We looked after a dog like that in Zurich, a PWD. He lived in the mountains so loads of long walks with picnics for all of us. We also. work from home so tonnes of company, we had family nearby so he hung out with them too, and we generally walk a lot so he came everywhere with us & in the car too, so we all had a fab time! In Edinburgh you should have no trouble finding a sitter @Loobyloo & you’re being honest and upfront so that’s the best start. #prettysureitwillallworkout
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Being dog friendly makes a HUGE difference. I personally like to keep the dog with me most of the time anyway, taking them out to cafes, etc with me. As long as there was someone around so I could do a shop and have the occasional time out sans puppo I’d be fine with that.
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If so, you’d benefit from making that clear in your listing, because it would widen your pool of applicants.
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Not each day, no. It would help if the sitter could have a minimum of 4 hours now and then to just have a break, anything less and they’ll feel rushed to do food shopping, and visit a cafe or have a meal etc, and they won’t feel like they’ve had time off at all. Preferably much longer though, 6 hours and they can do site seeing and totally relax. How often depends on your sitters really, they may be working remotely, so maybe one day per week is fine for them, with others they may have wanted to do the site seeing thing in Edinburgh so a couple of days per week would help.
The fact Mabel will happily go to cafes and pubs would make all the difference to sitters. That’s definitely something you should mention in your profile.
20 minutes from Edinburgh in any direction is pretty so your location is great (we’re from Durham).
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Agreed.
@Loobyloo, be explicit about her SA in your profile and also call out that she can go places with the sitter just fine.
It may also be worth calling out that this would be good for (and you’d be open to) a couple or group so that they can take turns staying home.
If you’re in a desired location as well, you will probably still get a good number of apps. A lot of ppl love being able to take dogs with them and get the full experience.
I’d suggest that @Loobyloo should be even more explicit and detail in her listing whether the dog also needs physical proximity in the home. We looked after a dog who had chronic separation anxiety so it wasn’t just about not being able to leave her in the home for any period of time, it meant not leaving her in a room by herself and she had to sleep in the same room as us. These are things which sitters should be made aware of, to make an informed choice.
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I sat for a dog like this. It’s been a while, but I think it was about a week and a half. I knew upfront what I was getting into and the homeowner had made arrangements with a doggy daycare so that I could drop the dog off there while I ran errands or explored. The area was very dog friendly, and I was able to take him to Cafés and all that stuff. It was actually very lovely sit! He was a great dog that had some trauma from his previous owner’s neglect. I would happily sit for him again!!!
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That’s great! I guess might’ve been different if it were for four weeks though?
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It might make a difference to some people. I would’ve been OK with that long. I knew in advance before I agreed to the sit and that was a big deal. The homeowner had relief set up for me whenever I wanted. I just needed to plan ahead. Not a big deal for me, I’m a planner!
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@Loobyloo this week (for the next 3 days) you can ask the question in the Forum to the advisory vet Marc who has had a long time involvement with THS.
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@Loobyloo
You need to be totally honest about your dogs anxiety issues in your profile, which looking at the way you type on here you will do.
Things such as if your dog will need to sleep (or not) with the sitter. Will the sitter be able to leave the dog at home alone at all etc.
I’ve just finished a sit where the dogs anxiety had not been mentioned in the words of type by the owner on the profile or online welcome guide.
Quite frankly I became quite concerned one evening on how the dog was, I thought he was ill. A text later, the owner said it was normal due to his anxiety.
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For anyone who’s interested, I have just confirmed a sitter who is open to being with my anxious dog for a four week booking! I was honest upfront about the situation. I had six applications, and I asked all of them if they had thoroughly read the information in my profile about sitting for a dog with separation anxiety/not being able to leave her alone – and all but one had and were more than happy with it. So it would seem there is a sitter out there for everyone!
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Thats wonderful news @Loobyloo
Good luck 
Great to hear @Loobyloo ! Good communication is key. Best of luck.
@Loobyloo that’s great news for your, your dog and your sitters .
Thank you for coming back to update forum members .