To consider an au pair for my dog?

[Newbi]

I’ve been wondering this for a while... I have a spare room and a dog that I spend a significant amount of money sending to daycare. Would having an au pair work better? Is this madness?

I know someone that does in fact have a doggy au pair and she loves it

@Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Maybe your dog could learn a lot about another culture and learn a second language?

Actually I think it’s a rather brilliant idea. My DDog wouldn’t enjoy day care and hates to be alone in the house. I pay local teenagers to sit with him and watch Netflix when we go out!

Xoxoxoxoxoxox
Maybe your dog could learn a lot about another culture and learn a second language?

😂🐾😂🐾😂🐾😂🐾😂🐾

This is genius!! Free lodgings and a doggo to play with? When single I would absolutely loved it. With so many people now working from home they will have to form an orderly queue.

@catwithflowers

Xoxoxoxoxoxox Maybe your dog could learn a lot about another culture and learn a second language?

😂🐾😂🐾😂🐾😂🐾😂🐾

Polish-speaking dog:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8458184.stm

I really wish this were a thing... it is cheaper than daycare, it would benefit my separation anxiety clients SO much (and yeah, many of them have a spare room!).... Make it be a thing!

Umm, you do know that we need a photo of said dog

That’s a great gig for a potential au pair - dog sitting rather than child care!

Why not if you are able to and can find someone willing to come to the UK (or UK person wanting to move out of wherever they live I guess).

Im imagining this 😍

Yeah I was looking for this too. But instead just got a standard lodger and use that money for doggy daycare. My dog loves walks with his friends and playtime.

Great idea, especially if you want your dog to pick up a smattering of a foreign language.
Do be careful though because of the accent e.g. sit = asseoir but shit = merde.

What a genius idea, OP love it. It's like a dream job, way more fun than looking after kids make sure you offer the job to someone who actually loves dogs though

@powershowerforanhour

My daughter would have bitten your hand off for a job like this

What a dreadful role model for the dog. No wonder she never got offered a dog au pair job.

I am actually crying

I want to be an au paw!

I used to be an au pair.

The family had a dog. Sometimes they went away and left me with the dog. Every day I walked the dog. Now I realise I was just a glorified dog sitter. They didn't actually need me for child care at all. I didn't speak a word of the language when I arrived, but it didn't take long to learn "sit" in German. I was a D'oh pair.

@FunTimes2020

I want to be an au paw!

Well done.

I used to pay my sister to feed and play with my cats whenever I went on holiday.

@GoldfishParade

Haha I will be doing something similar for my cat in a few months time. I'm going to be offering 50% off the rent for a fellow crazy cat lady to live with me and make sure that one week a month shes home to pander to the cat!

That would be heaven for me.

Does someone need to be with the cat 24/7 that week or is normal working ok since cats spend a lot of time asleep and don't care if someone is present all the time (well, my ragdoll likes to be in the same room as a person all the time so is needier than an average moggy but even she copes with being left alone).

Sounds like an amazing job

My friend actually took on a Welsh speaking elderly dog when her friend went on a round the world boat trip. She had to learn all of the commands in Welsh so the damn dog understood her.

It was an awkward sod of a border collie. As well as only understanding Welsh it was ancient (15 or so. she only took it on to save it from being PTS when the friend went away as it was otherwise rehomable) it was selectively deaf, half blind, arthritic, dribbled urine and had a chronic cough and kidney disease. It would run up and down hilld with ease but then act pathetic when it came to coming in the back door and just stop dead and demand to be lifted inside.

Why have you got a dog???

Love the idea of a dog au pair. Ddog would love it as they love human company and not so keen on other dogs. This would have been my dream job when single and no ties.

And to the poster who said an au pair needs children, ddog is one of my children, I'm ddogs adoptive mum

I provide ad hoc dog sitting services and dog holidays at my house with my own three small pooches. I wfh and have regular dogs stay for anything up to 3 weeks at a time. I've had several offers to dog sit in owners houses whilst they are on holiday but it's easier to have the dog with me due to my own pack. The Doggie Au Pair idea sounds unique though, definitely a gap in the market.

Do you live near a University? If so advertise for a student to board free in return for dog walking and dog company and will receive small wage for few hours of cleaning. You will have queues wanting the job OP. My dd would have loved a PT job like that when she was a student. She missed her dog so much she would talk to her down the phone.

You need to pay minimum wage.
An au pair can’t be from the Uk they are young people who come here to learn the language and you supply board and lodgings plus pocket money.

@Quinn1964

Why have you got a dog???

The same reason most people have a dog I'm guessing.