Help!! Sitters I scheduled three months ago just canceled on me. We are looking for a house sitter this summer to stay in our waterfront cottage on beautiful Bainbridge Island and care for our three dogs. We have a labradoodle/retriever mix, and two small mixed-breed dogs. Across the street are our boathouse and a big fenced yard with access to the beach. We're walking distance from lots of forest trails and a great village center with an old arthouse movie theater, pub, wine bar and other shops. The road along the water is popular for walking, running and cycling. We have bikes ad kayaks available for use. The house and yard face southwest and get lots of sun in the summer, well into the late evening. We sometimes swim as late as 8 pm! Bainbridge is a 35-minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle, where there's tons to do. Winslow, the main city center near the ferry, has lots of restaurants, a great bookstore, art galleries and shops.
The dogs need to be fed and let out first thing in the morning, usually in the fenced yard across the street. The big dog needs at least one long walk; we usually take him and the smallest one on the forest trails. The big one also loves to chase a ball or stick into the water off our beach. The little brown dog is older and is happy with a short walk or lying in the sun in the fenced yard. (Although, we do not leave them four hours on end in the yard or when we're away from the house.) In addition to exercise, they usually need to be let out to pee in the morning as mentioned, mid-day, after dinner and before bed. The walk should cover some of that. They're fed twice daily, in the morning and between 3 and 5 in the afternoon.
They're great dogs and love company. We keep them in the kitchen-family-room area where there is a baby gate that separates them from the rest of the house (living, dining and bedrooms). It's best to keep them on leashes coming and going between the house and yard and on walks, although the big one, Dizzy, can be let off on the beach to swim. He's ball/stick focused. He also needs a pretty strong hand as he does pull -- and we do use a pinch collar for that reason. He LOVES to run along side a runner.
There are a few pots on the porch that need watering but otherwise our yard does not need a lot of attention, other than picking up after the dogs in the larged fenced yard.
It really is a gorgeous spot to roost in the summer. The pub often has music and if you get tired of Bainbridge, the city of Poulsbo on the Kitsap Peninsula is charming with lots of shops and is only a minute drive away. All of our neighbors are extremely nice and very social. They're likely to invite you over for drinks.