Dog Sitting in Six Lakes

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.

Not all dog lovers can care for the large breed dogs. You can't just pick them up to fix a problem. And they tend to drool. Betsy was just marvelous with Byron. He likes to get out to walk or ride around in the car. He is a nosy thing. Betsy was able to find his best self. She sent lots of pictures. The house looked the same as we left it. I could not ask for more. We appreciated all she did to allow us to take a vacation without worry.

You are always a little bit nervous to leave the care of your house and pet to a stranger for two weeks but after talking to Reba on the phone.,I knew it would work out. She did an exceptional job house/pet/garden sitting for the two weeks she was here. Her communication was great. She always returned texts promptly and sent us texts with updates on a regular basis. This was our first sitter and Reba showed her experience by guiding us through the process. Our house was well taken care and it was cleaned throughly when we returned. This was much appreciated as we arrived back at 1 am after a long travel day. Our cat was well taken care of also and even warmed up to Reba as Sophia can be a little aloof. We also left the extra responsibility of taking care of our garden. She had to do some watering and with cold temperature, cover it also. Thanks to her for doing this. In conclusion, if you are lucky enough to get Reba to be your sitter. Jump on the opportunity. She was FANTASTIC!!

Skip was great! Very available for communication, sent a couple of kind updates with cute pics of my cat, left the place very tidy, even made up the bed. An all-around happy experience and I'd be delighted to have him back if he wanted!

Brittany was great! I was gone for about a month which is the longest I have been away from my pets. She asked minimal questions and sent me picture updates of the pets throughout my trip which was appreciated. I would certainly welcome her back into my home again to care for my pets.

We could not have asked for better cat and house sitters than Jenn and Ryan! We met them in person before we left for 40 days because that is a long time to be gone away from not only our adorable cat, Wesley, but our home. Our cat literally was sleeping at Jenn's feet by the end of the first hour together during the short "interview visit." They were so great about communicating. In the start of the sit, they asked really great questions and thankfully we had answers for them. They sent us a photo and text surrounding Wesley as soon as they walked into the home. From that point on the communication was efficient, kind, and compassionate. It was evident that though our cat missed us in the beginning, Ryan and Jenn extended so much genuine love and care to Wesley that he was sitting on their work space desk and in their laps once they were in relax mode! Our home was so well-cared for. Very clean upon our arrival back home, including the refrigerator and freezer which could have become a bit untidy after 40 days of two new people using both. The landscaping was watered and our plants overall survived the heat of the summer and the intense wind and rain of tropical stormy Debby that they weathered through here in our home in Tampa, FL. I hope that our cat Wesley and our home continue to enjoy such fantastic care such as the care provided by our most recent housesitters. Jenn and Ryan genuinely seemed to enjoy our home, its spaciousness, and the pool. They never once complained about needing to water so many lovely plants & flowers nor did they hesitate to cover our outdoor furniture to keep it in good condition in spite of the pop-up thunderstorms that we have daily in our area.

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.

Lindsey was great! She left the house clean and organized and no concerns with that. My dog loved her and it went so well he didn’t have any behavior problems when I got back. Would definitely recommend and have her come back in the future.