DogVacay.com – Dog Boarding Community

DogVacay matched me with a wonderful host. My dog, who is 10-​years-​old, was coming off a 3-​day stint at a local kennel that I was very unhappy with. When she arrived, I warned her host that she might be stressed out, panicky, and territorial, having been locked in a cage with little interaction with humans OR dogs for 3 days. It was clear my dog hadn’t been eating or sleeping well.
Our host was very understanding, and accepting. I could tell right away that she adores animals, and throughout the rest of my vacation, she was sending me photos and videos of my old girl playing happily, sleeping peacefully, and perching playfully atop her couch cushions. Thank you, DogVacay. Maycee will NEVER go to a kennel again! It’s DogVacay from now on!

I have used dogvacay for the last 2.5 years now and have had an amazing and positive experience each and every time! The hosts are so so friendly, experienced and it is safe to say that i have observed how the 15 various hosts that hosted my doggie in the various repeated times i used the service, they are truly doing this for the love of dogs and not for the money. I am always using this service and highly recommend it to anyone as it is also super convenient, trustworthy, free and reliable! Many thumbs up!!! WOOF! :-) Also i just saw another listing for this business here with many more reviews:

I’m a returning sitter on DogVacay and wanted people to know that the company required me to go through online training, add photos, and suggested a phone interview in order to reactivate my account. On the phone they have been quick, responsive, and helpful. They’re also fully insured, so when you book through them, anything that might happen to your dog (God forbid) is covered and the pet will be taken to the nearest VCA Animal Hospital straight away.
I’ve recently returned to the service because I graduated from college a few days ago and finally have the time to welcome pups back into my life! If you’re looking for a sitter or dog walker, this coupon code still works:
Get $ 10 off your first booking with the coupon code WINNIETHEPOOCH if you use this url.
I trust the service and I hope to hear from some of you soon.

Usually when I go out of town, I leave my pup with one of two close friends. But this time, we were all traveling together. So happy I discovered DogVacay! I found a fabulous sitter in my neighborhood who made me feel comfortable leaving my pup with her. She sent pics everyday and never left me hanging on updates. My pup seemed to enjoy their time together, too. Glad to have found this resource and such a reliable sitter.

I have nothing but love for this company and the great host I found through them to take care of my two corgis. Because of work I am jumping from city to city and my friends got tired of me asking them to watch my pups. Finding a host was a simple and efficient process and now I don’t have to stress when I have to get out of town. 5 stars.

Were going out of town and we had our normal dogsitting person out of town and found a
host that was perfect. She quickly responded to all of my questions. We got daily photo updates from your host. This really gave us peace of mind while traveling.
Definitely easier than some other dog boarding /​pet sitting sites and services. I would would definitely come back!

When I lived in Brooklyn and had a great experience while pet sitting. I offered the affordable experience to other friends who had dogs and were also very satisfied with the care they received. It is much more cost effective than boarding your dog at a good kennel in Manhattan!

Customer service is terrrible for hosts.
I had a dog dropped off that was three and a half hours late and in heat bleeding all over my apartment without a leash and surprise, kennel cough medication. I had 2 other dogs and could not expose them to kennel cough, one was not mine!
I had asked the owner if her dog was spayed and she said yes. I asked because I had an unneutered male dog and warned her. Needless to say, the male dog went crazy and the female dog bleed all over my couch and duvet. Dog Vacay said it would do nothing to cover the damage.
I immediately call Dog Vacay at 9:30 pm and the kids running the call center said it was too late to do anything and told me to go find diapers. 9:30pm is too late to do ANYTHING!!! They didn’t attempt to contact other sitters and told me someone would be in touch in the morning. I quickly sent off a ton of emails to other sitters, took all of 45 seconds and zero effort. They limit the number of sitters you can contact (it’s an emergency!!!) so I was limited with how many people I could reach. If they had taken the two minutes to send the blast, I could have reached every sitter in NYC. Thanks for all your help with that! All this time, the owner of the dog ignored my messages.
I’m sure it’s not a shock no one reached out in the morning. When I called at 9 am the next morning, they had no idea what I was talking about and said they would start calling sitters but if they couldn’t find one, I would have to keep the dog! Unreal!
I told them to get in touch with the owner or I would drop the dog at a shelter, then they snapped into action and said they would call the owner. It’s crazy to have to threaten a call center to get them to do their job. A simple one at that.
Because I started emailing the night before, I had already found another sitter and had to bring the bleeding dog to the new sitters house causing me to cancel two appointments.
I have a late charge for late drop offs and bookings over 24 hours. Owners will show up hours late or pick up way past the agreed upon time, leaving you waiting around for them. Dog Vacay would not honor any late fees, encouraging dog owners to take advantage of sitters.
They said they would give me $ 25 for my troubles and when they sent it to me, they deducted their 15% fee!
Outside of Dog Vacay leaving sitters on their own with no assistance in an emergency, the owners are not vetted at all, no references, verification of shots.
Because of my complaints to Dog Vacay about the owner and their lack of help, they cancelled my account for «Behaving or acting in any way that creates a negative experience for a DogVacay Member, to be determined at the sole discretion of DogVacay» and «Behaving or acting in any way that demonstrates a lack of courtesy or professionalism with any DogVacay Staff.» I know, horrible to ask them for some accountability and to send a few emails while their working.
GO TO ROVER​.COM.

I’ve used Dogvaca several times in the past year. It takes an investment in time to go through the process. You will email several people in hopes of getting at least one response. Members often do not keep their calendars current either. So those responses might be to tell you that they are not available.
Also, in the past year prices have been jumping-​up. A licensed and trained dog sitter will charge $ 65/​night, which is expensive enough. On Dogvaca I’ve now seen prices as high as $ 75/​night for people who have not even had any formal dog training. Imagine traveling for work for a week at those prices? There’s no option for a weekly rate either.
Once all that was worked through, I did successfully have someone from Dogvaca watch my dog and they did a good job. If you’re desperate, it’s an option that might be your last resort. If you can help it, find someone in your network and save yourself the time hassle and the bookoo bucks.

I have let Valerie and Nick dogsit my dog twice and both times, he had an amazing experience. They were also nice enough to buy him new toys that he absolutely loved. I love how detailed they are when they do the intake, and also the amount of time they actually spend with him doing activities such as going to the dog park or central park etc. I don’t think I’d send my dog anywhere else now.

Absolutely loved Nick and Val. They are the most «on it» dog sitters I’ve ever used, starting with their in-​depth questionnaire (!!) before I even arrived about my dog’s likes and dislikes. My dog, Nola, stayed for a week in their sweet apartment and Nick sent me photos every day of Nola playing in McCarren Park (RIGHT across the street from them). He also answered all my (neurotic?) texts promptly which I really appreciated! They even gave her a bath! Nola seemed sad to leave, but I was thrilled to find reliable, enthusiastic sitters in NY.