Pet Sitters in Plainsboro Center, NJ

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Reviews from Pet Owners

4.93
4.93
4.96 Organised 4.96 Reliable 4.95 Clean and tidy 4.97 Self-sufficient 4.91 Pet care
User
Frances
Frances is an incredibly friendly, generous and inspirational person. She made us feel very welcome and took a lot of time to help us get to know the area. Her house is wonderful; beautiful views, close to the beach and exceptionally comfortable. Most of all the animals are lovely. Cuddly cats and adorable dogs, we had a lot of fun playing with all of them. Walking on the beach in the morning with the dogs was wonderful. We had a fantastic time and didn't really want to leave! Thank you for such a memorable experience in Salento.
User
Kathleen
This was my first difficult sit for THS, and I detail why at length here, in hopes of helping sitters and owners avoid such situations.

It had nothing to do with the dog though. Major is an absolute prince! As well, Kathie’s place is lovely and, really, located in the heart of Ottawa.

The difficulties arose because of a repair job that was scheduled for the kitchen floor during the sit. While Kathie had no control over the date chosen (property managers set the date), there was time—three or four days before the sit began—for her to reschedule the work until after she returned. 

When I met Kathie in person the day before the sit started, she told me half a dozen cracked floor tiles had to be replaced. I felt I had no choice but to go along with it because she was leaving for a big trip in about 24 hours. 

As these jobs go, it was a little more involved than replacing tiles. Grouting also needed to be ‘matched’ for the whole floor, which would’ve included pulling up a taped-down area rug, scraping tape-residue off the tiles and rug and then taping the carpet back in place.

The workers and contractor refused to do anything with the carpet, saying it was outside the scope of their work. That was my position, too.

Involvement of any kind in repair or reno work of any scale is NOT part of a sitter’s responsibility. Here is an FAQ to that effect: https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001758337-What-household-tasks-are-sitters-responsible-for-

Here is another: https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001893618-What-are-the-sitter-s-responsibilities-during-a-sit-

I think it’s incumbent on THS management to clarify and emphasize this point in communications with owners first and foremost, but sitters as well. 

It is also important for owners to remember going into these agreements that the exchange is free in-home pet care provided by sitter for free accommodation provided by owner. 

It became clear to me through a lot of back and forth by email with Kathie that she felt the job was small enough that it could be done while I was sitting there. But I was left wondering, and asked Kathie, why, if it was so small, it couldn’t have been rescheduled for when she got back; a question she never answered. Rescheduling would’ve saved us significant time and effort spent going back and forth. It also would’ve prevented the strain put on the relationship.

Eventually Kathie agreed to having the workers come back to do the grout ‘matching’ when she was home, so she could take up the carpet. Even the workers seemed confused about the scope of the job; the day they came to replace the tiles, they thought that was all that was required and asked me for confirmation. All I could tell them was I was just the dog-sitter and they should go by their work order.

The only reason Kathie agreed to rescheduling the second part of the job was because I proposed to cancel the sit, i.e. ending it before agreed-on date. Here’s an FAQ about that: https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001746237-Can-I-cancel-a-sit-

Because she, as owner, didn’t agree to cutting the sit short I was obligated to complete it—something I did giving the dog great care. Again, Major is a very good dog. 

My hope was by proposing an early end to the sit Kathie would reschedule the rest of the tile work. It shouldn't have come to that, but it did. Up to that point, Kathie simply said, several times in emails that didn’t respond directly to my concerns, that she wanted all the work completed while she was gone.

Aside from that difficulty, it’s worth noting that in Canadian winters adequate protection (footwear) must be provided to the sitter. There was only one set of the PAWS balloon-style boots, with two single boots as spares. Major’s got big meaty paws and loves walks and runs in local dog park. He shredded the one full set quickly, despite me lining them with old socks of mine, and was wearing out the two spares. 

A set of moccasin-style boots were also there, but Kathie said up front they didn’t stay on. That made me wonder why she didn’t find replacements that stayed on , rather than repeatedly asking me if they did stay on when I tried using them on Major. I was using elastic bands, duct tape—all to no avail—in addition to the velcro straps. Kathie seemed to be asking me repeatedly if they worked in the hopes that the answer would change. It was weird. I bought a cheap pair of silicone boots to try, but they didn’t stayon either.

Unfortunately, Major’s paws did get pretty raw at one point, if he had to walk back once the boots fell off—the salt was that bad.

Finally, the dog park: I feel that use of dog parks is overemphasized. The primary socialization dogs need is with other people, more than with other dogs. Thankfully Major is so good with both. But in this dog park, there were two guys who let their dogs run with 20 to 25-foot leads attached. Though the leads were lightweight, they would still routinely wrap around other dogs’ legs, not to mention the assembled humans’ legs as well. This is risky, if you ask me.

And yet one of these guys warned me about a ball I’d brought for Major —because of its size and because it was cracked—that it posed a danger to his dog, who sometimes ate things she shouldn't. Working on changing that behaviour should be his focus. I’d also wanted to point out that his dog’s long and unattended lead, not to mention its humping and other dominant, even aggressive, behaviour posed the greater threat. I watched as at least one other dog picked up the ‘humping’ behaviour from his dog. That’s what often happens in dog parks: the people are the problem. Thankfully there were more great folks than not at this one. Bringing Major on his own to the park with the controversial ball, we ended up losing it in the deep snow. In spring, it will be found and thrown out.

On leash, Major was such a pleasure. He was up for explorations of an hour and more, a favourite being over the Alexandra Bridge and back. If it wasn’t for the ridiculous amounts of salt Ottawa used (that’s saying something as I’m from Toronto) we’d have enjoyed a long walk every time we went out. He listens well, doesn’t pull, but can get a little focused on the ‘street snacks’ at times. Gotta watch for that and try to preempt it.

And finally, it’s important for owners and sitters to make clear to each other what start/end times are agreeable. Kathie set her start date as Jan. 24, but she actually flew out overnight on the 23rd. She gave me a heads-up on that when we spoke on the phone in December so I was able to plan for that. But her return date wasn’t similarly corrected. She actually returned after midnight on the 14th—in other words, the 15th of Feb. She didn’t let me know about that ahead of time, or put it in her listing, so I could plan for it.

Kathie did, however, agree to me leaving morning of the 14th as I had to get back to Toronto to meet with potential client. She arranged to have someone come feed and let Major out in evening. That was appreciated, and a reminder that I have to ask for exact times people are returning.

There’s plenty to make a sit at Kathie’s place, with Major, appealing—just not for me. But man I’m gonna miss that dog,

S.
User
Janet
I spent 8 days in Janet and Rob's cozy home with Raffie, who is a super cute cuddly charming dog, and it didn't take me long to fall in love with her. I was given a detailed and thorough description of what to do and help with what to see in the area, he even showed me the shops, which I was very grateful for. I arrived a day early so I could get to know the Janets better, Rob cooked a fantastic dinner and we had a great conversation, they are very nice, generous and well-informed people who have visited many places, including in Hungary and my country. :) I miss little Raffie, I hope to see you again, thank you for everything!
User
Isobel
We had a great time looking after Piper!! She is the friendliest and most easy going cat. She loves playing but also relaxing on your lap.  Isobel’s house is lovely and in a great location to walk into the city centre. Isobel was easy to communicate with and gave us all the info we needed. Would highly recommend
User
Jane
Jane is a very affectionate and attentive person we love to spend this great time with her Chilean dog, her house is beautiful her horses and her garden look like a fairy tale her dog is exceptional we take him everywhere with us and he behaved very well this breed is magnificent we hope to return soon we are fascinated with Scotland we love them very much and the we will carry them in our hearts forever we hope you are very well Jane we will always be there for you we love you Gissel and Miguel
User
Ernesto
Ernesto, Catalina and Clara welcomed us with open arms, we arrived in Manchester a day earlier and they offered us to stay at their house to get to know each other and for Nala and Aira to adapt to us. We spent 15 days there and everything was perfect, the house was super complete, the dogs were super calm and the location was super well connected with Stockport and Manchester, a pleasure and happy to recommend them!

Pet Sitting FAQs

From $35/week to $160/week for the cat sitting and from 29.9950 to 29.99150 for the dog, additional rates include from 50% to 100% per additional pet, cheap rates are 29.9940 for the cat sitting and 29.99 for the dog sitting. On Sittsy you can find a pet sitter who will not charge you anything for keeping your pets at home.

Yes, you can find a home pet sitter to stay in your house with your pet overnight and provide 24/7 care for your pets. You can include in your listing time the advisable timeframe that the pet sitter should adhere to and not leave your pet alone in the house. Usually, it's not to leave the pet alone for more than 4 hours.

The pet sitter for the cat should visit at least once a day. For the dogs, the pet sitter should visit at least three times per day, the best solution is if the sitter stays overnight and watches your pets all the time.

Look at the pet sitter with a high rating, and many previous bookings with good reviews, ask the sitter to make a meet and meet before confirming the booking online or in-person, and reach out to the pet owners where the sitter stayed before asking about reference.

Common red flags in pet sitters are bad reviews from previous pet owners, a high cancellation rate after approval, a sitter who doesn't have a background check, a sitter who refuses to meet and greet in person or online, and a sitter who wants to make bookings outside of the platform.

Yes, it is safe to hire a pet sitter it's still advisable to see if the sitter has a background check, good reviews, and past bookings and make a meet and greet before confirmation in this way you can reduce risk to the minimum.

Yes, pet sitters stay all day in your house and also they stay overnight, the sitter can leave your home for up to 4 hours or for a different time that you can discuss during the meet and greet.

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