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Okay, so you took your doggie baby for a (hopefully) free trial at a nice kennel such as Happy Trails in Georgetown, Texas and the manager reports that your dog cried, howled, and shook all day long rather than having a great time playing with others?  Remember that dogs can't speak like you and I, so it's extremely important to pay attention to their body language. 

Perhaps your baby is best boarded at home because the kennel experience makes him unhappy or stressed and perhaps you are willing to do this for him.  What do you need to know?

Remember that in hiring a pet sitter you will be allowing a relative stranger into your home to care for what may be the most precious people in your life, your dogs. Since the pet sitter will have access to your home, she will also have access to your valuables. 

 

Again, this requires some rather serious due dilligence.  On your first meeting with your prospective pet sitter, you should be seriously interrogated by her just as if you were dropping your dog off at a kennel.  The pet sitter needs to know what your dogs are like on a leash, where you walk them, how you feed them, what you feed them, and any medications they need.  The pet sitter should come prepared with pre-printed forms and she should get all of this information written down before she commits to sit your dogs.  She will want to meet your dogs and be certain that they like her.

Most pet sitters will want their entire payment upfront and this will likely be hundreds of dollars for two to three visits a day and a trip that doesn't exceed one week's time.  Try to negotiate a payment plan of half upfront, then half when you get home from your trip and see what kind of condition your home is in.  If your carpet has been completely destroyed by urine and it appears that your pet sitter didn't really make visits to your home, you may not want to pay the remaining balance.

One technique I've used to protect my flooring from doggie accidents while using a pet sitter is to block off portions of my home by shutting doors or using pet gates.  Then, using several large containers of puppy training pads and packaging tape, I completely cover the floor with pet training pads.  This can be quite time consuming, but it is well worth it.

It truly will save your carpets from accidents caused by pet sitters that got a little too busy to make all of the promised visits or stressed out doggies that have an accident because their pet parent is missing.  An alternative technique is to simply kennel your dog in your home while the pet sitter is away, but this may lead to an unhappy, howling dog and some very unhappy neighbors!

If you will be using a pet sitter, she will need a key to your home unless you intend to have a neighbor let her in two to three times a day.  In order to protect your dogs and protect your valuables you should at least consider finding the website in your county where arrest records are filed.  Most counties now have these public records accessible via the internet.

 

For example, in Williamson County where Happy Trails is located, the website you should visit to determine if someone has an arrest record is http://judicialrecords.wilco.org/default.aspx.  You should visit your county's website and input your petsitter's name to determine if she has any criminal history before giving her a key to your home.  If she does have a criminal history, perhaps you should find another pet sitter.  Even if your pet sitter does not have a criminal history, you should lock your valuables up before giving her a key.  You might use a filing cabinet or a big, heavy safe.

When you return from your trip, you face the decision of whether or not to re-key your lock.  A good pet sitter will either return your key to you or store it in a safe until the next time you use her.  However, the safest approach might be to just re-key your lock when you return from your trip.  It's not too expensive, just call a locksmith.