Our dog, Ripley, is very high maintenance and very vocal. When unsupervised, he'll chew on the walls and on any exposed cords, and defecate all around the house. As a result, we have to leave him crated most of the time and can only let him out if someone is actively around to keep him in check. We have to cycle out his toys regularly to keep him entertained and to replace them once he destroys them. Boarding is out of the question for us. Ripley's nervous around other animals and people, and we've had trouble with people feeding him because he'll beg or whine if you eat within sight of him or go near his treats. We had to leave for a week on short notice and couldn't get in touch with one of our regulars. Hearing that Alison also has a dog allayed our initial concerns, and when Ripley met Alison he wasn't nervous and didn't succeed at being pushy (he tried). We only had one call with Alison once during the week to check in. Otherwise, we didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. When we got home, the house was in the same condition we'd left it. There weren't any (new) bite marks around Ripley's cage, no messes around the house, and none of the normal indicators that Ripley had been left alone for long periods of time. Here's hoping that we won't have to leave in a hurry again anytime soon, but if we do, Alison's on our short list of sitters to call.