Oh of course its the dogs that should be thought of first
These people offer a 'service' some doing so under hand, which is wrong and not something I agree with just wish people would look into things like this more, after all their trusting these people with their pets, and it will only be the dogs that 'suffer' from mistakes made when choosing a pet sitter.

People tend to think sitters are better, I agree in some cases they are. But such a huge risk, Id never consider it.

We are getting major work done next week in the house and people have told me I am cruel because I have said I am going to book the kittens into the Vets cattery for the day or at most 2 days.

They are going to be breaking up a cast iron bath with sledge hammers and you can imagine the noise. I have agonised over this especially with Ambers not so good beginings but at the end of the day, in the cattery I know they will be safe. Actually I hope the vet will take them as I didnt know until tonight that the work is going ahead + it is a bit short notice for the vets altho when they showed me round the cattery last week they were not busy, only one cat in so hopefully next week will be the same.

The dogs we will take out with us - we have been told to make ourselves scarce as well

A lot of people have a real downer on kennels. My parents are going away in a few weeks so they decided to book their two dogs into kennels and have been to view a few before deciding on a really nice one not far away. So many people though have been horrified by their decision. 'i'd NEVER leave my dogs in kennels' is the usual response. My parents KNOW that Louie will be better in kennels than with a sitter, and Minx will be happy so long as she's with Louie. A lot of people have asked why they didn't choose a sitter. I happen to know some great local sitters (licensed and insured of course!) but Louie would definitely be better in kennels. I don't kennel mine as they aren't boostered, but they have stayed in my friend's own kennels for a couple of nights and were fine.

So many people are led to believe that kennels are bad, so that's why they choose the sitter option. We're lucky in thie area that there are some great sitters around, but it's not always the case. A friend of my Mum's left her dog with a sitter and it was attacked by the resident dog. This sitter was also uninsured, but did foot the vet bill. Until this 'kennels are cruel' attitude disappears though there will be more and more pet sitters cropping up.

I never kennelled Max purely because when we had him we could not afford holidays.

Ollie use to come on holiday with us we always did dog friendly holidays. If he hadn't of been such a wuss with other people we would of happily let him go back to the breeder she use to have many of her dogs back for holidays. She also has 6 acres of land so plenty of space a house set up for seperating dogs and kennels if needed. All her dogs are house dogs.

Plus she is very dog savvy and knows her breed inside out.

I couldn't of left my dogs with anyone I didn't know in their home or mine.

If I have another dog and find myself needing to go away without it I would be looking into reputable kennels.

The poor dogs that have been injured I hope they make a good recovery. Especially the one with OCD.

I'm a bit confused Are you talikng about sitters that come to stay in your home & look after your dogs ~ or sitters that take your dog into their home? And are the licensing & insurance requirements different?

I've never used a sitter & I'm lucky to have some good friends that would always take my dogs in if there was an emergency, or my mum would come to stay. But I have heard horror stories from people who have taken their dogs to stay in someone else's house. I could never contemplate that, especially if the sitter had dogs of their own, or other dogs were staying there ~ far toon risky & upsetting for the dogs.

If I had to use a sitter it would have to be someone who came to stay at my house, with no pets of their own, who looked after my dogs exclusively. They would be vetted to within an inch of their lives, have to come & spend time with my dogs first & get to know them, & I'd need to trust them implicitly ~ I think I'd have a hard time finding anyone!

I have a friend who takes in friends` dogs while they`re away. It`s not a business, she already has multiple dogs and tbh I`d trust her with my own. So it`s not always a disastrous choice.
I`ve left a dog in kennels once and wasn`t happy with the state of her when I picked her up. So a reliable friend or relative would be preferable to strangers for me.

It's a difficult one.
I could never,ever put Tango back into a kennel environment, it would set her back big style, now would Cosmo cope at all well with it. They are ruined, spoilt to death. I am also very aware that bloat is more likely when a dog is stressed and that is something that worries me greatly.
So far, we have taken ours with us when we go away and should we want to go abroad, we will take it in terms to take our son, neither of us are great or enthusiatic travellers and the dogs are our responsibility. That said I would consider getting someone in to look after them.

I have also considered offering to look after local, known dogs. People have been paying a fortune and I know the dogs would be happy with us...but not sure I should now. I would insist that the dog was insured...I have 3rd party liability for my dogs separate to my own insurance anyway...hmmmmmmmm.

Both Wilbar. The ones that come into your home sometimes have insurance that covers them, but nothing more. Its all at your risk not theirs, they usually if at all, only have liability insurance. A very good friend of mine did exactly what you said you would do, in fact she knew her very well, she was a Sheltie exhibitor and my friend trusted her implicitly. Thing was, she only found out she spent most of the day out and almost every night too when her neighbour told her how noisey the dogs were which wasnt like them. She did a check then, caught her a treat!

She is operating illegally though, she should be licensed to "board" other peoples dogs, thats the whole point. If your dogs got out and got killed, got attacked or anything it would be tough!! YOUR problem not theirs! I also did say that genuine pet sitters who are licensed and regulated are sometimes the better option for some animals.

Problem is Ailsa, You should be responsible for those dogs if you take them in, not their owners, its YOUR care they will be under. Im assuming that you would want some sort of payment for your "service?" Then you will be running an illegal business. I actually have a few to inquire about, not just here local to me either. In kennels, their insurance is not touched, ever unless its an existing condition, its our insurance the dogs are covered on, they are our responsibility.

Could i put my 2 cents in?

I totaly understand why its a massive deal to put your dogs in the trust of someone else. I am a pet/house sitter and Dogwalker and I take great care wit my responsibilities. It is a MASSIVE deal looking after someone elses pet let alone there house as well and I have to say that I did think long and hard about adding as a part of my company.

I had insurance etc before I even started charging for dogwalking. (I gave it 3 months no charge to see what the demand was like, lo and behold its pretty big! )

When I house sit I need to be left with full vet details and insurance/vacc card etc. I ask the owner to notify their vet that I will be looking after the dog from xx to xx . I notify MY vet that Im going to be looking after another dog and I always ask owners to leave a in case of emergency number. ( usually a doggy friend or mother). I ask the owner whats the routine is and I stick to it even down to how they leave them eg give them a kong, leave the radio on...

I never take on any dogs that cannot be left for 3hrs + as I have at least 2 walks a day. And if I dont feel like I would be able to cope I turn the job down rather than risk it.

If i house sit and my dog comes with me she is crated and put in a seperate room to the other dog (s) if i ever have to leave her (she comes to work with me normaly but if im popping to the shop i will leave her )and when we move and I take dogs into my own home they will be left in seperate rooms behind dog gates.

In my 2 years (i know it doesnt sound much !!) that ive been doing it I have only ever had one dog on dog incident where 2 boxers had gone for each other while we were out. They had done it twice before in previous years which the owners failed to tell me but it was all surface wounds and every one was ok. Scared the life out of me walking back into that and I havent sat for multi-dog households since bar one minature daxi breeder and her 5 lovely girls.

Amusingly not one of my clients have ever asked to see my insurance details. Even though i bring all my paperwork to my consultations including a consent form (otherwise I have to keep them all on leads!)

I get an awful lot out of my job, and i dont charge very much for house sitting compared to some because its not just about the money (as cheesy as that sounds!)

Please dont tar us all with the same brush!! (mind you Ive met some bloody awful ones! Including one that charged £40 PER DAY basic fee, if you wanted your dog walked or fed you had to pay extra!!!)

EDIT: Just to say, the only person I trust with my dog is my mum! Thats the only place she goes or we go on dog friendly hols!