A five-star pet-sitting service has been launched in the Welsh Borders offering your dog all the love, care and comforts of their own home while you’re away on holiday.

PetStay was the idea of dog lover Carole Davy, from Hessel, more than 10 years ago.

Now Lorraine Cooper has taken on this very special business and launched the Herefordshire, Worcestershire & Welsh Borders Branch. Lorraine says that the one to one service for dogs offers a safe, secure and loving alternative to boarding kennels. Instead, your dog is carefully matched and placed with a fully 'vetted', licensed and insured home carer for the duration of the holiday, however long that may be. And even before your dog puts a paw through the door, a home visit is arranged for the owners to see for themselves where their beloved pet will be staying, they can then decide if it is a suitable placement.

Lorraine said: "Research shows that many dog owners aren’t happy putting their family pet in boarding kennels. They’d go on holiday and worry about how their dog was coping. We’ve had these worries ourselves and always felt boarding kennels can be a stressful environment. This has now been backed up by veterinary and animal psychology research.

"So as dog lovers, when we planned a holiday last year, we did our own research and discovered PetStay. We found it to be a hugely reassuring service were we wanted our own canine family member to stay. So our own branch evolved from there.”

Now dog owners of the Welsh Borders have a better choice of care, we believe it’s a kinder way to have your dog looked after. The individual care PetStay provides means your dog/s are not sharing with other dogs (other than the carer if they have one) and they will be at a local carer’s homes.