5.0

We're Matt and Sander. We live on ten acres on South Whidbey with our two teenagers, our dog Artie, two cats, and a small flock of sheep and chickens. We both work from home, which is the short version of why we're good at this: there is essentially always someone here. We ran a business in Seattle for years and boarded dogs through Rover the whole time. What we can offer now is different, and better. Instead of a house in a neighborhood, your dog gets a farm — open ground, long walks on the property, four real seasons, and a lot of interesting smells. Instead of someone leaving for work at eight, your dog gets people around all day, working in the same rooms they're sleeping in. We take a maximum of three dogs at a time, and often fewer. That's deliberate. We'd rather know your dog well than run a full house. How your dog spends the day. Morning walk on the property, time outside with us while we do farm chores, a midday rest, an afternoon walk, and evening indoors with the family. Dogs sleep in the house — on a bed, on the couch, or in your dog's own crate if that's what they're used to. Nobody sleeps in a barn or an outbuilding. About the land, honestly. Ten acres sounds like a lot of running room, and it is — but we don't have a dedicated fenced dog yard built yet. So dogs are leashed or on a long line any time they're outside, and they're never outside unsupervised. We're up front about this because it's the thing that matters most: no dog of ours has ever gotten loose, and the reason is that we don't take the chance. If your dog is a bolter, an escape artist, or a runner, this is genuinely fine here — we're set up for exactly that. About the livestock. We have sheep and chickens. Guest dogs are kept entirely separate from them. The animals are behind their own fencing, guest dogs are leashed outdoors, and we don't do introductions. High prey drive isn't a dealbreaker, we just manage it. What we're good with. Seniors, anxious dogs, dogs on medication, dogs who need a slow introduction, big dogs, and dogs who just don't do well in a kennel environment. Artie is an easygoing host, but if your dog would rather not meet another dog, we can run the stay that way. What we can't take. Unaltered dogs, dogs with a bite history or human-directed aggression, and cats. We love cats, but with the flock here we're dogs only. We always do a meet-and-greet before the first stay. Come see the place, walk the property, and see whether your dog relaxes. That's usually the whole answer. SCHEDULE & LOGISTICS Drop-off and pick-up are flexible — we're home. Weekdays generally work best between 8:00am and 6:00pm; weekends we can be flexible outside that. We also offer pick-up and drop-off if getting here doesn't fit your day. Included range covers Langley, Freeland, and Clinton; farther north on the island we charge by the mile. Ask and we'll quote it. A "night" is a 24-hour period from drop-off. If pick-up runs well past that, we may add a partial day — we'll always tell you before we charge it, not after.