Dog sitting/boarding reco's needed - Toronto

January 29, 2018 11:52 AM

I am having difficulty finding suitable dog boarding for our two large-ish mutts. Mutt A tends to play to rowdy, and is best separated from most dogs. Mutt B has some mobility challenges, and needs an environment where there aren’t a lot of stairs or long distances to walk to get outside. They are content to share a large kennel, but separating them is not a problem either. Any kennel recommendations within or just outside of Toronto? Happy to consider having someone come and stay in our home to watch them. We have done this in the past with success, but our sitter has transitioned jobs. Care.com seems complicated? Not sure where else to look online. Where have you had luck online? As info: We tend to take a few long weekend trips, and one week long trip a year. Last minute booking availability to accommodate ie. a funeral in another city or some other unforeseen trip, would be a plus.
posted by walkinginsunshine to Pets & Animals (6 answers total)

I don’t have specific recommendations since I’m not in Toronto, but one general suggestion. Many (most?) dog boarding places also do daycare. You could try out a place for daycare (obviously making sure they can accommodate your dogs’ needs) for a day or two to get a feel for the location and the staff before you go out of town. If you like a place, you can take you dogs there more often to get them used to it. I feel so much better boarding my dog where he goes to daycare because he already knows and loves the place and people and so do I.
posted by rustcellar at 12:06 PM on January 29, 2018

I don’t have a specific recommendation either, but have struggles with this as well. I finally settled with boarding at the vets. It winded up being less than I thought, and I knew Sweetie would be in the safest place possible, in case of emergencies.
posted by Vaike at 12:45 PM on January 29, 2018

I travel a ton and have had excellent result with Trusted House Sitters. You trade a free place to stay for dedicated pet and home care. Here's my referral link, which will get you a discount, but even at full price the service is very worth it. I’ve had dozens of people stay and have never had any serious problem.
posted by Cogito at 2:21 PM on January 29, 2018

I've used Rover with success to find dog sitters before. I'm not sure it's available on Toronto but I like it better than care.com because I don't need to sign up for a paid subscription and it's pet focused.
posted by ceramicblue at 3:39 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Like ceramicblue, we found our amazing dog sitter on Rover and my quick google search suggests that they do cover Toronto. How about also asking your old sitter and/or vet if they can recommend someone? If you rent, your property manager might have a list of service providers as well.
posted by sm1tten at 7:43 PM on January 29, 2018

My friend who does some pet-sitting in Toronto suggests Rover and Pawshake as good online services to check out for local providers. She's not personally the right fit for your situation, but she says that's where most people who do that kind of work can be found.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:21 AM on January 30, 2018