New Babysitting Service for Dogs; Trust Required

You’re about to go on vacation, ready for some much-needed rest. Everything is packed. Tickets are picked up and hotel accommodations are arranged. The only thing that’s left: the mutt.

DogVacay is a website that connects dog owners to local hosts, and local hosts to dog owners. So instead of putting Buddy in that sketchy kennel with hundreds of other dogs or asking that same neighbor who you’ve bothered a least a hundred times before, now you can put him in a stranger’s home!

The new website originally launched in New York and Los Angeles this past March, and has since expanded to the entire United States and Canada. According to the Green Bay Press Gazette, the site already has 4,000 registered hosts in two continents and the number will no doubt continue to grow.

According to the service’s website, founded by a “husband and wife team” in California, there are certain markers you can look for when choosing your dog’s host that essentially rank the hosts. For example, “Top Dog” appears next to the “most serious hosts [that] have committed to taking the best possible care of your dogs.” Phone interview complete, web training complete, premium insurance, references checked and Facebook connected are other markers to look for.

Hosts vary from experienced veterinarians to “experienced dog lovers,” from $15 per night to $50.

Near us, hosts hail from Norwalk, Wilton, White Plains, Stratford and Bridgeport. 

I know a service like this is supposed to work and we’re all supposed to live happily ever after, but I can’t help thinking that despite the phone interviews and web trainings the modernized truth remains: you never know who you can trust…even if it is just your dog. 

Check out this spiffy video from DogVacay and decide for yourself.