Pet Sitting in Elwell

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.

Ed and Laura were great pet-/housesitters! They were organized and communicative. We returned home to a spotless house, thriving plants, and a happy cat.

This was my first experience with zeewoi and I am sold! Andrea excelled at communicating. We met prior to her sit so we could review the house, the pet and everything involved. She kept in touch with me every day I was gone with photos and texts. She even taught my guy to retrieve, something I was never able to accomplish! On my return my boy was clearly well taken care of, as was my house. I would love to have her stay with us 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.

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!

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!!

Christina was great! She is a great communicator and kept us updated on Copper and our house. She went above and beyond when our fridge pipe burst too and made sure the water was turned off, and had towels and buckets around the house until we could get home to take care of it. Would highly recommend her for your pet sitting and housesitting needs!

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.

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.

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.