If you are travelling and your dog or cat is staying behind, most of the work happens before you leave. This guide covers what to organise, whether your pet stays home with a sitter or boards in a carer's home, and the Brisbane parts people forget about until the first storm rolls in.
Planning a trip? Tell us the dates and what your pet is like on a bad day.
In-Home Sitting vs Boarding
In-home sitting tends to suit anxious pets, seniors who are unsteady on their feet and most cats. Your pet stays in their own space and a sitter moves in for the length of the booking.
Boarding tends to suit dogs who enjoy company and take new places in good spirits. It also suits owners who would rather their house sat empty and locked while they were away, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to want.
If you are torn, our guide to in-home sitting versus boarding in Brisbane sets out what differs, including cost and who should not choose in-home sitting.
When to Book
For peak season (Easter, Christmas, New Year and the main holiday breaks), book 6 to 8 weeks ahead. Outside those, 2 to 3 weeks is usually enough. If your pet is anxious and would benefit from a trial visit first, add a couple of weeks again.
In inner Brisbane the December window fills earliest, and it is not unusual for people to book their pet care before they book their flights. If your dates are firm in September, enquire in September.
Which Pets Need Extra Planning
Anxious or Sensitive Pets
A dog who startles at noise, reacts to strangers or comes apart when you leave the room needs a sitter who has handled that before. In-home care is generally the less demanding option for them. Give your sitter the triggers, whatever you use to settle your pet and the cues they already know, and give it to them before the booking rather than on the day.
If the problem is specifically that your dog falls apart when left alone, read our guide to dog separation anxiety and in-home pet sitting before you book anything, and see how we handle anxious and special needs care.
Puppies, Seniors and Special-Needs Pets
Puppies need toilet training kept up and play in short bursts. Older pets may come with medication timings, arthritis or changes to sight and hearing. Special-needs pets may have a chronic illness or a behavioural history worth knowing about. All of them need written instructions and enough booked hours to do the job properly, which is usually the part people underestimate.
Multi-Pet Households
Spell out group dynamics: who gets along, who needs to be separated for feeding or sleeping, whether all pets are staying or some are travelling with you and whether small pets (fish, birds, rabbits) need daily checks.
Pre-Travel Checklist
Health and Emergency Details
Prepare a one-page reference:
- Vet clinic name, address, phone
- Existing conditions, current medications, dosage times
- Microchip number
- Emergency contact who can make decisions if you cannot be reached
Let your vet clinic know someone else may act on your behalf.
Food, Medication and Supplies
- Enough food for the full stay plus a few extra days
- Labelled containers ("Breakfast: 1/2 cup dry + spoon of wet")
- Medications portioned into labelled doses ("Morning", "Evening")
- Leads, harnesses, collars with ID tags, poo bags, litter and cleaning products
Routines and House Rules
- Wake-up, meal, walk and bedtime times
- Bed/couch/room access rules
- How you handle behaviours (jumping, barking, begging)
- Non-negotiables: off-lead policy, streets or dogs to avoid
Setting Up Your Home (In-Home Care)
Safe Spaces
Leave their bed in the usual spot. Keep blankets unwashed for familiar scent. Show your sitter where your pet retreats when stressed.
Access and Security
Sort out keys, lockbox, garage remote, alarm codes, where any cameras are and where to park. Walk your sitter through all of it during the meet-and-greet rather than describing it over the phone.
Apartments through Teneriffe, Newstead and Kangaroo Point usually need a fob for the lift as well as the front door, and some buildings will only issue a temporary fob through the body corporate, which takes time. Ask your building manager early rather than the week you fly out. If there is no visitor parking, tell your sitter where they can legally park and for how long.
Queenslanders in Paddington, Red Hill, Bardon and Ashgrove often have an under-house area a dog can get into, a side gate that only latches if you lift it and stairs that get slick after rain. Point all three out. If the gate has ever been left open by a delivery driver, say so.
Brisbane in Summer: Heat, Storms and Ticks
If you are travelling between roughly October and March, the weather is part of the plan.
Heat
Walks move to early morning and after dark, and the afternoon walk disappears on the worst days. Hold the back of your hand on the footpath for five seconds: if you cannot keep it there, neither can they. Tell your sitter which room in the house stays coolest, whether the air-conditioning is allowed to run while nobody is home and where the cool mats and fans live. Water in more than one spot, because a dog who has found a cool tile floor will not walk across the house for a drink.
Storms
Brisbane's summer storms arrive fast, usually late afternoon, and they are loud. For a noise-sensitive pet, write the plan down rather than improvising it at 4pm: which interior room, curtains drawn, fan or music running, the thundershirt or calming jacket if you use one and where the treats are. Storms also mean the balcony door needs closing, the blinds pulling in on a westerly and any dog left in a yard brought inside.
If the power goes and the air-conditioning stops on a 34 degree afternoon, your sitter needs to know the backup: which windows open safely, where the battery fan is, whether there is somewhere cooler the pet can be moved to. Leave a torch somewhere obvious and note your electricity provider's outage number.
Fireworks and Events
New Year's Eve is the one to plan for. Riverside pockets like New Farm, Teneriffe, Kangaroo Point and South Brisbane get the full effect. Feed early, walk well before dark, close the house up and have the quiet room ready before the first bang rather than after it. The same applies to weekend events at New Farm Park and the larger venues along the river.
Ticks
Paralysis ticks are a Brisbane risk, more so for pets who walk near bushland edges around Bardon, Ashgrove and the Mt Coot-tha side. Update prevention before you travel rather than mid-stay, and ask your sitter to run a hands-on check after bush walks. If you are unsure what your pet is on or when the next dose falls, ask your vet before you go.
Preparing for Boarding
Meet-and-Greets and Trials
Before a long booking, meet the sitter, let your pet explore their home on-lead and ask about house rules and sleeping arrangements. A short trial stay helps, especially for anxious dogs, older pets and anything with a medication schedule.
What to Pack
- Usual food and treats
- Their bed or blanket (familiar scent)
- Collar, harness and any jackets or cooling mats
- Storm or fireworks instructions if noise-sensitive
Updates While You Are Away
Before you leave, agree on frequency (daily or twice daily), channel (SMS, WhatsApp), and what to include: photos, eating/toileting notes, any behavioural changes.
When to Call the Vet
Write down the thresholds: repeated vomiting, difficulty standing, breathing changes, collapse, suspected poisoning.
Coming Home
Expect your pet to be clingier or sleepier for a day or two. Ease back into the usual timings rather than resetting everything at once, and hold off on anything big (renovations, a new pet) for a little while.
If appetite changes, toileting accidents, pacing or hiding carry on beyond a few days, book a vet check.
Where We Work
We cover inner Brisbane, roughly 7 km of the CBD, on both sides of the river: New Farm, Teneriffe, Newstead, Bulimba, Hawthorne, Norman Park, Kangaroo Point, Hamilton, Ascot, Clayfield, Albion, Wilston, Windsor, Paddington, Red Hill, Ashgrove and Bardon.
Send us your travel dates and a few honest lines about your pet, and we will tell you what we would recommend.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is in-home sitting or boarding better for an anxious dog?
Most anxious dogs do better at home, because the house and the shape of the day stay put. Boarding can still work where the sitter has the right experience and your dog has had a meet-and-greet, ideally a trial stay, and handled both well.
What information does my sitter need?
Vet details, emergency contacts, medication instructions, feeding routine, walk preferences, house rules, known triggers and a storm plan if your pet is noise-sensitive.
My pet has complex medication. Is holiday care still an option?
Often, yes, depending on what is involved and whether the sitter has done it before. Provide written schedules, show your sitter how each medication is given rather than describing it and tell your clinic that someone else may be acting for you. Some regimes are beyond what a sitter should take on, and we will say so rather than agree and hope.
Will my pet think I have abandoned them?
Most pets settle once they work out that the days still run to a shape they recognise. Some are flat for the first day or two, particularly dogs who are closely bonded to one person. A trial stay and their own bedding both help. If your pet has struggled badly with previous absences, tell us before you book so we can plan for it.
How far in advance should I book?
For peak season (Easter, Christmas, New Year and the main holiday breaks), book 6 to 8 weeks ahead. Outside those, 2 to 3 weeks is usually enough.
What if my travel plans change?
Talk it through before you go. Leave extra food at the house, and make sure your sitter has your number and your emergency contact's as well.