Need to board your pet while you travel? Looking for a dog walker? Then please read on...

If you are planning to go on vacation and don't have anybody to take care of your dog or cat while you're away, or if you have a dog that needs to be walked during the day while you're at work, please have a look at the information provided below - these are people who have been recommended to Moscow Animals.

If you know of other pet sitters or boarders that you can recommend, we would love to hear from you! You can send the details to info@moscowanimals.org

Please remember that boarding spaces are always limited and you need to make reservations early, particularly for holiday periods and in summer months.

Vets Yuri & Valeria Shishmaryov, Tel.: 8-901-539-39-56 (English & Russian) e-mail: yuriandvaleria@gmail.com. Yuri & Valeria can arrange a limited number of boarding spaces through their network of trusted pet sitters.

Liudmila (Liuda) Shitova, Tel.: 8-916-134-66-59 (Russian and some English), e-mail: millina@mail.ru. Liudmila and her family are friends of vets Yuri & Valeria. Liudmila has been helping expatriate families with pets for quite a while now. She can board dogs and cats at her home in central Moscow (near Sukharevskaya Metro), or she can stay at your home while you travel to take care of your pets. Liuda and her husband can also pick up pets from your home and bring them back upon your return.

Here is a recommendations for Liuda from 2007:

"To Whom It May Concern: Ludmilla Shitova, phone number 8 916 134 6659, has worked for us from December 2006 to August 2007. She has looked after our extremely whimsical and physically strong bulldog, Winston. She has done her work well indeed. She has treated him as a member of the family and has catered to his every individual need with love and patience. During the winter months it was very difficult for her to get Winston to wear his coat and shoes. She managed to put them on every single day without mishap. She has fed him and cleaned him with utmost care, coaxing him for long on days when he has not had an appetite for his food. Winston sings well and Ludmilla is a professional pianist with a degree from the Moscow Conservatory. Every single day she insisted on playing for Winston. She took great pride in his singing and she never ever failed to xbravo' him at the end of his recitals. She taught him to sing to rhythm which he was not able to do before. She stayed in our apartment with Winston when both my husband and I were away together. She came to us with good references and is entirely trustworthy. We have been away many times and our holidays were always stress free because we knew Winston and our apartment were well looked after. Ludmilla speaks fluent English. She plays the piano for dinner parties. She is extremely well-mannered and pleasant. She is looking for a housekeeping job. She is also willing to work as a dogsitter/dogwalker. I wish her the best in her future endeavors. She really deserves the best." (Debjani Sengupta debjani20042004@yahoo.com)

Olga Krylova. I've looked after pets (mainly cats but sometimes dogs) since 2007. I watch pets for free in exchange for staying at your apartment while you are away on vacation or travelling. I live outside of Moscow, in Korolev, and work in central Moscow (9 to 5:30 pm). Easing my commute is basically the only payment I ask for. If you have a dog and don't live in close proximity to a subway station I'm afraid I won't be able to help. There are quite a few references available upon request. You can reach me at pichimne@yandex.ru or 8-926-207-2248.

Here is a recommendation for Olga from one of our long-term volunteers from November 2009::

"I would like to recommend Olga Krylova for catsitting while you're away.  She's been staying at my flat and caring for my two cats during my travels for almost two years.  The cats are always well cared for and seem happy and content when I return, showing that they did indeed receive lots of care and attention while I was away.  My cats can be quite vocal and they would let me know if that wasn't the case!  The apartment is always in good order.  Olga is very responsible and trustworthy, and in the rare event she wasn't able to stay with the cats, she helped me find someone reliable who could.  She really has been a dream while I've been in Moscow and I've been allowed to travel without having to worry at all the cats were in great hands!" (Shana Aufenkamp)

Here are some recommendations for Irina:

"I would like to recommend Irina Bolshakova, for pet sitting. She is our regular pet sitter. We have a rather large and energetic dog that we recently adopted who Irina handles masterfully. When we travel, Irina comes to our home and takes our dog on a walk three times a day for an hour as well as feeds and combs the dog and gives him all of his medication and vitamins. When Irina came over to meet our dog we could tell right away that she knew what she was doing and our dog is always very happy to see her." (Jean Millwee)

"Experienced pet-owner Irina Bolshakova will take care of your pets while you are traveling. Irina can either take care of your pets in her own apartment or - if needed - she can also feed and walk them at your place (in the center of Moscow within Garden Ring). Professional care, attention and home comfort for your cat or dog are guaranteed. Years of experience taking care and communicating with animals. Recommendations from foreign clients are available. Irina has been taking care of pets (mostly cats) and placing them in good homes (mainly expatriate community) for years. We adopted our two cats from her." (Kate Harner)

Lidia Pavlova, Tel.: 962-31-69 (Russian only). Lidia and her husband Volodya are retired and love animals.  They have a (vaccinated) cat of their own, and accept cats for boarding at their apartment (near metro Preobrazhenskaya).  Small dogs may be an option; please discuss this with Lidia directly.  Both Lidia and her husband speak Russian only.  Lidia boarded and took care of three rescued kittens for Moscow Animals this year, and she did a really great job!   Cats (and dogs) must be vaccinated.

Julia's Dog Hotel (submitted by Astrid Rejding). We would like to recommend Julia and Konstantin, who board dogs at their dacha near Krasnogorsk / along Novo-Rizhskoye Shosse), ca. 1 hour from Moscow. The place is very nice and clean. Julia speaks German (she used to work as a cleaning lady and nanny for German families). They only accept dogs and have outside and internal facilities. They charge 300 to 350 rubles per day (per dog), excluding food. For more information please contact: Julia (Russian, German) at Tel.: 8-916-880-26-09 or Konstantin (Russian) at Tel.: 8-916-880-25-80, Website: http://www.alvas.ru/ps.htm, E-mail: doghouse@land.ru. Julia and her daughter will also feed cats in Moscow. They charge US$ 5.00 per visit. Please click here to access a page with photos from Julia's Dog Hotel (kindly provided by Astrid for publication on this website).

Anatoly Smirnov (Dog Walker), Tel.: 8-919-960-10-44 (Russian, limited English). Anatoly Smirnov has been walking expat dogs in Moscow for many years. He currently has some vacancies, so if you have a dog that needs to be walked during the day, please contact him. Depending on where you live, he can also take care of dogs at your home when you travel.