Dog Sitting

[moorx]

Am I right in thinking that someone on here does dog sitting?

If so, is it in their own home (ie home boarding) and would they mind making themselves known to me for a chat?

I'd like to ask someone who does it what is involved.

Thank you!

Edited by moorx on Monday 14th August 21:55

[condor]

That's probably me
Have been a house sitter/dog walker for the last 7 years - though only in my local area.
I stay in the pet owners house and don't board animals myself - I have looked after a regular dog in my house but it's not something I encourage (indeed I charged £10 extra/night and told the owners that the price increase was to dissuade them from using my house as an option.)

eta - I have mainly carpeted areas in my house and don't have an enclosed fenced garden which is why having dogs to stay is a problem , I have to walk them last thing at night and first thing in the morning). Which is OK - but 11pm walks and 6am walks does need to be charged extra for.

Edited by condor on Monday 14th August 22:11

[moorx]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I'm interested in home boarding rather than house sitting. We have four dogs of our own, as well as pet rabbits, and land to maintain, so staying somewhere else isn't an option. However, we wouldn't actually be using our own house - it's a bit of an odd arrangement because we have two converted barns on our land which we were going to use as holiday lets, but for various reasons we're considering other options. It's occurred to me that it might be possible to use one (or both) as a 'home from home' boarding facility.

This would be for my OH rather than me because I already work full time (and need to to pay the bills )

Obviously, we'd need to look into the planning permission/change of use implications and licencing, etc.

[Equus]

moorx said:

... we have two converted barns on our land which we were going to use as holiday lets, but for various reasons we're considering other options. ...
Obviously, we'd need to look into the planning permission/change of use implications and licencing, etc.

I've just completed the design of a new-build boarding kennels in Lincolnshire, so I can tell you that the Planning and licensing requirements aren't entirely straightforward. There might be more to it than you anticipate, if you do anything taht could be construed as a boarding kennels business rather than just incidental dog-sitting in your own home.

[moorx]

Equus said:

I've just completed the design of a new-build boarding kennels in Lincolnshire, so I can tell you that the Planning and licensing requirements aren't entirely straightforward. There might be more to it than you anticipate, if you do anything taht could be construed as a boarding kennels business rather than just incidental dog-sitting in your own home.

Okay, thank you for the heads-up. We would certainly make enquiries with the council should we decide to pursue this. I share an office with someone who has just set up a boarding kennels with her partner (and who also plans to offer home boarding I believe) so I will also be speaking to her.

[Equus]

The model licensing requirements might be a good place to start, but also be aware that Planning tends to seek a large separation distance from the next domestic dwelling, to minimise the risk of noise nuisance.

[moorx]

Thanks. We sit in the middle of 10 acres of our own land, which is in turn surrounded by further fields, so no near neighbours. There is actually already a boarding kennels down the road, but I don't believe they do home boarding.

[condor]

Doggie day care is popular and the one round here charges £20/day. Perhaps set up a dog agility centre too
With that much land you could also cater for horses/ponies.