| When the time comes for the annual holiday travel | | | | home board your pet was a laborious search through |
| season more and more pet owners are looking for | | | | classified listings or by word of mouth a greater and |
| alternatives to the traditional kennel boarding services. | | | | greater number of pet sitting services will arrange a |
| Many dog and cat owners are willing to go the extra | | | | home board for your dog or cat for a small fee. The |
| mile if it means their furry friends are kept in a | | | | convenience of such services is great, especially |
| comfortable and caring environment. Pet hotels and | | | | when you consider the number of precautionary |
| even doggy holiday resorts are becoming more and | | | | steps the pet sitting service might offer. For |
| more popular and many offer a level of luxury to | | | | example, a pet owner might not have the time to |
| pets that exceeds what the owners themselves | | | | interview perspective sitters and or inspect the |
| enjoy while away. Posh suites with inclusive grooming | | | | homes their pets will be staying in. Pet sitting services |
| care, private runs and gourmet pet food are only a | | | | maintain an up to date list of prospective sitters and |
| few of the perks available for those pets whose | | | | will pre-screen both the sitter and their home on the |
| owners are willing to pay the right price. However | | | | owner's behalf. Pet sitters are chosen for their love |
| more and more owners are taking a different route, | | | | of animals and trustworthy level of responsibility. |
| choosing to not board their dogs and cats in boarding | | | | Homes are judged based on their comfort, cleanliness |
| centers - irrespective of how posh the facilities which | | | | and appropriate facilities based on the pets to be |
| are available - instead many owners select the | | | | boarded (E.G. Many services insist those boarding |
| relatively new, yet fairly simple concept of home | | | | dogs have a fenced outdoor area for the dog to |
| boarding. | | | | exercise in safely.) |
| Home boarding is as straightforward as it sounds. | | | | Another benefit of choosing a pet sitter through a |
| Dogs and cats, instead of being placed in cages at a | | | | service is insurance. Most reputable pet sitting service |
| boarding facility are temporarily relocated to a pet | | | | providers will offer some sort of insurance protection |
| sitter's home. The dogs are placed in a loving, family | | | | which can benefit both the pet sitter and the pet |
| environment which is best suited to maintaining the | | | | owner. Should your pet accidentally cause any |
| pet's regular routine. Dogs are walked, played with | | | | damage to the pet sitter's home it's re-assuring to |
| and fed according to the specifications of the owner. | | | | know it will be covered by insurance. Also, many pet |
| Satisfied owners insist the personalized and loving | | | | sitting services make arrangements between pet |
| attention dogs receive through home boarding helps | | | | sitters and local veterinarians to make sure an injured |
| the animals maintain a calm and relaxed attitude while | | | | or sick pet will be cared for immediately and by a |
| their owners are away. The feeling is that pets home | | | | competent professional, which is sure to provide |
| boarded end up happier and healthier, both while the | | | | even more peace of mind for pet owners on holiday. |
| owner is away and after he or she comes back. | | | | Published dog care expert and long time proponent |
| Dogs kept in boarding facilities are often walked | | | | of home Dog Boarding Newcastle resident Arlen |
| infrequently, spending many hours a day alone in a | | | | Tooscombe, summed up the home boarding |
| small room or plastic cage. Home-boarded dogs live in | | | | philosophy in his book Stay, Good Boy thusly, "We |
| the company of their sitter and are hardly ever left | | | | would never put our children in a cage or hotel room |
| alone. Home boarding proponents and sitters like to | | | | for a week only to convenience ourselves, why do |
| stress that although the animal's stay with them is | | | | so many feel it is right to do it to our furred and |
| temporary the pets are treated as though they are | | | | feathered friends. These are our companions. We |
| part of the pet sitter's household, and cared for with | | | | appreciate their companionship and they appreciate |
| the same amount of love and kindness as the sitter's | | | | ours. Why not allow them some caring companionship |
| own pets. | | | | when we can't be with them? It is not so much a |
| Although the original method of finding someone to | | | | treat, as a responsibility. |