of the line disinfectants and on and on and on.

Like everything else, one must do his/her homework. What works best for one person may not work well for someone else. But if you look carefully, and ask the right questions, one should be able to find a decent kennel. In general, dogs are safer when someone is around.