When the time comes for the annual holiday travel season more and more pet owners are looking for alternatives to the traditional kennel boarding services. Many dog and cat owners are willing to go the extra mile if it means their furry friends are kept in a comfortable and caring environment. Pet hotels and even doggy holiday resorts are becoming more and more popular and many offer a level of luxury to pets that exceeds what the owners themselves enjoy while away. Posh suites with inclusive grooming care, private runs and gourmet pet food are only a few of the perks available for those pets whose owners are willing to pay the right price. However more and more owners are taking a different route, choosing to not board their dogs and cats in boarding centers - irrespective of how posh the facilities which are available - instead many owners select the relatively new, yet fairly simple concept of home boarding. Home boarding is as straightforward as it sounds. Dogs and cats, instead of being placed in cages at a boarding facility are temporarily relocated to a pet sitter's home. The dogs are placed in a loving, family environment which is best suited to maintaining the pet's regular routine. Dogs are walked, played with and fed according to the specifications of the owner. Satisfied owners insist the personalized and loving attention dogs receive through home boarding helps the animals maintain a calm and relaxed attitude while their owners are away. The feeling is that pets home boarded end up happier and healthier, both while the owner is away and after he or she comes back. Dogs kept in boarding facilities are often walked infrequently, spending many hours a day alone in a small room or plastic cage. Home-boarded dogs live in the company of their sitter and are hardly ever left alone. Home boarding proponents and sitters like to stress that although the animal's stay with them is temporary the pets are treated as though they are part of the pet sitter's household, and cared for with the same amount of love and kindness as the sitter's own pets. Although the original method of finding someone to home board your pet was a laborious search through classified listings or by word of mouth a greater and greater number of pet sitting services will arrange a home board for your dog or cat for a small fee. The convenience of such services is great, especially when you consider the number of precautionary steps the pet sitting service might offer. For example, a pet owner might not have the time to interview perspective sitters and or inspect the homes their pets will be staying in. Pet sitting services maintain an up to date list of prospective sitters and will pre-screen both the sitter and their home on the owner's behalf. Pet sitters are chosen for their love of animals and trustworthy level of responsibility. Homes are judged based on their comfort, cleanliness and appropriate facilities based on the pets to be boarded (E.G. Many services insist those boarding dogs have a fenced outdoor area for the dog to exercise in safely.) Another benefit of choosing a pet sitter through a service is insurance. Most reputable pet sitting service providers will offer some sort of insurance protection which can benefit both the pet sitter and the pet owner. Should your pet accidentally cause any damage to the pet sitter's home it's re-assuring to know it will be covered by insurance. Also, many pet sitting services make arrangements between pet sitters and local veterinarians to make sure an injured or sick pet will be cared for immediately and by a competent professional, which is sure to provide even more peace of mind for pet owners on holiday. Published dog care expert and long time proponent of home Dog Boarding Newcastle resident Arlen Tooscombe, summed up the home boarding philosophy in his book Stay, Good Boy thusly, "We would never put our children in a cage or hotel room for a week only to convenience ourselves, why do so many feel it is right to do it to our furred and feathered friends. These are our companions. We appreciate their companionship and they appreciate ours. Why not allow them some caring companionship when we can't be with them? It is not so much a treat, as a responsibility."
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