Oamaru

I'm looking for a non-smoking (or vaping) vegan (or couple *) to look after my 3 horses, 3 Kaimanawa ponies cats and 2 dogs for approximately 2 weeks nights, please. Dates will be confirmed when I've booked my flights and that might not be until early in 2025.

My 2 dogs, a 4 year old Chocolate Labrador and a 2 year old Golden Retriever have been going to boarding kennels while I've been away but in recent times I've had house sitters tell me that they'd love to care for my dogs as they are 'dog' people first and foremost. I'd be more than happy if Lily and Meg were able to stay at home while I'm away. They are easy care dogs who sleep in their crates in the house. Because of the nature of the area where I live they are not taken for walks off the property.

The house sit is  best suited to someone who is confident around horses and ponies and is able to give them their breakfast and dinner (boiled barley, chaff and hay) . They go to their day paddocks in the morning and are returned to their night paddocks at dinner time (just open and close gates - they know where to go!) . Check and top up water troughs if necessary

Seven of the cats will stay in their outside house and will need to be fed twice a day, please. There are also 2 cats who stay in their own rooms in the house and 2 former 'wildies' (a mum and her daughter ... both speyed) who are fed outside.  The 2 former wildies have turned out to be 2 of the most friendly and affectionate cats I've ever known.  Having said that, they aren't confident around strangers and may hide while I'm away.

My house is a comfortable late 1920s bungalow on a small rural property. Wood burners keep the house warm in winter (and spring, summer and autumn ;-) )  and a wetback supplements the electric hot water service.

You will need your own transport as I live approximately 12km from the nearest supermarket.

Note: I'm recommending that the house sitter/s and I spend at least one full day together so that the house sitter/s can meet the 'family' and get an understanding of their feeding requirements and the layout of my property. This has been factored into the date range shown in my listing. Thank you for your understanding.

* My preference is for one person to house sit but I could consider a couple in special circumstances. I have one spare bedroom with a double bed. Water is pumped from a well to a water tank and then it's filtered and pumped to the house. The bathroom, toilet and laundry are in the one room.

I'd really like to find a vegan house sitter but Omnis or vegetarians are welcome but they would need to be happy to try a plant based diet while they are here.

Thank you for reading my listing.