I’m no pet sitting expert. I generally try to keep my dog with me at all times instead of leaving him with strangers. He travels with me just about everywhere I go, and there are few instances in which I can’t keep him within sight. Generally when I do run into a scheduling problem and find myself looking for pet care, I’m able to pass him off on a friend for a few hours. Recently, however, I found myself in a situation in which hiring a pet sitter was necessary. We were out of town and the hotel where we stayed didn’t allow dogs unattended. As we searched for a pet sitter on Rover, we realized that the prices were quite high compared to usual. We pulled the trigger, and only later found out why all these pet sitters set their service rate so high; the cost of heating their homes. You see, the weather where we were visiting was quite cold and snowy. Apparently the cost of energy necessary to heat a house is quite significant in this city, so people don’t take their central heating lightly. They go to great lengths to insulate their homes and save on energy expenditure whenever they can to reduce monthly utility costs. The problem with introducing a large dog into this equation is the amount of cold air that passes in and out every time the dog needs to go outside. Opening the door for even a moment greatly reduces the indoor air temperature, and their furnace must work overtime to heat the air again. That weekend we learned that Rover includes the cost of high quality pet care, as well as a small payment to the energy company.