You want to go on holiday and enjoy your time away and are thinking about dog sitting and dog home boarding. You don’t want to be worrying about your dog and whether he or she is safe, well looked after, properly fed, getting enough exercise and in the event of them needing veterinary attention, you’ll want to know they’ll get help in a timely fashion and that their carer will be competent enough to spot the signs that they need to see a vet.
So, what are your options? Well, obviously putting your dog into kennels is one such option but this is a route that many people are understandably reluctant to go down. The kennel environment can be stressful for many dogs and indeed some owners say their dogs have never been quite the same after a stay in a busy kennel. Let’s assume therefore you’ve ruled this out and focus instead on the other possibilities – namely a dog sitter (sometimes also known as a house sitter) or a stay in a home boarding environment where your dog goes to live with someone else in their home. What’s the difference? And what are the pluses and minuses of each scenario?
Dog sitting is a term that covers a myriad of different scenarios. Some dog sitters have set themselves up professionally, by which we mean they are insured and have some qualifications in animal management. They may even be licenced by the Local Authority and it’s important that you ask whether they are and what rating they were awarded. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2018, any carer takes on responsibility for the needs and welfare of the dogs in their care. They should therefore be insured and they should be aware of what the needs of the animals in their care are. In reality, many dog sitters may be ignorant of their legal responsibilities.
What does a dog sitter do and what questions should I be asking?
There is no hard and fast rule as to what a dog sitter will do – it’s pretty much up for negotiation on a case by case basis. They will come and live in your house and as a minimum they will sleep there overnight and feed and exercise your dog. Other than these basics, the amount of time they spend in your home and with your dog can vary, as will the cost of their service. Many dog sitters will go off during the day to do other activities – maybe walk other dogs, or do other work such as grooming or even other completely non dog-related things. Others will dedicate themselves to the care and stimulation of your pet all day long. Unsurprisingly, there may be a difference in the fees charged by each type of sitter, based on whether they are able to go off and earn other income as well as look after your dog.
So, it’s crucial that you ask for a clear description of the hours that the dog sitter will be putting in to look after your dog and then ensure that you’re comfortable that these hours will be enough to keep your pet happy and stimulated while you’re away.
The benefit of a dog sitter could be that your dog will be at home in an environment that he/she is more familiar with and this involves potentially less disruption than going to a home boarder. Balanced against this you may like to think whether your dog will be happier amongst other dogs at a home boarding establishment where he/she will be getting social interaction with other people and dogs and where there may be more going on than being left at home 1:1 with a dog sitter in an abnormally quiet house. It’s a personal choice that you, as the owner, need to weigh up carefully based upon your individual circumstances and your dog’s temperament.
A crucial question you must ask of any dog sitter is what their commitment to you is going to be .. at Active Paws we receive frantic phone calls on a regular basis from owners who have been let down by a dog sitter, sometimes only 24 hours before they were due to go on holiday. What would happen if your sitter got Covid? Does the sitter have elderly relatives whose care they have to prioritise over your dog? Are they utterly reliable and guaranteed not to let you down? A dog sitter, operating as a private individual rather than as part of an agency does represent a single point of failure. Do you feel comfortable with that knowing that your hard earned holiday could be at risk?
Finally, there is the all important aspect of safety. What experience does your dog sitter have? Do they have any relevant qualifications? Are you comfortable leaving your dog in their care knowing that if your dog were to escape from them the consequences could be devastating?
A professional dog sitter should be able and willing to provide references – make sure you follow them up!
So how does this compare with Home Boarding?
It’s probably easier if we make some direction comparisons with what we do at Active Paws, as home boarding establishments do vary somewhat.
First of all, it’s important to say that home boarding establishments that make more than £1,000 per year are regulated by law. This means that we have to comply with a raft of requirements that ensure minimum standards of safety, cleanliness, competence to look after animals … the regulations cover everything from the type of fencing (to ensure no escapees!) through to cleaning and disinfection procedures, insurance and the level of qualifications that the staff have. Since 2018, home boarders have been given a star rating so that prospective clients can quickly evaluate the level of experience, facilities and procedures that an establishment is offering. Here at Active Paws, we have been rated Five Star, Higher Standard since the introduction of the legislation – giving a huge level of comfort and peace of mind to our customers (check out our google reviews as well!)
We employ a number of highly trained staff, all of whom operate to our rigorous standards and procedures which are laid down in writing and inspected by Buckinghamshire Council. This means that apart from the peace of mind knowing that your dog is being cared for by a professional team, you can also rest assured that there is no single point of failure .. so your holiday is not at risk!
A big part of the new regulations that came in in 2018 was enrichment – essentially, ensuring that all dogs that come are stimulated mentally and physically (as well as given plenty of rest and down time). So, with a home boarding arrangement there is no need to worry whether your dog is being left alone for big parts of the day while the dog sitter goes off to do other things – your pet will be busy making friends, enjoying social interaction with other dogs and humans and will hopefully not even notice that you’re not there!
We are extremely fortunate to have 15 acres of our own land on which to exercise our dogs. We can choose from dog proof paddocks with agility equipment and other interesting features for them to explore and also lead walks in our private woodland with a wealth of sniffing opportunities that provide plenty of sensory stimulation. This means we never go off site or risk encountering other dogs who may be off lead and not so friendly. Again, it’s another factor in the “peace of mind” equation!
Daycare is a prerequisite for home boarding
There is one proviso – at least at Active Paws – we only offer home boarding to dogs that visit us for regular weekly doggy daycare, at least once per week. Why?? Well, even for the most chilled dogs, being left somewhere strange for two weeks once or twice a year can be an unsettling experience. It’s not reasonable to expect a dog to adjust to an environment they’re not used to overnight and often it results in them being either over-excited, or timid (depending on their temperament) and this may manifest itself in undesirable behaviour such as excessive barking, or whining in the night, or going off their food for a period. We find these behaviours disappear when we host dogs for boarding that come to us for daycare on a regular basis.
So there is plenty to think about when you plan your dog’s holiday while you have yours. Since the pandemic more families own dogs and the pressure on vets, groomers, walkers, dog sitters and home boarders has increased due to the demand. We find our places get booked up heavily in advance (sometimes a year or more) and therefore doing your research well ahead of needing to book is well advised.
If we can help you navigate the decision please feel free to call us. We do only accept certain breeds and we assess dogs according to their temperament, energy levels and suitability to board with other dogs in our home so please bear in mind that there are some hurdles … also male dogs older than 12 months must be neutered. We are happy to show you around and explain our ethos and what we do .. give us a call!
