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Dates
  • 15 Jan 2025 - 19 Jan 2025
  • 4 nights
What we need
  • Dogs (2), Cats (10+), Horses (6)
  • No
Sit Features
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • No
  • No

We need a house sitter

Otago - Waitaki

Helen

I'm looking for a non-smoking (or vaping) vegan to look after my 3 horses, 3 Kaimanawa ponies, cats and 2 dogs for 2 nights I'll be at home for the first 2 days/nights and I'll introduce my house sitter to my four legged family and their feeding/care routines.

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 and I spend at least one full day together so that the house sitter 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.

I'd really like to find a vegan house sitter but an Omni or vegetarian is welcome to apply but s/he would need to be happy to try a plant based diet while they are here.

Thank you for reading my listing.

House & Location
  • Farm House
  • Wifi, Streaming services, Heater, Vegan home
  • Login to View
  • Country (Nature, Historical)
  • Golf
Reviews (3)
We had a great experience caring for Hellen's home and family. Hellen also taught us very well about feeding times for the horses, ponies, dogs and cats. They were beautiful days on the farm, we enjoyed nature, the weather and sharing with the animals. It was a unique experience and we are very happy to have met Hellen, who is a very kind and interesting person. Our conversations will remain forever in our memory. Thank you very much for trusting us Hellen.
 
ANA & SEBASTIAN (Nov 2024 - 1 week 4 nights)
Helen is communicative and friendly. The house is very cold in the winter even with the fire place, but I was comfortable enough. Looking after the animals takes about 1 hour twice a day so you have to plan activities around that.
 
SARAH (Jun 2024 - 1 week 5 nights)
Helen was such an amazing person to sit for I can't thank her enough. She was so accomodating and helpful throughout, giving plenty of details on all the animals and her home she made it extremely easy to sit for her, and even took me for trips around the local area so I could get a good feel for it. The animals are all very happy, and with a good routine they don't take too long to care for each day as they've all clearly been well loved and cared for. The grounds are an amazing area of ... MORE
 
CHRISTOPHER (Jan 2024 - 1 week 4 nights)
 
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