Getting your dog ready for your holiday
Walks and home visits, overnight stays or boarding with the walker: how to choose, what to write down and what to sort out before you leave.
Choose the right service
- Walks and home visits: for dogs that sleep well on their own. Plan at least three outings a day: a dog needs to go out several times a day.
- Overnight stays: the walker sleeps at your home. Your dog keeps its home and routine, and is not alone at night. Add walks during the day.
- Boarding with the walker: your dog stays at the walker's home, with company most of the day. Good for dogs that dislike being alone. The profile says whether there are other pets, a garden, and how many households they host at once.
- Kennels: they make sense for dogs that already know them. Fixed hours and lots of dogs around; for an anxious dog, usually the hardest option.
Two weeks before
- Book the walker: in high season (August, Christmas, Easter) the best ones fill up early.
- If the walker offers a first meeting, book it: they meet your dog, the lead and the usual route, and see where everything is. If not, go through these details in messages.
- Vaccinations up to date (rabies is compulsory) and worming done. For boarding and group walks, some walkers also ask for the kennel cough vaccine.
- Check your contact details are up to date on SIAC: if your dog gets lost, the microchip is how it is found.
Your dog's profile
It is what the walker reads before every walk or visit. Write it as if for someone who has never met your dog: the food and the exact amount, at what time, how it reacts to other dogs, bikes and children, whether it pulls, whether it is scared of fireworks or thunder, whether it may go off the lead (only with your written permission) and what must never happen (eating off the ground, chasing pigeons, say). Medication: name, dose, time and how you give it.
The home details
Address and how to get in (gate, lift, code), where the lead, bags and paw towel are, vet with phone number, an emergency contact who is not you. The walker sees these only once the booking is confirmed.
The day before
- Food for every day plus three spare.
- Lead, collar or harness with the ID tag and your phone number.
- Poo bags and the health booklet at hand.
- Keys handed over and marked on the booking page.
- For boarding: the bed or a blanket that smells of home, and a favourite toy.
While you are away
You get a report with photos after every walk, visit or night. For walks you see the route on the map. In your account you see who is with your dog right now and what has been done. If anything worries you, write to the walker through the booking messages.
Frequently asked questions
Will my dog miss me?
Yes, especially in the first days. Keeping meal and walk times the same helps a lot: dogs find their way through routine.
Can the walker take my dog to the beach?
Many beaches allow dogs only outside the bathing season, and each beach's rules are on the council notice at the entrance. Agree it with the walker and check before going. Your dog stays on the lead unless you have given written permission, in a place where the law allows it.
See who is free on your dates
None of these fit? Make an open request and free walkers reply.