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In this July 28, 2015, photo, Lisa Kruczek pets Bailey, one of her clients' dogs, in her yard in Wonder Lake, Ill. Kruczek operates her home-based business, Lakeside Pet Sitting & Grooming, with the help of Dogvacay.com, a website which finds local pet sitters for vacationing families. (Matthew Apgar/Northwest Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT, CHICAGO TRIBUNE OUT
In this July 28, 2015, photo, Lisa Kruczek pets Bailey, one of her clients' dogs, in her yard in Wonder Lake, Ill. Kruczek operates her home-based business, Lakeside Pet Sitting & Grooming, with the help of ... more Photo: Matthew Apgar, AP
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In this July 28, 2015, photo, Lisa Kruczek pets Bailey, one of her clients' dogs, in the yard of her home in Wonder Lake, Ill. Kruczek operates her home-based business, Lakeside Pet Sitting & Grooming, with the help of Dogvacay.com, a website which finds local pet sitters for vacationing families. (Matthew Apgar/Northwest Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT, CHICAGO TRIBUNE OUT
In this July 28, 2015, photo, Lisa Kruczek pets Bailey, one of her clients' dogs, in the yard of her home in Wonder Lake, Ill. Kruczek operates her home-based business, Lakeside Pet Sitting & Grooming, with the ... more Photo: Matthew Apgar, AP
EXCHANGE: Sitters take in dogs for vacationing families
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McHENRY, Ill. (AP) Vacations are meant to be fun and relaxing, often with family and friends. But there's always that one family member that isn't there in the back of your mind. You wonder if they're lonely. Are they eating? Do they miss you?
It's your pet.
They are such a big part of your life, and you don't want your time for relaxing to turn into a time of stress for the both of you.
Jennifer Carlin of Wonder Lake found out pretty quickly her 3-year-old Lab mix rescue named Bailey is not a fan of either being alone or crated.
"The first time I left her in a crate she destroyed it," Carlin said. "I came home, and there were chewed pieces everywhere. There was more than one that she chewed apart, as well as a dog bed."
Carlin decided if she wanted to be able to spend some time away overnight she was going to have to find an alternative means of boarding for her expressive pup.
"She doesn't like being caged up so I knew she wouldn't do well in that type of environment," Carlin said. "I just don't want to put her through that kind of stress."
Carlin took to the Internet looking for someone to watch Bailey in their home. She stumbled upon Dogvacay.com, where she was able to connect with fellow Wonder Laker Lisa Kruczek, owner of Lakeside Pet Sitting & Grooming.
Kruczek is a host on Dogvacay.com, a website where pet parents can choose a sitter based on the specific needs of their dogs, as well as location. Hosts are subject to a five-step vetting process including reference checks, a background screening and a phone interview to ensure they are the right fit for the Dogvacay.com community. The group also recently launched Catvacay.com to provide the same level of options and care for feline parents.
Kruczek has been a host on the site for nearly a year, but has been pet-sitting for more than 20 years. She was looking for ways to expand her business and found Dogvacay.com to be a great tool.
Kruczek takes her clients' pets into her home to stay while they are on vacation, treating them as if they were her own.
"It's a little vacation for them too," Kruczek said. "We become their surrogate family, and I let them do anything they would do at home. We cuddle with them, go for walks. They can sleep with me if they want. They basically have the run of my house."
The "we" in these statements is Kruczek's family, which includes a 4-year-old Boston terrier named Oliver, or "The Boss," as Kruczek lovingly calls him.
Don't let the name fool you, Oliver is very friendly with people and dogs, and Kruczek brings in all of her potential four-legged houseguests for a meet-and-greet with their owners to make sure it's a good fit.
"We make sure everyone gets along and that they feel comfortable with us and that the dog feels comfortable with us," Kruczek said. "It provides extra comfort for them knowing their pet isn't stressed."
Through several meet-and-greets with Kruzczek, Brian and Andrea Sterl of Wonder Lake realized they'd made the right choice for Tapanga, their beloved 6-year-old Great Dane.
The couple always has had trouble finding places to board Tapanga because of her size.
"It is extremely difficult to find somebody who is comfortable with large dogs," Andrea Sterl said.
Brian Sterl found Dogvacay.com through an online hunt, and the couple sought out Kruczek. Tapanga stayed with Kruczek last weekend while the two visited a granddaughter in college.
"We didn't want to have (Tapanga) in an actual kennel, and we didn't want to leave her alone where people would just come over once or twice a day," Andrea Sterl said.
"What I really like about (Kruczek) is when I met her, she made me feel very comfortable leaving my dog there. I didn't have to worry. ... (Tapanga) is part of the family. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."
Kruczek charges $25 a night, and owners can bring toys, food, blankets and anything that will make the dog more comfortable outside of the dog's actual home.
Carlin said she would recommend Kruczek, as well as Dogvacay.com, for owners who don't want to send their dogs to standard kennel or boarding facilities, though she said she has nothing against those services. The type of environment offered through Dogvacay.com works better Bailey, but that doesn't mean it's the same for every dog, she said.
"She just gets so much more attention in this type of environment," Carlin said. "I want to put her somewhere she gets hugs and kisses and love. I warned Lisa that she wasn't going to be able to keep my dog off of her couch, and she was totally fine with that."
Other places throughout McHenry County offer services as well.
Camp Bow Wow in McHenry offers doggy daycare and boarding services for dogs that are more social. While they do spend some parts of the day confined, they get their fair share of fun, sun and room to run.
"It's not just dogs sitting in crates here all day," said Karlie Harvey, front desk leader and camp counselor. "They have plenty of supervised playtime each, as well as scheduled naps and, of course, love from the counselors."
Camp Bow Wow offers a live camera app option in which owners can watch a video feed of their pups any time throughout the day and night. There also are several Camp Bow Wow locations across the country dogs already in the system can utilize.
The price tag on Camp Bow Wow is $45 a night, including food, playtime, medicine administering if needed and constant monitoring.
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Source: The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald, http://bit.ly/1jNaXmT
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Information from: The Northwest Herald, http://www.nwherald.com
This is an AP-Illinois Exchange story offered by The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald.
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