House and dog sitter in France over Christmas/New Year?

[Jimbo]

Hi All

This is a long shot because it's very short notice, but unexpected circumstances mean that we'll have to return to the UK over Xmas/New Year period. We have three small friendly dogs and a cat in the Charente Maritime region, centrally-heated house in a village with services and close to two interesting towns.

Does anybody know of a reliable and trustworthy person/couple who might be able to undertake this task? Or an organisation that puts owners/sitters together - personal experience would be very helpful. A love of dogs and cats is absolutely essential.

Please PM me if you can help - it would be much appreciated.

[Fifi]

try trustedhousesitters.com you have to pay a registration fee, but I have had 3 or 4 dog and house sitters and they have all been fab!

[French Cricket]

I've used Trusted Housesitters too and was inundated with replies within 24 hours - lots of good quality ones and a few non-sérieux (easy to weed out!). I have friends who've used Mind My House with equally good results.

I wish I could sit for you myself, Jim, and would offer ... but I'm totally immersed in the long overdue reno of our Catalan cottage and am up against a deadline. Good luck - hope you find the perfect someone.

[Jimbo]

Well, with Fifi and FC and two members who kindly PM'd, I've had four recommends for Trusted Housesitters. So I joined yesterday and, in a trice, had two responses - one of whom sounds very promising. It's not cheap - 93 euros to join for a year - but, given that many of THS people are happy to sit free of charge, it seems like a good deal to me.

There's always so much to learn from LMH, even when you're no longer running gites! Thanks guys for your help.

PS: FC, good luck with that renovation!

[enid]

WE use Mindmyhouse and it's free for the house owner - had some great house sitters this way