The Sunday Times April 10, 2022 9Travel Dog special
Hannah’s dog whisperer with Bobby Jean, front rightcountries means you could
have a sitter from Sydney or
Sidcup. Annual membership
costs from £99 a year. Sign up,
add a description of your pets
and your home, and you’ll
receive applications from
sitters who’ll look after them
free of charge. Check you’re
comfortable with them on a
video call and lock in a holiday
for them — and you.
Housesittersuk.co.uk is a
similar site of UK properties
that pushes the zero-rent
perks of house-sitting.
The other option? Word of
mouth. I found Luiza Mataca,
founder of Tesa Doggy Walks
and Care, by chatting with a
stranger I met on a dog walk.
Luiza — the “dog whisperer”
as she’s known by her clients
in East Sussex — specialises in
complex dogs with
behavioural difficulties,
making her the perfect match
for our Romanian rescue.
When I go away I’m sent daily
pictures and videos of Bobby
Jean walking in the woods,
playing with other dogs and
showing her sweetest side.
I now trust Luiza implicitly.
Bobby Jean loves her holidays
— and I can relax on mine.them. I spent many weekends
hosting the aloof Lady Godiva,
a mini dachshund who would
arrive with a Samsonite
suitcase and proceed to spend
36 hours eyeballing me from
my sofa. (She showed her
satisfaction by eating her
breakfast and dinner —
something she wouldn’t do for
other sitters.)
You can also choose to pay
sitters to stay at yours. Laurian
Wright, from London, prefers
this option because her dog,
Farah, feels more comfortable
at home than in new territory.
Plus, she adds, it’s great for
last-minute trips, and her now-
regular sitter brings his own
sleeping bag to use on her bed
“so I don’t have to go through
the regular hassle of changing
the sheets for him”, she says.
Important stuff. Tailster.com is
a similar concept — submit
your info and sitters will get an
alert, replying with quotes if
they can help.
If it’s house-and-dogsitting
you’re after, try
trustedhousesitters.com.
Here, you can find people
willing to travel two miles or
2,000 — the global network
of keen travellers from 130IN THE
DOG
HOUSE
Rebecca Linnell’s retreat for discerning dogsto regular dog-lovers, like me.
As a sitter I racked up the
five-star reviews — and beer
money — by having dozens of
dogs board with me for long
weekends (although one at a
time — my USP). One of them
was Winnie the Slinker, an
Instagram star who has just
launched some luxury dog car
seats (whereswinnie.co.uk).
Sign-up is free for pet
parents and it’s as simple as
booking an Airbnb — tick your
requirements (for example,
“my dog must sleep on a bed”
or “child-free household”)
and you’ll be shown suitable
sitters, their reviews from
other owners and their price.
Overnight stays typically
range from £25 to £45, and you
can arrange a meet-up
beforehand. Once you find
someone you like, hang on toI
have a dream. Or
rather, a recurring
nightmare. I go away on
holiday, leaving my dog,
Bobby Jean, with
someone to look after her.
But they lose her, and she’s
never seen again. Call me
overprotective (my husband
certainly does), but finding
a trusted dogsitter has been
mission critical.
Thousands of us rescued
or bought dogs during the
pandemic, and today there are
more than 12.5 million dog
owners in the UK. But with
overseas holidays finally on
the horizon, our four-legged
family members need a place
to stay. Kennels are one
option, and there are plenty of
good ones about, but with a
dog who has a fondness for
carpets over concrete, who’s
as anxious as she is precious,
I’ve become quite fussy. Even
my family and friends don’t
make the cut.
The first person who did,
though, was Rebecca Linnell,
founder of the Country Dog
Hotel, a posh hotel for dogs
in Somerset. “Owners really
see us as their dog’s second
home,” she tells me. HerFido too fussy for kennels?
Consider a house-sitter, a posh
hotel — or a dog whisperer,
says Hannah Summers
18th-century farmhouse is
kitted out in Farrow & Ball
paint, Soho House cushions
and 100 per cent organic
cotton sheets (dogs can sleep
in the bed or on sofas).
Offering Land Rover pick-up,
a vet-nurse on staff and a spa,
it’s one of the swankiest, most
personalised stays out there.
No surprise then that bookings
have doubled since before the
pandemic, with plenty of
owners happy to pay the
£90-a-day rate — royalty,
Hollywood stars and Harry
Redknapp included.
If you’re concerned
that your dog’s
holiday is costing
more than your
own, try
BorrowMy
Doggy.com, a
dog-sharing
app that will
match you with
borrowers who
look after your dog
(it’s free, although I’d
recommend investing in the
premium plan at £44.99 a year,
which covers you for
insurance and makes the
process easier). Results for me
have been mixed. Pre BobbyJean, I never had much success
borrowing a dog on the site
(too keen and too many
borrowers, I suspect) and
haven’t ventured into it for
sitting (too overprotective,
remember?). But if
budgets are tight, and
your dog (and you)
are relaxed then
it’s great — my
friend who
borrowed a dog
was even
invited to its
owner’s 50th.
On another
site, Rover.com,
you pay someone to
look after your dog, which
adds a reassuring layer
of commitment and
professionalism from the
sitters — they range from
people running it as a businessI’m sent daily
pictures andvideos of
Bobby Jean