Our dog Foxton, a Pomeranian is 10 yrs old and currently lives with four cats and my wife and I. He is very protective of her and follows her everywhere. My concern is how he will get along in an unfamiliar environment. We travel quite a bit and our previous sitter (my sister) is no longer available.
You also have the option of requesting a traveling sitter through Rover. Rover traveling sitters will come to your home and provide care for your dog (and cats) in their own environment. To help provide you with assurance, Rover requires their traveling sitters to pass background checks and also provides insurance to cover all sitters booked through Rover. If you choose to use a traveling sitter's services, you can arrange for a meet and greet with that sitter in your home where you and your wife can introduce your Pom to the sitter. Seeing you "endorse" the new human will help the Pom accept them too and make it less likely that she'll be stressed or troublesome while you are away. I hope this helps.
Thanks, Kim
Having meet and greets with any potential sitters is immensely important in any case, but especially so with a dog with anxiety issues (and resource guarding, of belongings or of people, is an anxiety issue). If you are concerned about his behavior in a new environment, make sure to test that with any prospective sitters. Let any potential sitters know about his past behavior and your concerns ahead of time. then schedule an hour or even more for your meet and greets, and if he's doing well with the sitter in your presence, try to take a walk (or drive) around the block, leaving him with the sitter for just a few minutes to see how he does without you there. If he's going to display any severe anxiety, it will likely be at its peak shortly after you leave him in the new environment, so the M&G is a good time to test that to see if both you and the sitter are comfortable with the future stay. I'd recommend reading profiles, and especially reviews, of sitters in your area to try and find people who are familiar with handling dogs with anxiety issues and who are going to provide calm, positive support for your dog while you're away.
Great idea, Laura!
I am sitting a pom 3 years old right now. He is very happy and excited. Barking a lot but I think because everything is new, pacing and turning in circles. He is playing with the other dogs and loves me to pet him. Overall he is just excited and not stressed out. The weather is nice today so I'm going to get him out to the park. Get some of his energy out and I think he will relax. Hope that helps.