You hate to be away from your pet but sadly you have to. Sometimes it just for the day and other times, it’s for an entire week, or month, or even longer. And we know that nothing is more important than making sure your loved pet is in good hands. So, what can you do to make sure that while you’re gone, your pet is safe and sound and eager to see you home soon? You can have someone you trust like family watch them, but what if your family or good friend is not available or willing to keep an eye on your pet while you’re vacationing in the South of France with other friends? Well, this is where taking to your pet to a pet sitter or pet hotel, or even a pet resort becomes necessary. But you just can’t get up and go and drop them off anywhere you can just because you need to rush off. You typically have to do your homework to determine the best place for your pets to be safe and comfortable. When you start searching for place to place your pet, here are the top 4 things you should consider to help you make the best decision.
- Personal recommendation
Ask your pet-owning friends where they have their own pets go to when they are out of town. Personal recommendation is the best way to go as you will get people who have first-hand experience with either a pet sitter or a pet resort or pet hotel. Ask them about the good, bad, and the ugly and make sure you know what to expect. But, even with the best recommendations for a place for your pet, all pets are different and all tastes are different so your friends or family’s recommendation is a great place to start but you still have to do your homework to make sure that is the right place for your pet before you commit blindly, unless of course you’re in a hurry and have no other choice. In this case, going where a trusted person has been is more comforting that just picking up a pet hotel name off the internet and going in blindly.
- Tour the place
Even if you have the best recommendations in the world, you must tour the place. Tour. Tour. Tour. We can’t stay it enough. You will be leaving your loved one in the care of strangers for some time and the worst thing that can happen is you come home days, weeks later and your pet is not doing well. So, tour the place and see how you feel about it. Be keenly aware of how the pets are treated, how the pets seem to like it, how much the employees or owners of the place seem to like it. If you’re interviewing a pet sitter, keep an eye on how he or she talks and treats other animals as that is a great indicator of how your own pet will be treated. If possible, go with your pet, if they allow pets to stop by, and see how your pet feels about it. Of course pets can get nervous and sense when you are leaving them and if your pet has been abandoned before, they might have separation anxiety which might show during the tour of the facility so keep this mind. But still tour the facility before you sign the dotted line.
- 3. Online reviews and local pet forums
What does the rest of the world say about the place you’re about to send your pet to? What is the general reviews about the place? Check them out online and see if you can find the good, the bad, and again, the ugly about them to make sure your pet will be in the great hands possible. Check out local online pet forum, there are plenty of them, and see what the buzz is about regarding the location. If you your homework well and snoop around a bit, you might be able to get information on the best places to keep your pets while you’re gone. You might even meet an amazing pet sitter or pet hotel owners online and get all your questions answers. So, while you’re looking for the right place for your pet, check out online review and join local pet forums for the best advice about the best place for your love pet.