House sit in rural West Sussex for 2 lovable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

Introduction

We are a fit and youthful retired couple who used to own a niche advertising agency in London. We live in a new eco house built in the grounds of our old pretty listed cottage where our daughter and family now live. We are surrounded by countryside, lovely pubs and hundreds of walks straight from the house - along the Wey-Arun canal and up to the South Downs. We love our new enormous South facing patio & more manageable garden, which has wonderful views over fields one side and treetops into the distance the other. We also have an apiary in the orchard below the garden with hives that produce delicious local honey. We travel a great deal as 2 of our children live abroad - probably 3 or 4 times a year. We have an adorable 4 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Rafa. He is affectionate, loves people and dogs, and is playful and can be cheeky. He has attended dog training classes up to the advanced level, is very quick to learn and loves his sessions. He also does agility training which he adores. We are surrounded by wonderful walks which are on our door step and Rafa walks by the canal twice a day and otherwise has the run of our fenced garden. For some sits our daughter’s almost one year old Cavalier King Charles spaniel will be staying at our home too. His name is Ernie & he & Rafa spend most of their time together while the family is at work/school, so they are the best of friends.

Home & location

Our eco house was built in 2019 in the grounds of our 13th century home which is now lived in by my daughter and family. It is built in a Scandinavian style but with all modern and eco fittings, a huge patio surrounded by garden beds, a fruit and vegetable garden and a large orchard/paddock down the slope from the garden where we have an apiary of 4 - 8 hives, producing quantities of local, delicious honey. The house is surrounded by fields with wonderful views and is opposite a farm that breeds Charolais cattle which graze in the pastures. From the house we can walk miles - along the canal, through woods or as far as the South Downs. You can walk to a pub on the canal... You need a car to get to the local village shop and larger shops further afield. Cranleigh (known as the largest village in England) is 10 minutes away and has shops, garden centre, restaurants, pubs & our vet. There are numerous good pubs very close by. We are about 15 minutes from Horsham town with all its shops, restaurants, theatre and cinema. We are about 25 minutes from Guildford town - a large old market town with cobbled streets and lots of excellent shops, restaurants, leisure centre, cinema, 3 theatres... We are about 25 minutes from Gatwick airport and our nearest train stations are: Billingshurst, 10 minutes drive away and 1 1/2 hours to London Victoria & Guildford, 30 minutes away and many fast trains (30 minutes) to London Waterloo. There are local buses but they do not run very frequently. We are surrounded by beautiful and interesting Sussex villages, towns, stately homes, Arundel castle, Parham house & much more.

Responsibilities

We need people to take care of our beloved young dog - take him for walks, carry on with his obedience training, look after him as if he were their own. He is very lovable and nicely mannered. On some sits our daughter’s one year old Cavalier King Charles spaniel will also be at home & will need looking after too. Ernie & Rafa are great friends. We would also like our house to be taken care of and, depending on the time of year, various things done in the garden - watering, picking fruit & vegetables to use etc. We would particularly like them to keep us updated with how everything is while we are away - especially news of our dogs.