Normandale Lower Hutt

We are a family of four who live in a warm, double glazed home in a lovely suburb in Lower Hutt and are heading away overseas for nearly 6 weeks in May/June 2025.

Our pet:
We are looking for someone look after our home and our joy bug puppy. He is little poodle/shih tzu cross and is about 7kg. He will be 8 months old at the time of this house sit, so we are not 100% sure how big he will be then, but a small sized dog. He is a lovely natured dog. He’s grown up in a household with children and is great with them, although still sometimes puppy bitey.

Even though he’s only 4 months old at the time of writing this, he is really getting used to his role of lap dog. He is happy mooching close by while we work from home. He’s attended puppy preschool and obedience. Although we are working on having him getting used to being alone, it is unlikely that he will be able to spend more than about 4 hours alone at his age. However, he will have one full day at doggy daycare on a Wednesday, and we will arrange other overnight/day stays with friends and family so that the sitters would be able to have a break. He will be attending obedience on Monday evenings, and if the sitter is happy to keep that going, that would be great.

He is 100% toilet trained and sleeps all night in his crate. He goes to bed around 9.30pm until around 6.30am. Even though he’s pretty happy to spend the day mooching, he has a lot of energy and loves walks and adventures.

Our house:
Located on the hill, our house catches all day winter sun and has a low maintenance garden. It is only a 12 minute walk to the Melling line commuter train. At the time of year the house sit is required, the lawn may not even need to be mowed. Other than that, there would only be a few pot plants to water. It has a nice outlook over the valley and harbour.

We have three bedrooms: one king bed, one king single bed and one set of bunkbeds. and a large, carpeted garage which has table tennis, foosball and darts. We have off street parking for about four cars and a fully fenced and secure section.

We currently have two desks with extra monitors for working from home and we can talk with you about what your requirements may be in this regard and ensure the set up is appropriate.

House sitter:
We’re looking for a person/couple or family who will be able to be a real companion for our pup. We are happy to discuss any requirements you may have around your own pets, your own working environment and any other details. We would like to meet first and see if we will all be a good fit for this arrangement.

I know I'm forgetting things to mention but we look forward to hearing from you, and please feel free to contact me with any questions!