I used to be on the old English forum, glad to see it’s found a new home
April 2025 we are taking our first trip back to Australia since the children were born, which is great!
The only thing I am nervous about is Finding someone who will take care of our dog for the time we are away.
I know of persitting24 (have gotten work myself on there before) and I am also reaching out to any friends and neighbors to see if they can suggest someone who might be a good match.
Other than a tier hotel can anyone help with suggestions for finding something suitable?
Other info: I know that tier hotels are an option, but after taking to several people I’m really quite anxious about leaving her there, especially for such a long time!
: She just turned 1 so she is quite young. She’s also a little bit wild despite the training She’s an Irish setter/Viszla mix so lots of energy, she’s very excited about everything, very VERY friendly
she loves to be around someone and sleep with the kids or in our bed, is my shadow 24/7 so I really don’t know how she would go in a hotel
: if we could find someone trustworthy I would even be up for having someone come to stay at our place while we are gone. Where could I find someone like that?
I recommend https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb . We used them in September and had a lovely couple house/pet sit for us. We are using them over Christmas and have signed up another couple for that.
There is an annual fee to join the group, and sitters also pay a fee to have access to sits. Once you make a post the site will forward the first five for your review - you aren’t overwhelmed by numerous sitters. Every post have references from previous sits and/or other references.
As mentioned there is an annual fee, I can give you a referral that gives you a 25% discount. We get two extra months free for the reference. Send me a PM if you are interested in this.
Switzerland seems to be a popular place for sitters, even in the winter.
Yeah, we’ve used trustedhousesitters many times to look after our cats. Helps that we’re effectively offering a fully-equipped holiday apartment in a mountain village for free, so we never have problems finding anyone,
But take your time and be very selective, you need someone who’s going to treat the pet like you do, as well as respecting your home.
Does anyone know of a site which lists paid sitters near your address?
I’m thinking of getting a pair of young cats but due to regular travel I’ve constantly put it off.
“trustedhousesitters” looks good, but not sure its for me as sometimes its just 1-2 nts away, often at short notice.
Just signed up with trusted house sitters - looks interesting.
For long-term dog sitting, I can recommend this site; https://hundelieb.com/ - site is available in German and English
I know that rationally there can be no connection, but we’ve never had any health issues when we’ve had house sitters, but twice come home to a dead or dying cat after a few days away with someone popping in twice a day to feed them. I won’t do that any more for more that two nights max - I really want the cats to be around our sitters so that anything wrong is spotted as soon as possible.
Cats can look after themselves. We wouldn’t hesitate to go away for two nights leaving plenty of water, biscuits and wet food in a ‘feeder’ (up to four meals). You can also get programable cat-flaps that can let your cat out at certain times and always let them back in. They read their chip so all the neighbours cats aren’t coming in.
Hi @rachimus, I came across your post about finding a dog sitter for April 2025 – I’m in a similar situation for October 25 and was wondering how things worked out for you in the end. Did you end up finding someone reliable through the forum or elsewhere? Any tips or recommendations would be much appreciated!
We have used them 3 times over the last year and have two sits booked for May and June. Highly recommended.
It isn’t free but well worth the nominal cost for an annual membership. And you meet the nicest people. You don’t pay the sitters, they don’t pay you for the accommodations. Win-win!
PM me if you want a code for a 20% discount. (We get 2 months free if you use it).
Petsitting24 was mentioned upthread. You have to take out a membership to view the sitters full profiles, but it’s (relatively) inexpensive to do so. If dogcare will be an on-going need, a membership might be a worthwhile resource. Periodically the platform offers membership rebate deals, so keep an eye out for those.
Be aware that Petsitting24 is a connection platform. As the employer it is up to you to do all the admin stuff around paying taxes, insurance, etc. IIRC the platform offers a seperate service to do the admin, or there is Quitt.ch, another company geared towards helping you with the admin around employer responsibilities. A few professional sitters work on a client/service provider relationship where you avoid the admin stuff, but the majority of ‘Nebenjob’ sitters I have run across work on an employee/employer model.
Are you looking for residential care (your home or the sitter’s) or are you looking for a kennel? If you tell us a bit more about what kind of care you need - and where you are located or how far you are willing to travel - we can make concrete suggestions
If you have a ‘normal’ dog - that is, one who is well trained, socialble, easy going - you likely won’t have too much trouble finding a sitter as long as you are paying competitive rates.
However, if your dog has ‘special needs’ (as mine do) , or have a breed that is restricted in your canton, it gets harder to find reliable competent care in Switzerland. If that is the case, I can write another post more with ideas where to find care for ‘special needs’ dogs based on my experience. But suffice it to say, if you and your dog have needs out of the ordminary, leave no stone unturned looking for the right person.
Also - regardless of the kind of care you need, be aware that you should book as far in advance as possible. Good sitters and good kennels are often fully booked out during the typical Swiss holiday times.
Thanks so much for your quick and detailed replies! In the end, my wife took charge and contacted several places via hundepension24 – we’ve got a trial next week… Let’s see
She’s an Irish setter/Viszla mix so lots of energy, she’s very excited about everything, very VERY friendly 
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