I don't know about dogfather but I am a host family for Petnanny which offers a home away from home for dogs ie pretty similar to dogfather but without the training element. Petnanny's owner is very experienced with dogs and we have really enjoyed looking after the dogs that have stayed with us. Like dogfather, we meet the owner and dog in our home so that we can both be happy that the dog will be safe and happy. Petnanny also provides a home visit/feeding service for cats when owners are away. So if dogfather can't help you out for any reason, do look at petnanny.

Thank you very much for having taken the time to reply to my question, especially jamali (and very sorry to hear about your stressful experience!)! This is very much appreciated as it's not easy to find somebody to look after your dog you think you can rely on. I might contact you for a chat, Annabel, thanks for suggesting!

The Dogfather has looked after my baby for 8years and he loves it. I have never had a problem - they will least do what they can to help.

Sorry for your stress jamali, not what you would have hoped for I am sure.

Soleil1 - We are one of their very happy although admittedly fairly new customers.

The Dogfather has been looking after and training our puppy. Tia has been lovely in the training sessions and very helpful with my endless questions about food, sleeping pattens, chews, etc. . She also had our puppy to stay for 4 days last week. She took everything that we have here and kept to our routine etc. despite having dogs of her own. 

Our puppy came back from the mini break super happy, relaxed and with more training to her name. We have booked for another stay in a couple of months.

Happy to chat if you would like?

A x


 

Hi,
I heard amazing reviews about him but I think we must have been unlucky.  I had arranged well ahead of time for him to have my dog over the summer hols and I think it was about 2 weeks before we left that the woman he had organised had an emergency and couldn't do it.  
He sorted out someone else but she at first wouldn't confirm it with me until she had met my dog and established whether or not it would get on with hers (fair enough but I was expecting a definite confirmation at this point and weirdly when she turned up to meet my dog she hadn't brought hers with her and didn't want me to walk with them...) but then she also had a family bereavement that meant she couldn't do it either.  
By this point we had only a few days before we were due to leave and nothing was sorted.  It got pretty stressful and I was trying lots of other options but as it was so late in the day everywhere was full.  The circumstances were awful for the 2 women who had been lined up but I also really needed something I felt comfortable with lined up for my dog so I could keep to our travel plans (a family of 5 travelling during school holidays is not easily or cheaply rearranged).
Finally someone was sorted about 2 days before we left but it was not the stress-free, professional experience I was hoping for at all, and I wasn't massively happy with how my worries were dealt with.  When you are paying someone a fair bit of money to look after a much loved pet you don't really want to be made to feel unsympathetic to others' issues that you didn't want to be involved with in the first place.  
This was all happening right at the end of the summer term and worrying about this was the last thing I had wanted to be doing.  I had specifically gone to Dogfather to avoid the very situation I ended up in.
Like I said at the beginning though - think we must have been unlucky and I am sure there are a ton of people who will have good things to say.  We now use a local woman at great cost but we know our dog is really happy and super well cared for and so we can totally relax and enjoy our holiday too.
Good luck!

Hello, I was wondering whether anybody has already used the dog boarding service of "The dogfather" and what you thought? Thanks for sharing your experience!