Polly & Tom

Introduction

We are very friendly and experienced petsitters/housesitters who travel to ChCh every Dec/Jan/Feb for two months. We give our best effort to care for your pets just as you would care for them yourselves. Our goal is to have them feel comfortable with us in their home. We know we could never be replacements for you, but we truly offer our best.

Polly is a retired academic librarian/professor and Tom is a retired electrical engineer. We are very caring, respectful, resourceful, and dependable dog and sitters. We really LOVE dogs. Also, as property owners ourselves, we understand how important it is that you hire people like us who value and respect other folks' property. We are tidy and will keep your home clean.

Why we pet and house sit

When we've traveled, we've enjoyed house sitting so we can live life like the locals within a community. Taking care of dogs and cats helps us feel at home while we provide a really valuable service for pet owners in need. We enjoy getting to know the personalities of the dogs & cats we care for and taking care of New Zealand homes and gardens.

Also, we pet/house sit in NZ because we have 2 grandchildren in Christchurch. As you know, traveling to NZ from the American Midwest is very expensive. We could not visit our grandchildren in NZ nearly as frequently if we had to book long-term lodging. Our pet/house sitting experiences have enabled our visits for the past 20+ years!

What we bring to the assignment / relevant experience

Very often we are invited back to the homes of Christchurch pet owners. These folks have acknowledged our loving and reliable pet care and they've seen that we have kept their homes safe and well maintained.

We feel it's relevant to note that we are fit, healthy, friendly, and responsible pet/house sitters. Both in spirit and physically, we are young senior citizens.

So far, nearly all of our 20+ years of house sitting and pet sitting experience have been in Christchurch. We have taken care of a variety of cat and dog breeds. The cat breeds we've cared for include - Birman, Burmese, Himalayan, Ragdoll, American Shorthair, and a variety of mixed breeds. We have taken care of the following dog breeds - Labrador Retriever, Jack Russell, West Highland Terrier, Cocker Spaniel, Pug, Schnauzer, Voodle mixes, Munsterlander, a Pitbull/Dalmatian mix, and many mix-breed rescue dogs.

Our referees, those folks in ChCh for whom we have worked as pet/housesitters, are available to talk to you. They can give you details about their experience with us and why they would hire us again. Some of our experiences have not been booked through this website but those folks are willing to talk to you, as well. Let us know if you want phone numbers for referees.