Photo: Courtesy Gabrielle Korn.Okay, let's say you're a dog lover with a dog. That's a great situation you've got going on there, with one significant downside. Every time you're set to go out of town, suddenly you run into a furry wall trying to find a dependable, loving person who'll treat your little boo as well as you do.
Now, let's say you're a dog lover with either no dog or room for another. Well, since you've got more love to spare and you could always use a bit more change, wouldn't it be great if someone out there could hook you up with someone who needs a little pooch sitting? It would indeed.
Finally, someone has looked at these two, twined issues and the success of AirBnB and created DogVacay, a site that hooks up people who need pet-sitting services with the animal lovers who can give them. Ideally, the site will do exactly for pet owners and lovers what AirBnB did for travelers and homeowners — create a low-price secondary market that avoids the costs and hassles of hotels or, in this case, kennels. Just like AirBnB, it's all hinged on location — users are able to search for sitters in their vicinity. Moreover, folks with a little love, space, and kibble to spare can pull down hundreds just for keeping their eyes on a pooch.
Now, the service is still in its early stages compared to AirBnB, but with 10,000 sitters already signed up, it looks promising. Plus, anything that keeps our pups out of cages is okay with us. Oh, and in case you're concerned, just like AirBnB, all DogVacay sitters get reviewed. Again, we haven't used this one yet, but we're definitely bookmarking it for future use.