Dog Sitting in Norton Shores

Shauna and Craig kept in touch every day with pictures of kitties and how they were doing even though no expectation was set for an update, so they did that of their own accord. They were easy to communicate with and very friendly. House was immaculate when we returned and one of our kitties sheds a lot. They even left us a little gift. We would love to have them return again!

Shirley left eveything as she found it. The cats seemed to do well while we were away.

Dawn and Greg were the perfect sitters from the start. We had a great FaceTime with them since they were coming from a different time zone, which immediately put us at ease! We ran into a bit of an issue night one (our fault) and they were flexible, adaptable and SO gracious! Dawn was great about communicating with us, sending pictures and keeping us apprised of how our kitties were doing. We would gladly have Dawn and Greg again.

I felt at ease leaving my fur kids with Emerson. I hope to have her back!

Elizabeth was fantastic and we would absolutely have her again. She is a great communicator, checked with us if she wasn't sure, took good care of Lulu, and was overall wonderful.

I would higly recommend Rachel for pet sitting. She took great care of my elderly, highly social cat, who needs extra love and attention in addition to requiring daily medicine in her ears. She handled everything beautifully and sent me great updates throughout the week. I'd definitely invite her to sit for me again!

We were lucky enough to have Dede sit our house and yellow lab for a little more than two weeks. She treated our house as if it were her own and did an outstanding job looking after our three year old yellow lab, providing the requisite exercise for her, as well as the love and attention she so craves. Our home was spotless upon our return with everything in order and although our pup was happy to see us, she may have been a little sad to see Dede go. We would reccomend Dede, with our highest praise, to anyone who is seeking a responsible, caring, communicative and considerate sitter, you will not be disappointed!

When we select a sitter, we read every review in addition to conducting some sort of video interview. We really rely upon the experiences of past hosts, so that’s why I believe it important to be honest in this review. I love giving out 5 star reviews and do quite frequently, but I also need to share any less-than-positive experiences as well for those hosts who rely upon reviews such as we do. As such, I’m a bit ambivalent about writing this review of Katie, as there were some really good things Katie did while here. She is a lovely, energetic woman who responded immediately to the concerns I voiced to her during the time she watched our pets; however, the “negatives” we experienced speak to the heart of the importance of having a dedicated pet sitter. For the most part, our home was left tidy and neat – which is no small feat as ours is a large house and I appreciate the care Katie took in ensuring we walked into a clean home. That said, Katie failed to notice my dogs had urinated in both of their dog beds and on the floor of our downstairs office, which we believed happened in the first part of the sit and resulted in the downstairs smelling of stale urine. Further, because she didn’t notice the urine, my pets, when downstairs, had to either sleep on the bare floor or in wet beds, neither of which is a satisfactory option. Also, my dogs don’t generally urinate in the house as they have access to a doggie door, and this seemed more a sign of their distress or discomfort. I believe this incident was part of a larger problem I experienced with Katie and that was in the manner in which she approached this sit. I advertised dates of July 6 – July 22. We generally ask our sitters to come in a day or two early as to walk them through the schedule for both our animals and our many plants, as well as to give them time to get to know the animals and experience a little of the town we live in. We also provide a very detailed introduction and welcome guide which outlines our expectations. Katie came in late in the day on the 7th, without personal transportation, which necessitated us picking her up and then my neighbor taking her to a rental cart company the next day because we left very early on the morning of the 8th. This abbreviated introductory time didn’t allow us to fully prepare Katie for the sit and allowed for some apparent “misunderstandings.” The “issue” for me was for the first five days of our 13-day trip, Katie was away from the house for up to 13 hours at a time – leaving our two, older rescue dogs, who have some separation anxiety - alone and with an extended time between meals. It was clear Katie was using this opportunity to visit many of the beautiful areas which surround where we live – hence using our home as more of an Airbnb to vacation – than a house sit dedicated to caring for our animals. Our dogs are fine with being alone for up to six hours but even that, for multiple days in a row, is, frankly, distressing to our animals and to us, as owners. To Katie’s credit, when I called and brought her daily, extended time away to her attention and reiterated my wishes the dogs not be left for more than 6 hours, she changed her schedule and while still gone every day, capped her time away at six hours. And, as I said, she is cheerful and responsive; hence, the ambivalence is positing my concerns with this sit. I think if Katie is provided with very clear expectations prior to the sit and understands exactly what is needed and expected, she will absolutely deliver. For whatever reason, from the start, this sit was rushed, there appeared to be too many misunderstandings, and it ended up being frustrating for us in ways other sits have not been.

From a pet sitting aspect we were not unsatisfied with Sara. Our dogs seemed happy and our chickens were also tended to well. However, from a house sit I will say we were disappointed with a few things. There was a bad storm the day before we left and we requested some photos of the damage to our property that was done. I asked multiple times and never received what I asked for after saying she would send it. We also agreed to daily updates in form of text or pictures of the animals and I did go the first couple days without reliable communication which didn’t sit well with me. As for the state of the house upon return, while it was mostly clean, one of our curtain rods was ripped from the wall. I wouldn’t have been upset had we just been notified of the repair that needed to be done but she never even told us that she broke anything in the house it was just left. She also very clearly rummaged through our drawers and took brand new unopened toiletries from areas that we did not specify she could use and she never reached out asking if it would be ok to take.

I have been unsure what rating to give Kristiane. There were a few things I was upset about, but while considering her other reviews, it seems to be an anomaly. She mostly apologized and took responsibility for things she did wrong. She provided good pet care and seemed to enjoy her stay here. I couldn't quite tell if the missteps were her normal character, or if it was because she was going through a hectic period in life. TLDR: She disappointed me at the beginning of the trip, but her pet care was good. She scared me that she gave the pill to the wrong cat. I returned to a dirty home, including literal broken glass, but she went above and beyond in other areas. I'll start by saying we had a pleasant video call and were in fairly constant communication for about a week before my trip. She contacted me probably every day, asking for various details, usually with long voice memos. She appeared to be a good & thorough communicator. I had shifted my departure to the night before instead of the morning of and had explained that my cats would be ok alone overnight, but my cat Willow gets a pill every morning and I would love for her to get her pill ASAP. Kristiane had said she could get there around noon the morning of, which I was fine with. I had said that noon would be pushing it pill-wise, but as long as it isn't much later, that is ok. Because I received constant communication with her leading up to the start of the trip, I was shocked when I didn't hear from her at all the day the sit began, even a "on my way" text. I tried texting and calling her to no avail. I was getting worried that something had happened and I had no way of finding out. At this point, I started to panic a bit because my cat needs her medication. I contacted zeewoi support asking for help. I heard from Kristiane around 2pm. She had chalked it up to having a very busy/hectic morning and said she still had about 2 hours left on her drive (so, 4 hours later than she originally said). I ended up getting a Rover sitter to check in on my cats, feed them, and pill Willow ASAP, which Kristiane offered to reimburse me for. I was thankful she reimbursed me but was confused about how there was so much miscommunication when I thought I had clear expectations. I try to be clear with my expectations of my sitters while still being flexible for normal life mishaps. I would have been less upset if she had notified me of her real ETA when she left (it was about a 4-hour drive) instead of leaving me in the dark. It was not responsible or reliable. Once she arrives, my anxiety is lessened. Things seem to be going well. The next morning, however, she tells me she gave Cherry a pill. Cherry does not get a pill, only Willow does. I have this explicitly stated in multiple places, including my printed-out instructions and the pill bottle itself. Turns out, she got the cats' names wrong. She pilled the correct cat, somehow. Kristiane is an overcommunicator. She sent me several voice memos every morning, sometimes totaling about 10 minutes long. While I appreciate daily updates and don't mind chatting here and there, I am on vacation, and it became annoying to have to leave my friends to listen to the memos. A balance needs to be found. I returned to a dirty home. I spent the first 2 hours after arriving deep-cleaning everything. She broke a glass while she was here (which I ultimately don't care about materialistically) and did not clean it up well. I found about 10 large chunks of glass within reach of my cats. I found out about this mess because my cat was literally playing with a chunk of glass. Every surface Kristiane touched was dirty, smudged, or sticky. There were so many drips and spills and stains, that I was confused about how she managed to make such a mess. However, the litter was done perfectly. All the dishes were washed. Trash was taken out. She did ALL my laundry, including the bedspread (which I don't ask sitters to do). She left me small gifts of tea, chocolate, and ice cream. All of this is to say that it seems her heart is in the right place, but she may need some help with following through. I am wondering if her past 5 star reviews were because she used to sit with her former partner. Maybe that person was the "cleaner" of the two. She was solo this time, apart from a friend visiting and staying with her for one night. I hope my thorough review is good feedback for Kristiane so she can become a better sitter. I feel bad about leaving a complaining review, but I know it is important to have honesty in these reviews so we can all learn for the future.