Anyone used those home from home dog sitters or are you one?

[BurningBridges]

I've seen an advert asking for people to sit dogs in their own homes (sitters home not dog home) paying around £100 a week. Seems like something we'd like, we love dogs, our very nervous and fussy boy died 8 weeks ago we miss having a dog but can't get another one till much later in year maybe even january. So are these agencies reputable, is it asking for trouble or is it a nice service you can provide to dog lovers (and also earn some money) if you are aware of possible pitfalls (I imagine you get a lot of wee-ing pooing and chewing) - ?

[KatharineClifton]

Yes, I have a local dog sitter who I take my dogs too. She is great and an ex-vet nurse. £5 per day per dog. I found her by asking for recommendations on a local FB selling page - she doesn't advertise.

[KatharineClifton]

Ah, reread and realise you are asking from the other side. I have no idea. Nobody round here would pay £100 per week - have to assume you live in a very different area

[basildonbond]

Goodness! £100 for home boarding sounds like a bargain to me - a week round here (London) is £200+

[TedGlen]

I looked into this recently to use for our dog. It seems like a great service, the one I contacted charge £18 per day. I don't know how much of that goes to the sitter, and how much to the franchise owner/organiser.

[CMOTDibbler]

£100 a week for home boarding sounds like a bargain to me too - I pay £28 a day.

If you fancy doing it, then why not put a card up in a local shop and see if anyone enquires?

[ggirl]

I would use one , luckily have a mate who'll take my dog. I would expect to pay £15-20/day as thats the avg round here ,live on south coast area.

[ggirl]

my friend use to do it , not with agency tho. She realised quite quickly she needed to vet the dogs behaviour prior to allowing them to stay . Don't remember how she did this actually , but think she eventually had a core of dogs she cared for . Some she refused to have back .

[TedGlen]

Also, they seemed very keen that the dog and the sitter were well matched. For example, our dog sleeps in our bedroom so they selected possible sitters who would accommodate that. They also asked about chewing, how he walked on the lead, how he is with children and other animals etc. I suppose all of this helps both the dog and the sitters have a good experience. I'd be tempted to do it if we didn't have a dog of our own.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

I would much prefer my girl went to a home sitter than kennels. Kennels is circa £15 a day here (East of England) so I would happily pay £100 a week for home sitting. I don't use an agency but do use a local lady who I found via an advert in our village magazine, I also use this lady to walk my dog when I am on a long day at work. Our dog really likes her walks with the walker as she's a social dog who loves the company of other dogs but hates kennel settings.

[basildonbond]

I wouldn't use an agency but do use the home boarding service offered by my dog's regular walker. Ddog's always delighted to see him so I have no qualms about him staying over. I wouldn't feel happy about him going to someone he didn't know

[BurningBridges]

Thanks everyone. Apparently this agency checks every dog carefully, there's a big list of what is and isn't acceptable - Ted it sounds like the same agency.

I would prefer to use an intermediary for insurance and vetting process etc., also so that if the dog is aggressive/ill whatever and needs his owners back, I would have access to free back up. But overall looks like a fairly positive response to dog sitting, whether through an agent or independently.

[frostyfingers]

We were hosts for Barking Mad for a while - it felt well organised and was fine to be involved with, but you won't get rich!

[TooMuchRain]

I wouldn't use an agency either but the regular walker used to take our dog to stay with her, it was between £12-£15 for an overnight stay. We moved since and really struggling to find an equally good dog-walker.