To provide some background, we rescued a dog from Portugal (breed unknown) who arrived with us at 5 months old, and therefore who’s training only began at 5 months old. We are also new dog owners so not very experienced. When Mary came to house sit, he was 11 months old, a full on ‘teenager’ and we were away for two weeks. It was important to us that our dog was going to feel calm, be able to continue in his routine and basic training. This is actually quite a big ask for a dog sitter but Mary more than took on the challenge, it was quite clear she has an excellent way with dogs. Not only did she continue our training, and our routine but she taught him more skills and more manners and we returned home to a well behaved dog, who was still really settled (important for a rescue not to fear change with us going away and a new person looking after him). She updated us regularly but didn’t bombard us on our holiday. She has a good sense of humour (given that her shoe was chewed beyond repair and items of clothing stolen by naughty puppy!) We couldn’t be more pleased with how well she looked after him. Mary was also looking after our elderly cat (who does not like to interact with our dog and who does not like to be picked up) so she kindly and patiently navigated that and kept our cat happy and out of sight of the dog, feeding and changing litter tray etc. She also looked after the guinea pig who required feeding daily . Regarding the house sitting, our house is quite large with a large garden and, although we did have our cleaner and gardener visiting regularly, I know that Mary kept the house very tidy. She was very friendly with our cleaner (who liked her so much that she asked Mary to dog sit for her dog too!). I am certain Mary would have been reliable in letting me know if there were any problems with the house, outbuildings etc, and I had no worries about her reliability with security (window locking, door locking etc). She is a very responsible and reliable person. Whilst we were away Mary also messaged me to ask if her daughter could come round and visit for lunch which I thought was very nice of her to think to ask me for permission, but of course it was fine with us! As our dog gets older and more settled I hope that when Mary comes to housesit again she’ll actually get to relax a bit more as I know she went above and beyond her duties during those two weeks and I can’t thank her enough. She was EXACTLY what we were looking for and I can assure you that you are in safe hands, do not hesitate to book her in!

Reference for Mary Ida Dog Sitting Services. It is our pleasure to recommend Mary's dog sitting services. We have 2 terriers, one is somewhat highly strung and one is a very sensitive character. They have never been left with anyone before but a family wedding made it necessary. Mary came and met the dogs before hand and it was immediately obvious that the dogs were comfortable and relaxed in her company and that she is a true dog lover. She engaged with them very well right away. We were, understandably, very anxious about leaving them but Mary was wonderfully reassuring and calm. She sent us regular updates complete with photos which meant we could enjoy the event much more. We came home to happy relaxed dogs that had been fed exactly as requested and were content from plenty of play and cuddles. Mary is very calm and interactive with the dogs, allowing them to be themselves whilst keeping them calm too. She is friendly and professional and completely trustworthy. We will definitely be using her services again and cannot recommend her highly enough.