A Tale of Dog Sitters

By Becky Turner

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As many of you know, Pete and I reside in the north of New Zealand, a beautiful part of the world with more natural scenery than you can shake a stick at. The only downside of living here - is that my family doesn't.

Back in the UK (literally on the other side of the world) I have my parents (and their dog Toby) and my two brothers and their girlfriends. I miss them all very much.

So every couple of years we travel back to London to see them. It's a huge trip, taking about 30 hours of non-stop travel door-to-door. The most painful reality of this is that we have to leave our Shelties behind - usually for a whole month.

So what do you do with your furbabies when you have to go away for so long?

A Tale of Dog Sitting (Note: This article is not about the intricacies of how a dog sits down)

This year we stumbled onto the idea of dog sitters. Rather than forcing our pooches onto unsuspecting family (who have their own dogs, jobs, grandchildren, etc, to take care of) we thought: why not get someone to come and live in our house and take care of our dogs in a way that suits their normal routine?

The big plus is that dog sitters are free. It's a mutually beneficial deal in which they get free accommodation and a nice vacation with some animals - and you get to go away knowing your pets are facing minimal disruption while you're gone.

How to Find a Good Dog Sitter

A quick search on Google revealed a number of dog sitter / house sitter / pet sitter websites. We used HouseCarers.com. It was free to post an ad detailing our house, our dog sitting requirements, and the dates we'd be away.

Within 24 hours we were overwhelmed with two dozen responses - all from lovely sounding people who were really keen to house sit for a month, despite it being in the middle of winter! (Did they realize July is wintertime down under?)

In the end, although we had people applying from all over the world, we settled on a retired New Zealand couple. Admittedly, we were biased. We wanted local sitters who would be committed to spending time with the dogs - and not leaving them home alone all day because they were out and about being tourists...

All applicants pay to be a member of that website, and receive public feedback which counts towards their reputation. This really minimizes the risks involved with picking total strangers to perform your house sit.

We spoke to our dog sitters, Stan and Raewyn, on the phone beforehand and read up about their lives on their blog, Campervan Stan. They seemed really sweet and caring and trustworthy - and this definitely showed when we met in person.

Finally, the date came around and it was time for us to leave for the UK.

Although saying goodbye to the dogs was hard, it was that much easier knowing they got to stay in their own home with these lovely people. The last thing we wanted was for Howard or Piper to feel we had abandoned them or sent them off with a different pack! I really don't think they were stressed out by it at all.

Dog Correspondence

Stan and Raewyn were great - not only did they take the boys for long walks virtually every day (and the weather got rotten) they also sent us loads of photos via email.

This definitely eased our worries and helped us feel like we were in touch with the Shelties even while we weren't there.

Here are a few of the pics that popped into our inbox...

Raewyn and The Shelties Enjoying Some Winter Sun on Omaha Beach

Stan and Howard Get Cozy... Bed-Hogging: That's SO Howard!

Posers: Piper and Howard Looking Well-Groomed

Piper Licking His Lips. The Smoking Gun of a Yummy Treat!

Shelties Being Adorable! Photo Courtesy of Al Armiger

Peeping Piper! Photo Courtesy of Al Armiger

Thank so much to Stan and his brother Al Armiger for all these photos!

This is just one aspect of what made our dog sitting experience so positive.

A Sheltie Reunion

On our way home, we were counting down the hours until we were reunited with the Shelties. When we finally walked through the garden gate, Howard and Piper both came rushing out to greet us...

There was a moment of uncertainty as Piper had to stop and decide who we were! Then it was barking and jumping all round :)

Soon after, it was Stan and Raewyn's turn to say goodbye to their new friends. They said they are so in love with our dogs, they have decided to get a Sheltie puppy.

Another win for Sheltiekind!

Hopefully they'll find a home locally so they can stay in touch and get to see Howard and Piper again. After four years of campervanning and dog sitting around New Zealand it's time to settle down with a Sheltie of their own.

So even though it was tough leaving our pets behind, it's kinda cool that someone else got to enjoy them while we were gone. See, they ARE that awesome :)

And I know that our boys had a great time while we were away - they certainly got plenty of attention and exercise and made some great new friends.

Many Sheltie Planet readers have said they couldn't bear the thought of leaving their furbabies behind for a few days, let alone for a whole month.

Take it from us - with the right dog sitters, it isn't the dreaded experience it's cracked up to be.

Plus you get a brilliant welcome home at the end of it :)