Home Exchange When You Have Pets
Many members successfully arrange home exchanges to include their pets. For a lot of families, caring for each other’s pets is an enhancement to the arrangement, especially if they have children. However, I cannot stress emphatically enough that no-one should ever demand pet car of their home exchange partners. Many people don’t like pets, have never kept a pet, and simply would not be comfortable looking after one. Not only that, if they have no experience with animals, it’s definitely not a good idea to expect them to suddenly care for one properly. Such an arrangement could lead to disaster.
Look at it this way, you’re already saving a small fortune on hotel or vacation rental costs, so if your exchange partners are in any way reluctant to care for your pets, either place them in a good boarding facility, or with more willing and experienced friends or family. If you opt for a boarding kennel, make sure your pet is current on all its required shots before you actually drop it off otherwise that could be another recipe for a last minute disaster!
Even if your home exchange partners are perfectly happy to look after your pets, it’s really not fair or realistic to expect them to be tied to your home throughout the duration of their vacation. Far better to set up an arrangement with a local professional pet sitting service so that they will be “on call” to your exchange partners and able to visit your home to feed and generally care for your pets should they take a day trip or stay away overnight.
Reputable pet sitters will be registered with either of the following:
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