As with most dog parents, we've had a hard time finding someone we could truly trust with our baby boy. We left him with my parents for a few overnights in the past, but they were unavailable for our trip down to San Diego. Our first contact with Kari was after Plan A (my parents) and Plan B (another dog sitter) didn't work out. She came highly recommended by our dog trainer, Avid K9 (Marth), and he was right on the money.
Kari was everything we could have hoped for and wanted in a dog sitter. We messaged her on Instagram a little less than a month before our vacation, and she replied that same morning. We provided the dates we would be gone, background on Moch, his general dislike for walking, and asked how much her rate would be for four days of dog sitting. Kari provided us a thorough breakdown of her rates, broken out by day, assured us Moch's walking habits wouldn't be an issue, services that would be provided during those days, and her methodology for taking care of our baby. Kari also provided us information and the personalities of her dogs to ensure we felt comfortable with them around Moch. We decided to take a little time to make sure we felt comfortable doing the trip, and reached out to her over the weekend to confirm our booking.
Over the course of the next week, we prepared the following:
- Vet information
- Preferred emergency facilities and contact information (in order of preference)
- Moch's daily schedule
- Moch's feeding schedule and his raw feeding breakdown
We shared the notes with Kari via iPhone Notes, and asked if she had any questions (she didn't).
When the big day came, we had all of his stuff bagged:
- His cactus (he uses this in his crate)
- His raw food patties
- His supplement powders (in a stacking container with our scooper)
- His vitamins (in a weekly vitamin container for morning and night)
- His bowl set-up for food and water
- His favorite snacks for crate time (beef checks and yak chews)
- His training snacks (beef liver treats)
When we dropped Moch off, we stayed to do introductions with Kari's babies--Coconut aka Coco (a beautiful German Shepherd) and Zoë (a Husky mix). Coco immediately developed some feelings for Moch, that included a little too much love, if you know what I mean lol. Zoë was super excited to have a new friend, but she needed a walk to determine just how much she would want to interact with the rambunctious Moch. We left as Kari took the three kiddos on a pack walk, and headed down to San Diego.
Over the course of his personal vacation, Kari sent us tons of videos, photos, and updates. Moch adjusted way beyond our expectations, and even developed a liking for walking. Kari was super attentive, and Moch even got to borrow Coco's puppy sweater on the final day when we went to get him (it was raining and cold).
When it seemed like Moch was developing a bit of an ear infection, Kari immediately messaged me to ask if we wanted her to take him in or if we wanted her to wash it out and we would take him when we got back (we were going to pick him up the following afternoon). We opted for just the ear wash, and were able to call our vet and set-up an appointment for the day after our return. Her attention to detail, and the immense amount of love, care, and cuddling Moch got was truly exceptional. She was worth every penny and more--we couldn't have asked for a more relaxing experience, and payment was a breeze via Venmo.
We could tell Moch really missed his new friends once we got home, so we'll be scheduling another vacation down the line for him to have his own little getaway with his new favorite aunt! read more