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Send
Rover right over Pet
sitting service lets dogs stay in home environment By MARIA PHELAN When Sunrise resident Donna West got
involved with Sleepover Rover about six months ago, she could completely
understand why a community member might want the service. The owner of Lily, a 1-year-old
schnauzer, West said Sleepover Rover was exactly the sort of pet care service
she would seek out herself if she had to leave town for a week or two and
leave Lily behind. "A lot of pet parents that we talk
to are very worried about what they're going to do with their pet if they go
out of town, and I felt that same way when I got Lily," West said.
"I don't want to kennel her or leave her home with someone just coming
over every now and then." West serves as the Las Vegas
representative for Sleepover Rover, a business that is primarily
Internet-based; its site address is www.sleepoverrover.com. The company was started three years ago
in Phoenix, Ariz., and has been in the Las Vegas Valley for about six months.
West said the company currently has about 25 hosts across the valley,
including the Green Valley, Aliante and Summerlin areas. She said the Sleepover Rover program
works by connecting community members who need accommodations for their dogs
while they are out of town with community members who are willing to host
those dogs in their own homes. "The dogs always come to stay with
the host, that way you don't have to worry about someone having a key to your
house, or having a stranger in your house," she said. "It's a nice
alternative for people." She also said the program allows for
dogs of all sizes. "We actually have a couple of host
families who want to have large dogs stay with them and they have large yards
and are well equipped for bigger dogs," she said. "The thing hosts
are most concerned about is whether a dog is aggressive or not, and that's a
big reason for the pre-stay meeting." A Sleepover Rover host must be able to
stay home full-time, and must be "someone who loves dogs." West
said most Sleepover Rover hosts are dog owners, while others are former dog
owners. West said hosts must have pet-proof
homes and yards. "The yards must be
escape-proof," she said. "If (a client's dogs) get out, our No. 1
concern is that something will happen to them while in our care." She also said Sleepover Rover hosts
will generally take on one client at a time, though that sometimes still
means multiple charges for the host. "I have one client who has four
schnauzers, so we'll usually put those in a home by themselves with a host
that doesn't have dogs, because those four are like a little pack all by
themselves," West said. To use the Sleepover Rover service,
would-be clients call or e-mail the company. A consultant then calls them back to
find out about their needs and travel plans, and to see if the dogs will
require any special care. Clients are then matched with the best
host. "If people have a dog who is young
or not well socialized, we'll put them in a home with a calm dog or with a
host who doesn't have dogs," West said. "We try to place the dogs
with the right kind of family, so small dogs go with families with small
dogs, or families without cats if a dog doesn't have a lot of experience with
cats." After Sleepover Rover has made a
potential host/client match, a pre-stay meeting is set up, and the client
brings his or her dog -- or dogs -- to the host's home. "The client and host get to meet,
and the client can walk around and see where their dog will stay," West
said. Once the client and host are happy with
the match, the process moves forward. "The pet parent brings pet food,
bowls, toys, a doggie bed if the dog uses one, and everything else the dog
will need," West said. "We find out what the dog's routine is like
at home, and we try to keep that routine as much as we can." West also said that all host and client
dogs must have a clean bill of health from a veterinarian and up-to-date
shots prior to participation in the Sleepover Rover program. The longest stay
she's hosted so far was about 10 days, though in late summer she will care
for a client's two schnauzers for about a month. Carla Roberts has twice used Sleepover
Rover to care for her 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier Oliver. She said prior to Sleepover Rover, she
tried pet luxury suite businesses, but wasn't completely comfortable with
them. "Oliver isn't really well
socialized -- he's timid, and he was really intimidated by being left in a
big arena of dogs some of the time at the luxury suites," she said.
"He's like an only child. He's not used to other dogs or being left
alone a lot." Each time Roberts has used Sleepover
Rover, she has left Oliver with West. Each time, Oliver's stay with West
lasted about one week. "We'd met Donna before, so when I
left him with her, he'd been there before and he wasn't scared," she
said. "The second time I left him, he knew where he was and his tail was
wagging. He went right to the front door." Roberts said she felt as comfortable
leaving Oliver with West as she would leaving him with a friend or family
member. West said to serve as a Sleepover Rover
host, interested community members should contact the company. Sleepover
Rover does a phone interview with prospective hosts, then sends West to check
out their home and yard. "You pretty much have to
baby-proof inside and out," she said. "We're very particular about
our hosts. One week I had 10 people interview and only took two. My thought
when I leave is, 'Would I leave my dog there?' If I can't do that to my dog,
then I can't do it to someone else's." West also said clients are welcome to
call hosts and check up on their pets while they are away. "We have a lot of pet parents that
call every day while they're gone and want to talk to their dog, so I'll hold
the receiver up to the dog's ear," she said. "You can really tailor
what you want. Monty is very small, so I've just been playing with him in the
backyard, but with a bigger dog we'll take it for walks, or if it's well
socialized, to the dog park. It's all determined by what the client
wants." The service costs about $35-$40 a day,
depending on the size and needs of the dog, and West said the company will
work with a client with multiple dogs, or in need of a long stay, to keep
things affordable. For more information, visit www.sleepoverrover.com. |
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