Homestay

I'd mentioned previously that I was away at training in Sydney a week ago. Noon came up to join me for two nights at the hotel, kinda like a short getaway for the two of us.

That meant we had to make sure Sam and Rosie were taken care of during the time we were away. We weren't too keen on having them put into the boarding kennels because they would have to be kept in locked kennel cages (not as bad as it sounds, and they get let out for exercise twice a day). Instead, we found this website - Roseground Labradors - which offered homestay accommodation for dogs.

I jumped on the phone and rang up, and was told that Joanne and Mark (the minders) would be happy to have Sam and Rosie over while we were away. Noon and I went over to visit that same afternoon and met Joanne and Mark in person, along with their two lovely children. They had a beautiful house with a nice backyard for the dogs to play in. And what's more, their place was just a few streets away from where Noon and I live! Here's a picture of the upper storey of the house, you can just see the backyard under the balcony.

The backyard was divided into two separate sections, where visiting dogs could be placed for 'timeouts' if they got too rowdy/grumpy/aggressive. Joanne and Mark had dogs of their own as well - Jazz and Molly. We were told that as long as Sam and Rosie were housetrained, the would be allowed to come into the house with the family when there were people at home. Oh, and we were also promised that they would get their daily exercise in the form of two walks daily or, if the weather was bad, games of fetch in the backyard.

As for food and sleep, they were happy to provide feeding routines and portions as specified by us (we provided the food, of course) and the dogs were allowed to sleep in the (very well) sheltered basement.

All this for $10 per dog per day! Sounds fantastic doesn't it?

Noon and I are happy to say that the arrangement lived up to our expectations, and more! Sam and Rosie were never confined to cages, they got to play to their hearts' content, they had constant human company and Rosie got to jump in for a swim in the family pool!

The feedback we got from Joanne and Mark when we went to pick up our kids was that they had been very well behaved throughout. They told us the kids were never jumped on; Molly, Jazz, Sam and Rosie all got on very well (Rosie and Molly in particular), and that Sam and Rosie did not end up destroying anything around the house. Not sure if any holes were dug though... I imagine there would have been at least some...

And you know what the most important thing was? Sam and Rosie both looked extremely happy to be there! Check out the following pictures to see for yourself!

I'm sorry I didn't take too many photos, would have like one with Joanne and Mark and their kids (and dogs). But suffice to say that this will not be the last time Sam and Rosie stay over with them.

And Mark, if you're reading this, you were right. Sam and Rosie were exhausted when they got home with us! The couple of days of playing with Jazz and Molly tired them out so much they slept for the entire day! :)