Bringing home owners and house sitters together
Sitter available
Couple of animals lovers, a Zoologist and a Writer, responsible, and well-travelled.
Spain
Testimonials
They have 5 testimonials (view below)
Pet experience
Dog(s), Cat(s), Horse/Donkey(s), Chicken(s), Bird(s), Fish, Rabbit(s), Guinea pig(s), Rodent(s), Goat(s), Farm animal(s), Other animal(s) – lots experience with rescue animals, housesitting, and we fostered various rescue dogs, and watching them gain confidence as they got to know us was such a beautiful experience
Police check
They have a police check
Availability
From: 18 Dec 2024
Until: 18 Mar 2026
Occupation
Teacher
References
They have referees/references (view below)
About this sitter
We are a responsible, animal loving couple, Clare, 36, from London, and Dario, 41, from Madrid. We currently live in Valencia, Spain. I am teaching English online so with just an internet connection I can work anywhere. I have a degree in Zoology, and have grown up with pets, and spent many years looking after horses. Dario is a published writer, working in the office if a large IVF lab in Spain. We love nature, so a place in beautiful surroundings with hiking opportunities would be ideal. We are seasoned travellers, we speak English and Spanish, and Dario speaks French too.
Why they want to house sit
We love animals, and enjoy travelling slowly and really getting to know a destination. House-sitting allows us to do this, while sharing the experience with animals. We want to take advantage of being able to work online, to travel and work at the same time.
Their experience
We spent summer of 2020 house sitting in France, a month near the Alps and another few weeks near the Pyrenees, looking after some lovely pets and getting to know the areas near the houses. We had an amazing experience, the owners were so welcoming, there´s more detailed info about these sits in the testimonials below. Summer 2021 we house sat a month in Malaga, Spain, then 2022 3 weeks in Bergen, Norway. We also did a local house sit, near where we live, looking after a couple´s dog Max.
As mentioned above, we both have experience with animals. Dario has owned dogs and cats all his life, a Shit tzu, a Boxer, and various rescue dogs, to name a few. He is experienced in training dogs, and we know how important that is. I have also owned pets all my life, we recently fostered a rescue dog in Valencia, she arrived very nervous, after being mistreated, but after a few weeks she was really happy and comfortable with us. I have also taken part in various farm-stays through the organisation Work-away and Helpex. We often look after friends´pets, and we understand the responsiblity, and realise how important it is to choose the right person, so personal references can be provided.
What can they bring to the assignment
We are friendly individuals, who enjoy undertaking new experiences. You can trust us to look after your home as if it were our own, with the utmost care. We will take the assignment seriously, and keep the owners informed regularly on how their animals, and property are doing while they are away. We have both held positions of responsibility for a number of years, Dario as a manager of a multinational hotel, and me as a Teacher. We are active volunteers with Espurna, a charity that works with disabled adults, helping them integrate into society. We are a strong couple, and experienced travellers. We recently walked 800km of the Camino de Santiago together, over the course of a month.
We are non-smokers, we both hold a clean drivers license, we enjoy gardening, and enjoy sharing our lives with animal companions. A valid police check is available on request.
Last updated:
18 Dec 2024
Available to house sit
Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Availability dates
From: 18 Dec 2024
Until: 18 Mar 2026
Do they charge?
They don't charge for house sitting services
Personal details
Age: 26-35 years old
Family status:
Couple
Membership
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References
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Sitemap
MindMyHouse.com – https://www.mindmyhouse.com/owners/sitter_listing/47280
Testimonials
Fun and lovely couple.
Clare and Dario stayed in our flat for 3 weeks in July. They are a lovely couple, friendly and communicate well. I had no problems getting in touch with them during our holiday. They are an active couple and managed to get quite a bit of activities in even though the weather wasn't the best during their stay. They kept us updated with photos, which were much appreciated. Our flat may only have one bedroom but it isn't very small, and it was clean upon our return. They brought us gifts and even cooked for us on some days. We really enjoyed Dario's stories of their adventures and wish we could have had more time to hear more. I hope they had a positive experience during their stay in Norway.
Zellya, Norway, 9 Aug 2022
House sitting in August 2021 Costa del Sol, Spain
Clare and Dario were house sitting for us in August 2021 for nearly 3 weeks. Our home is on Costa del Sol and to the household belongs a Spanish water dog, a cat and plenty of plants to look after. Both animals were very well looked after and our dog Santi was happy to have been taken to various new places. Clare and Dario are pet lovers, they kept sending us photos and kept in touch with us. Our home was tidy when we returned and we were even served a nice breakfast in the morning, after our late night arrival. We can recommend Clare and Dario for house sitting with animals and wish them best of luck for their next experience! Gabriela and Lars
Lars, Spain, 12 Sep 2021
Lucky us!
We put up our advert for sitters at quite short notice and weren't sure whether we'd get much response. How lucky we were when Clare answered! She and Dario live in Valencia but had been in France for the summer and were planning their trip back so our home proved a good 'sit' en-route to Spain as we are quite close to the Pyrenees. We initially chatted via Skype and telephone and immediately felt comfortable with the thought of leaving our pets in their care. Once they arrived, we all spent a day or so together before we left for our holiday - in Spain - and found both Clare and Dario to be easy company. They even cooked a delicious meal for us before we left and sent us on our way with some of their home-made gazpacho! On our first day in Spain we found that we needed a tyre repair and how lucky for us again that we were in Spain and Dario is Spanish! He went above-and-beyond being our sitter by contacting garages near to where we were staying and helping us organise an appointment. My grasp of Spanish 'dos cafés con lech por favor' wouldn't have been much use! When we returned, we found the house beautifully clean and tidy and all the animals very content. It was very obvious that Clare and Dario had cared for them amazingly well - caressing, cuddling and building a good rapport. I would not hesitate to recommend them for another assignment. They even made us a enormous jug of gazpacho before they left - delicious!!
Margaret, France, 20 Sep 2020
Typical country home in rural France (Jura) 1hr from Geneva 21 July-23 Aug 20
Clare and Dario are a very charming couple, easy going and reliable. They replied to my ad and we stroke a deal almost immediately. I appreciated the fact that they did all they could to make me feel safe about leaving my home and my cats under their care. They gave me just enough news, looked after the garden well and kept the house tidy. We even spent a couple of days together as dates were sometimes overriding and it was a real pleasure to have them around. Dario came to fetch me at the train station and even drove me once all the way to Geneva ! I would say, a nice exchange of services we did as I do believe they had a fantastic holiday here. Would definitely recommend them.
delphine, France, 14 Aug 2020
Very recommended house sitters!
Clare and her boyfriend Dario came to stay at my house for a few days last week and I was very pleased with the experience! We found the house just as we'd left it, and all our plants were watered just as I'd asked. They were very affectionate with our dog Max and he seemed very happy to be left with them! Communication with Clare was great, and I felt our house and dog were in very safe hands! 100% recommended! Thanks Clare!
Daisy , Spain, 24 Jun 2020