Experienced house/pet-sitters :o) We have completed over twenty-five assignment ... reliable, trustworthy, friendly couple available for short and mid-length assignments..

About this sitter

We are a retired English couple (non-smokers) who love France, Italy and Spain with growing experience of house/pet-sitting. I used to be a Building Society branch manager and my husband was a BT manager so we have held positions of trust and responsibility in the past.
We can provide UK, French, Spanish and Italian references.
We are friendly, sociable and, most importantly, very considerate and reliable.
We are homeowners ourselves, so we would treat your home with great care, as we do our own. You could also rest assured that your pet(s) would be treated very kindly indeed and be in the safest of hands.

Why they want to house sit

We enjoy spending time in Europe; basing ourselves in just one place and consequently getting to know the local area reasonably well. Renting a cottage or apartment is expensive longer-term. Looking after someone else’s home meets our needs and gives peace of mind to the home-owner. We love animals, enjoy gardening and being outside - hopefully in better weather than we sometimes experience in the UK!

Their experience

We have travelled to France every year except one since 1990. Since our first house-sit in 2008, we have carried out over twenty-five further house-sitting assignments, including several repeats.
The first assignment was for four months looking after four wonderful dogs and a large house, and garden with pool. The second shorter assignment was similar but with no animals.
In January 2011, we completed a six week dog-sitting assignment, caring for a lively and adorable young French Bulldog. A couple of weeks after our return, we were tempted by a short assignment in Charente-Maritime, looking after a gorgeous one-year old Belgian Shepherd and a beautiful historic manoir. The following year, we returned to look after the dog and manoir for a second time. At Christmas/New Year 2013 we looked after the manoir and dog once again, and almost every year since then. She has matured into an affectionate and obedient companion - just delightful.
In June 2011, we looked after a modern house and large garden in Vernet-les-Bains in the Pyrenees-Orientales.
Over the Christmas/New Year period 2011, once again in France, we looked after our first cat - gentle, quiet and no trouble at all. This assignment also had a security nature to it which was no problem for us as we are well-used to burglar alarms and security systems.
We completed a short pet-sit in Burgundy in September 2012 where we cared for two friendly dogs, characterful cats... and our first chickens!
At Christmas 2012, we finally got to Spain where we looked after a five-year old Beagle in Sitges, near Barcelona. She was adorable - very well-behaved, calm and affectionate and we loved taking her for long walks along the wonderful Sitges seafront.
In November 2014, we completed a three-week house-sit in Provence. We were supposed to be looking after a dog but even though he was not there, the owner very kindly allowed us to stay in the house as we had booked our flights to Nice. He even lent us a car!
We completed our first Italian assignment in January 2015 - Sicilian to be precise - where we cared for a sweet little dog and contemporary house in the countryside near Noto. At Christmas 2017 and 2018, we returned to look after her again - she's still sweet and gorgeous. My husband says she's the best behaved dog that we've looked after!
It was back to France for our Spring 2015 house-sit, this time in the Dordogne looking after a lovely Perigordian-style house and two friendly and energetic three-year-old Chocolate Labradors along with a fourteen-year-old Westie who thought he was still a puppy! We had great fun walking them along the quiet lanes and letting them off their leads in the nearby woods.
In September 2015, we very much enjoyed our first house-sit in mainland Italy, Tuscany, to be precise, where we looked after a sweet, energetic and friendly Cockerpoo in a tiny village south of Siena. This time, our walks took place in olive groves or when visiting the lovely towns and villages of central Tuscany.
In February 2016, we returned from our second house-sit in Spain, this time in Andalusia, where we cared for three, sweet little dogs and a house in the hills about twenty minutes drive from the coast where we often walked the dogs. It was lovely to have sunshine in January! Easter 2016 took us to Rome, Italy where we cared for two sweet cats, one 20 years old. She was very friendly and loved nothing more than curling up on one or other of our laps in the evening. The other cat was shy and nervous but eventually she allowed us to sit near her and stroke her. We were glad that she had stopped hiding under the bed whenever we approached!
Immediately after our trip to Rome, we headed to Provence to look after an extremely well-behaved and kind Border Collie. He loved to curl up on 'his' sofa with one of the two very different cats. Maggie, definitely a 'house' cat, and Trouble, aka Roger the Lodger, who liked to come and go. We also looked after pond fish for the first time!
We returned from Provence early in March 2017, following a couple of months looking after four characterful cats and keeping an eye on four high-end rental houses.
April saw us return to the Charente-Maritime and September took us to Brittany where we looked after a young Airedale Terrier for a week. She was full of mischief and energy but so lovable and sweet. A repeat house-sit in Provence plus a short house-sit in Paris completed our winter and spring 2018 French visits before we returned for a holiday plus a few weeks looking after a house that was for sale in the Pyrenees. We enjoyed ensuring that the house and garden looked their best for the viewings. Repeat sits in Sicily and Provence gave us a good start to 2019 and spring took us to the Lot Valley where we looked after a very sweet and friendly cat. A short repeat dog and cat sit in Provence at the end of June, Brittany in September looking after two large dogs then it was back to Sicily for Christmas to look after Lou and Gini, the new young cat. Our last house-sit pre-Covid-19 was in Puglia but it was slightly curtailed by the pandemic. The pandemic put paid to house-sitting until September 2021 when we returned to Provence to look after a lively Parson Russell Terrier and three cats with very different personalities! We were back to Sicily to look after Gini and Suzi, two young cats - one very friendly the other not so much - and then Provence called again in May, looking after our regular cats, Jack, Sam and Hannah. Most of the house-sits were repeats in 2022 although we did look after four cats in the Dordogne for about three weeks in September via a different website. We had a long cat-sit for around six weeks in spring 2023, looking after two friendly and affectionate cats and a lovely villa inland from Cannes along with our usual Luberon house-sit in June. This time, Max the dog was present so we had lots of fun with him as usual.

We have friends who live in the Pyrenees and Richard has helped them with home improvements as he is VERY practical. He also carries out all the home improvements at our house in the UK. He is a great person to have around as he can turn his hand to most things and always seems to know what to do!
We have also spent numerous holidays in Italy and Spain and although we don’t speak Italian and Spanish as well as we do French, we have always managed perfectly well with the help of a phrase book and dictionary.

What can they bring to the assignment

Our primary responsibility would be the meticulous care and safety of your home and pets together with mail collection, general upkeep of your property, gardens, and pool. We would provide loving care to your pets in their home environment so you can relax on your trip. We are quiet, respectful people who would hopefully allow you to feel peace of mind while you are away.
Should you decide to contact us directly, please provide us with information about your home and its location. Please also tell us about your pets e.g. their age(s), breed and perhaps something about their personalities and if they are in good health.