Dog minders near you, vetted before you meet them

None, really — 'minder' is simply the word most people in Ireland use. On PawPals it covers three things: someone minding your dog in your own home (drop-in visits), someone minding them in theirs (home boarding), and someone taking them out (walking). Pick by where you want your dog to be.

Day minding runs €14–€22 for an hour's walk or €9–€17 for a 30-minute drop-in. Overnight minding in the minder's home is €35–€70 a night depending on the county and the time of year. Prices are shown VAT-inclusive before you pay.

Every PawPals minder clears photo ID verification, Garda vetting, address confirmation and two references before their profile is visible. Nothing about that is optional, and there's no state licence for dog minding in Ireland that would do it for us.

Yes, and you should. A free 15-minute meet-and-greet is standard practice — most owners do it before the first booking and hand over a key or lockbox code at the same time.

Filter for minders who list medication experience and say so in your first message. Minders record each dose in the booking updates, so you get a timestamped log rather than a 'yeah, all grand' at the end.

By card in the app. PawPals holds the money in escrow and releases it to the minder once the booking is complete, so you're covered if plans change. Cash deals outside the app aren't covered by our care guarantee.

Usually. In Dublin, Cork and Galway most owners have a confirmed minder within a few hours. Bank holidays, the summer and the fortnight around Christmas are the exceptions — book those two or three weeks out.