Where I come to
York, and about fifteen miles of what surrounds it.
Two different distances, for two different reasons. Drop-in visits stay close because I have to get between them twice a day. Overnight stays reach further because once I’m in your house I’m staying put.
Visits and overnights — within about five miles
York · Acomb · Clifton · Fulford · Heslington · Bishopthorpe · Huntington · Rawcliffe · Poppleton · Haxby · Copmanthorpe · Dunnington
Two visits a day, £15 for 30 minutes or £22 for an hour, only works if the driving between houses stays short. That is the whole reason for the five miles.
Overnights only — out to about fifteen miles
Strensall · Stamford Bridge · Tadcaster · Easingwold · Pocklington · Wetherby
One journey out, one journey back, £50 a night. I’m not crossing the city four times a day to make it work, so the distance stops mattering in the same way.
Not on the list
Ask anyway. Some addresses just outside are a shorter drive than places on the list, and some are not.
I’ll tell you honestly whether it works. There is no travel surcharge — whether I can take a booking further out is a question of what else is in the diary that week, not of an extra fee.
The things that actually change a visit
Worth mentioning when you send your dates.
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Parking and permits
A good number of streets inside the walls are permit-only, and a half-hour visit stops being half an hour if ten minutes of it is spent circling. Tell me at the meet and greet what the parking is really like on your road and whether there’s a visitor permit, and I’ll build the real journey into the visit times rather than pretend it costs nothing.
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Terraced streets and access
Plenty of terraces here have no side access and no front garden, which changes how getting in actually works. Tell me at the meet and greet what your door, your gate and your neighbours are really like, and we’ll agree an arrangement that suits the house.
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Getting out to the villages
The outer places on the list are a dual-carriageway run rather than a crawl across town, which is exactly why an overnight can reach them and two drop-in visits a day can’t. Holiday weekends on the A64 add real minutes, so if your dates fall on one, say so early.
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Race days
On a race day the roads round the racecourse and the river bridges add time to any cross-city journey for most of the afternoon. If your visits land on one I’d rather widen the window with you in advance than turn up late and explain afterwards.
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Bin days and post
Different parts of the city collect on different days, and a bin left out for a week is the clearest possible sign that a house is empty. Tell me your collection day and which bin, and it goes in the care notes with the post and the lamps.
If you’re just outside, ask.
The radius is a rule of thumb, not a fence. Send me your postcode with your dates and I’ll tell you whether I can do it properly, what any travel would add, and if the answer is no you get a no rather than a long silence.
What I will not do
Take a booking I can’t reach reliably in bad weather or heavy traffic. An animal waiting an extra two hours for a feed because I was optimistic about a distance isn’t a service worth selling.
Which service the distance applies to
See all prices-
Overnight house and pet sitting
I stay the night in your house. £50 a night, and this is the service that reaches about fifteen miles out.
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Dog sitting
Overnight stays with walks included. No standalone dog walking, and no daycare.
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Cat sitting
Usually two half-hour visits a day, which is why the drop-in distance matters more here than anywhere else.
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Half-hour and hour-long visits
£15 for 30 minutes, £22 for an hour, inside the drop-in area.
Whichever it is, nothing is held until we’ve met at your house. What a meet and greet involves, and the questions people ask before booking.
Send me your postcode and your dates.
Tell me where you are and what animals you have. If you’re outside the areas above I’ll say so, and I’ll tell you what travel would cost before you decide anything.
What happens next
I reply to say whether the dates are free.
We talk, then I come to your house to meet you and your animals.
Nothing is confirmed until after that.