I use a dog walker on the days when I'll be out of the house for ~6+hrs (I typically work from home). It ends up being 1-2x a week. I use a company, meaning there's an owner of the business and she has ~10 walkers that work for her. There are only 3 different walkers that come to my house (they all cover different neighborhoods), but it's nice to know that there's coverage if anyone is ever on vacation. The first time I met them, someone came to my house for an evaluation and they provided me with a packet with info like their insurance coverage, employment practices (background checks, etc.), how they handle their copy of my house key, and so on. Basically the type of info you'd want to know when you have a stranger coming in and out of your home. My walker also came highly recommended on my neighborhood listserv, so maybe check things like NextDoor or FB pages if your new location has one.
For the first several months, I would leave my DropCam on so I could see how things went. It helped me feel comfortable that they were actually walking the dogs for the stated time, saw how they were treating the dogs and made sure they were being respectful of my home. I don't bother with the camera now.
We've also tested out a couple of in-home daycares near our house. The ones I did not like were where someone opened up their fenced in property (usually 1-2 acres) to dogs. The dogs had unlimited in/out privileges, but the homeowner wasn't with the dogs the whole time - this was usually someone who had a corporate job but worked from home. I didn't feel the dogs would be adequately supervised in those situations. My dogs are stick chewers and they'd eat a whole redwood if they could go outside unsupervised for several hours a day.
The one in-home daycare we do like does supervise the dogs constantly. It's a husband/wife team who solely dog sit and therefor are with the dogs all day (and night for the boarding clients). The few times I have used them, I have gotten upwards of 2 dozen pictures of my dogs over 8 hours, so they're definitely watching! They are significantly more expensive than all of my other options (like 3x the dog walker).
It sounds like a dog walker would be adequate for your situation. My walker will spend anywhere between 30-60 minutes with the dogs, which is more than enough for when I'm gone for several hours.
I am in Seattle, and affiliated w/ the UW. I have a friend (former student) who has a dog-walking business that is fantastic. I haven't used her (we have worked it out so Hoku comes w/ one of us every day), but I've known this person for years and years, consulted her on training when we brought Hoku home, and trust her implicitly.
If you'd like, PM me and I can discuss Seattle / UW specific options. Do you know exactly where you'll be living in the U District?
Hidden Content Hokule'a ("Hoku") / b. 06.08.15
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