DogVacay.com – Dog Boarding Community

I recently used
for a sitter to be in my home for two nights with my precious Pug and two senior cats. Folks, I can’t say enough good things about the sitter. They don’t come any better than the one I used. But this review is about
… OUTSTANDING. The site is very easy to navigate and you have the opportunity to exchange emails and then have a meet and greet with who you chose BEFORE actually booking a reservation. Once you book, you get some great benefits. First is knowing your sitter has been thoroughly checked out (background check). Then you get some extra insurance for your pet (s) and ²⁴⁄₇ emergency service and daily text/​pics and … lots of extras. I highly recommend
!!!

Rachel C. & Gizmo (Waldorf, MD) are great hosts. Our first time leaving Sasha with anyone other than family or friends and Rachel & Gizmo definitely have given us a different perspective on dog sitters & hosts. Definitely recommend if considering. Look her up!

We’ve used DogVacay, specifically Annie G, twice and it was great! Annie has watched our girls while we were out of town for a full week those 2 times, and she was amazing as usual! We are so happy with her professionalism, high level of communication, and obvious deep commitment to caring for people’s pets. We’ve already recommended her once to others, and will definitely continue to do so!

Kelley at DogVacay is so wonderful with my fur baby, Seymoure. This is a wonderful service!

DogVacy has been amazing! Instead of having to drive far away to a reasonably priced boarder, I’ve found two great dog sitters right in my neighborhood. The customer service has always been fantastic.

We were heading out of town for a long weekend and needed someone to watch our pups. I found a host right around the corner from our house, had a meet and greet with their family and dog, and then scheduled them to host my pups. While we were gone, we got messages and pictures letting us know that the pups were doing well. It was a great experience and I will use it the next time I need a sitter from my pups.

It’s like Airbnb for your dog! Search through nearby pet-​sitters, change your filters based on dates, dog, etc.
Chat with and meet the person before you book.
Book online, credit card is billed, it’s all super easy. No commitments until you’re ready to leave your dog with someone you trust!

Since there is no way to complain about the flakiness of the sitters advertising on the dogvacay site (and since its customer service doesn’t seem to care), I thought I would post here.
I have used dogvacay several times for the past couple of years. At first, the few hosts listed seemed to have been screened better, or maybe a better type of person was an early-​adopter host.
But more recently I have found it to be extremely frustrating. Hosts advertise availability that is not real, meet-​and-​greet appointments are blown off (last week, as I had my dog loaded in my car and was driving across town in post-​blizzard weather). And finally, a host just cancelled my reservation for the upcoming holiday weekend FIVE days away. I had started looking on dogvacay for an available sitter four weeks before we needed the service… now we may have to cancel out trip and cancel five cross-​country plane tickets because we have no sitter for our much-​loved dog.
This service seems to attract the flakiest of people and is a complete waste of time.

Thrilled with DogVacay and our awesome pet sitter (Dana) in Falls Church. Rather than sending our cats to a kennel or using a house-​sitter, we found our pet sitter on Dog Vacay. Couldn’t be happier!

This has been one of the best finds! When my husband and I are out of town we typically like our pup to stay with friends so he has space to play and human interaction on a regular basis. Unfortunately, our friends are not always available and we’ve had to rely on using a dog ‘resort’. No matter how nice they make it, there’s no way around the fact that your dog is stuck in a crate for most of the day, barks all day long because they are stressed with all the other barking dogs around, and is exhausted (from stress) after you pick him up.
I prefer DogVacay over Rover simply because I was able to find a reliable family we trusted to watch our pup. Rover had a few, but they would only accept ‘small’ dogs and 18 lbs was about 3 lbs too many for those families.
What other perks are there?
1. It’s cheaper than the decent dog ‘resorts’ around us (and he’s not stuck in a crate all day).
2. Our pup gets a lot of love, attention, and playtime.
3. I can communicate with the person watching our dog while we’re away and not just get a generic «He’s doing well».
4. The person I use, Melissa G, sends me pictures of my dog and messages of how it’s going! I HATE being away from my pup and am in LOVE with knowing exactly how he’s doing. (Bonus: Melissa has a dog and our dogs get along famously!!)

Serena and her family won our hearts and confidence at the meet and greet before boarding Brewster for a long weekend. Our dog, Brewster, was smiling while running and playing with her pups. A wonderful large fenced in backyard was perfect setup for playing and socializing with other dogs. You cannot find a more dedicated, loving and knowledgeable lady. Serena was honest with all Brewster’s quirks, some of which we were not aware of. We are thrilled beyond words. Thank you Serena and family!

We had a great experience booking through
. Much better than boarding at a kennel, and the price is comparable. Instead your dog gets to hang out at someone else’s house, and gets lots of affection and attention.

Not much in my life is EASY. This, however, was easy and actually a breathe of fresh air. I was in a tough position due to being called away on business with very little notice. I found this site and located a local dog sitter with decent reviews (Jessica A. in Chantilly, VA). To keep this short and sweet, she did an amazing job. If you are looking for a more personal touch to boarding your dog, consider using this service and if you are near Fairfax or Chantilly, hit up Jessica A. I really felt like I was leaving my little bully pup with family while I was gone for 4 days. Wonderful experience, fair price for peace of mind and no drama. Zero complaints.

Great service, and wonderful to get to choose from sitters in our neighborhood and read others’ reviews. Led us to feel very confident in our choice.

Dog Vacay offers alternative to the expensive Doggy «Spa» like boarding facilities in the area. My dog Annie is pretty low maintenance and likes a calmer, quieter environment than what a dog resort offers. Annie has loved in home boarding and dog vacay makes that so affordable and easy. Dog Vacay adds security (not to mention insurance) that makes me confident she is in good hands. In my experience, the dog sitters are all very responsive and professional. I highly recommend this service and will be using dog vacay in the future.
It is a wonderful big business that keeps the money with the folks doing the work!

What a fantastic service! We had been just about to board our beloved dog at a local kennel for the first time ever. And then a friend posted on Facebook about DogVacay and I immediately was able to find a great home for our doggie. He was part of their family for the weekend, the home was clean, the owners were awesome, and our doggie had a great time. We got pictures to boot! Excellent service!

We absolutely loved the service we got through DogVacay and Caitlin R! Our dog is like family, and his care is of utmost importance! We were thrilled with the care he received and all the photos we received while we were away! I will definitely use this service again!

I really like this service. It’s important to us that our pooch is not crated and uncomfortable when we’re away and dogVacay provides exactly what we need. To date, we’ve used the service a couple of times and have been pleased each time. Liz C and Rachael K were great with Bashir. They took him in and loved him up during our absence. They kept us informed as to how he was doing and sent a few pics to actually show us he was fine.
Our pooch is 13 years old and unlike younger dogs he’s very laid back. It’s nice to see him calm and relaxed when we pick him up. I would recommend this service to anyone looking for a more traditional setting for their pets when they’re away.

Diane M (Columbia, MD) was awesome! My puppy was so happy with her. She sent pictures to me via text message and provided me with daily status updates. She even watered my flowers while I was away because they were dying. I truly appreciated her above and beyond attitude and stellar service. She will be my go to sitter from this day forward!

Dogvacay has been a lifesaver for me many times and all the hosts are very accommodating. I had gotten a puppy, Nala, and there were many people not only willing to take her, but loved having her! I can’t imagine my pup feeling abandoned in a kennel. She is rarely in a crate and the thought kills me. My pup is so social and loves to play, so I try to find a home where Nala has a playmate! My go-​to-​people have been Mike and Danielle (Puppy Party @ The Penthouse) in the Arlington area! Sadly, they are moving from the DC area. If they continue to pup sit, you’re welcome Colorado! I know I’ll find more great people on this site though.
I loved dogvacay so much and appreciated all the other pup parents that took care of Nala so well that I decided to return the favor! I now work on dogvacay as well! It’s a win, win! My pup gets to play with new friends and other pup parents can go on vacation knowing that their dog is having a blast and are well cared for!
Highly recommend using dogvacay for any and all of your pup’s needs!
*Also, there were one or two times I needed to contact dogvacay directly. They respond quickly and are eager to address any issue or answer any question you might have. (I only contacted them one or twice with random questions)*

Rescued me July 4^th weekend. I am a regular Rover user and couldn’t find anyone available and at a reasonable rate. With this site I ended up with 2 options right near my house. The meet and greets are great. The sitters also seemed much more accomodating.

This review is specifically about Shannon M and Happy Pups on H Street.
Shannon and Cece were excellent hosts to our four-​legged son, Clinton. The five days Clinton stayed with Shannon was the first time he spent several days apart from us since being adopted. As you may imagine, we were quite worried about him and interacting with other doggies. However, Shannon sent us several pictures throughout the week and kept us updated. She also replied right away when we texted her to check on Clinton. Clinton came home happy and he had a great time. We highly recommend Shannon and Cece; they’re great hosts and we can’t wait for his next visit!

Love using this site to find sitters for my pup, Chloe. It’s super easy to use and you can ask hosts a question before deciding to book with them. I’ve had to modify some reservations and the customer service (email or 1800 number) have always been super fast at resolving whatever issue I had. Always recommend this site to friends!

This review is specifically for DogVacay’s «Waggy Trails» sitter, run by Leah, who’s in the Silver Spring/​Takoma Park area. I actually am in Northern VA but Leah is so awesome I pretty much exclusively use her for dogsitting.
Leah is awesome with my puppy — who is thrilled to see Leah every time I drop her off (that speaks volumes to me). Leah is totally well equipped to care for dogs. She is a dog person (actually, she’s both a dog and cat person) and she’s ultra responsible — her home is clean and animal-​safe. She treats my dog with as much care as I do, and there’s no better reassurance than going away and knowing my puppy is in good hands. I’m a huge fan and turn to no one else for pet sitting!

Awesome place to look for a pet sitter! I found the perfect sitter for my dog on a very short notice and will be definitely be booking through here in the future!

We have used
for our nervous dog and it has been a life saver! She could not handle the kennels and other situations we have tried. DogVacay is the way to go!

I am so thankful for Dogvacay! Great customer service (like when I called them crying when my boarder fell through at short notice) and amazing dog loving boarders. I love their search tool and the ability to find people to meet my needs. I’ve definitely recommended DogVacay to any friends and colleagues who have needed boarding for their pets.

DogVacay has a super friendly awesome Customer Service team! Extremely knowledgeable and helpful!