housesitting services

Meet the Iveys, a couple experienced in house and pet sits in Mexico. 

Testimonials

Dave’s Stuff

Tanya’s Stuff

DaveandTanya2024
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jade2
Mimi2024
Thanks for visiting our site! We are Tanya and Dave Ivey, and here is a little bit about us.

Hi! We are a married house-sitting couple, Tanya (50 yrs Canadian) and Dave (55 yrs American) Ivey. We met while each living in beautiful Antigua, Guatemala. We had completed over a dozen sits before the pandemic hit pausing our travels during that time, and resumed sitting in 2022 which brought us to San Miguel de Allende. Now, we are Mexican Residents and owners of our own home in SMA, where we live with our dog, Maya Luna. 

We are available in 2025 for Mexico sits. Tanya may sit on her own as her more-flexible schedule allows for travel, or we may bring our extreamly gentle and well behaved pup with us. Even though we have our own home here, we are always looking to experience new areas and as such are happy to help safeguard your pets and home while you travel.

Housesitting is truly the perfect exchange! We do not currently require any payment for our time spent.
We love new experiences, to have time with lovable pets and stay in beautiful homes. Homeowners love to leave for trips without worry, coming home to find their pets happy and property very well looked after. 

You will find us to be good communicators, reliable, caring, super clean, and responsible. We promise to love and care for your home and pets as if they were our own, and to keep your property secure. Pet’s schedules for meals and exercise will be strictly adhered to. They will get plenty of attention in our care, their happiness and health is our first priority! We speak conversational Spanish, and are familiar with life in Mexico.

The homeowner’s regular monthly household expenses are expected to be covered by them in full as part of this exchange (cleaner, electric, internet,*etc). We can help facilitating payments by going to an OXXO or paying a cleaner on your behalf, but all home related bills are covered by the homeowner. We will provide our own groceries/beverages during our stay but ask you are stocked up on sundries (laundry soap, pet supplies, TP etc). 

 

Contact Booking Form

While you're here, check out some of our previous sits below.

Los Labradores, May 2024

Mexican Legal Residents, 2023

We are happy to report in 2023 bought a home in SMA and got our legal residency status!

Now that we are settled, we have restarted doing sits again. Meet the adorable Mimi, Tanya did a solo sit for this little sweetheart in beautiful Los Labradores May 2024. 

SMA, Mexico June- August, '22

Second Sit in San Miguel de Allende

We are so happy to be booked for the second time looking after the home and pets for Jason and Liz.

This time were caring for Finley and Shadow, as sweet Jester had crossed the rainbow bridge. We can’t wait to get to know the new pup and spend more time in historic San Miguel de Allende.

Antigua Guatemala Oct. 2021

Helping out

Friends were called away to the US unexpectedly and had no where to keep their cat, Jade. 

We volunteered to take Jade into our home, for 6 weeks. Having her company was fantastic, she was all cuddles and cuteness. We miss her, but are happy she is back with her family once again!

Booked on the Sunshine coast

Booked until April 2020

We were super excited to be Kitty sitting finally. Homeowner Cindy took off for 3 months of travel in Asia while we took care of her cat Stella and Canadian home in Sechelt, BC.

The trip was extended due to unexpected worldwide border closures and we ended up being in Canada for over a year. Back in Central America in 2021, we are now looking forward to new sits in 2022. 

SMA, Mexico April 2019

2 Pups and a Fish

We loved taking in Semana Santa in the beautiful town of San Miguel de Allende, with these 2 cuties and their fishy friend.

Looking after the lovely home of Jason and Liz was a pleasure, but the highlight for sure was loads of cuddle time with their pups Shadow and Jester, who liked non-stop love. We have since returned to SMA 4 times!

Lake Chapala May 2019

3 pups and a pool

We loved our sit in San Juan Cosala, Mexico.

For this 4 week sit, we looked after 3 energetic dogs and a lovely home in a gated community overlooking Lake Chapala. Keeping this home secure and pets loved and happy was our priority, along with lots of play time in the yard and pool. Booked May to June 2019.

March, May & August '19

Chillin' with Che in Guadalajara

Lucky us get to stay with super chill Che, in Guadalajara Mexico, three times in 2019!

Happy to have looked after this adorable pup in the awesome home of Guierllmo and Dianne while they explored around Mexico, US, and Europe. We totally fell for this little guy’s personality and face.

July 2019 Vancouver BC

Our 3rd sit in this Vancouver home!

Once again we stayed at the home of Shanna and Peter in Tanya’s lovely hometown of Vancouver BC, Canada. 

We absolutely love Mr. Deefer, the cute and cuddly Labradoodle, and keeping him company while his family traveled! 

Ajijic, October 2018

Cali says 2 toys are better!

We looked after the property of world travelers, Leo and Gaby for over a month in 2018. Cali, their fur baby, is one of the best trained and behaved dogs we have ever looked after!

We coordinated with paying the staff, and also assisted with tenants in their rental casitas. Their beautiful 5000 Sq Ft home with a pool and hot tub was a pleasure to stay in.

January 2018

Ajijic, Mexico

We headed to Ajijic, on Lake Chapala in Mexico to care for the home and vehicle of Linda and Jim, as well as their 2 sweet dogs.

This sit entailed being responsible for the health and daily medication for one pup, and of course, lots of love and scheduled walks for a couple of weeks. We loved them, the area, and this great community by the lake.

Summer 2018

Vancouver 2nd Sit completed!

We were super excited to return to Vancouver BC once again to look after the home and super cute cuddler, Mr. Deefer, for Shanah and Peter for the second time, while they traveled for the summer.

This home and pup were our first priority, but Tanya also really enjoyed catching up with her friends and family in Vancouver.

Chelem, 5 weeks in 2017

4 pets = No Waiting

This was a favorite sit, with lots of beach walks, pool play, and ball tossing time. Caring for Kevin and Maggie’s property, as well as their two super-friendly pups, and two rescue kitties, we never had a dull moment.

We spent 5 weeks in the lovely Mexican beach town, enjoying the sun, and play time. One kitten was a rescue, deaf and blind, and super adorable. We miss those little faces!

May - Sept 2017

Progreso, Mexico

Sitting in this 2 bedroom home, with 2 additional casitas, we are responsible for the property as well as large yard with many plants requiring regular care, and large lap pool which requires care and upkeep.

Homeowners Joanne and Chuck left us in charge while they went travelling out of country to escape the Yucatan summer heat.

We are really enjoying our time at Oasis del Mar!

Spanning 2016 and 2017

Antigua, Guatemala

We were always happy to lend a hand to cat sit Nela (short for Canela, the Spanish word for cinnamon).

She was a roof cat that was rescued in Peru by her adventurous mom, Karen. Independent but still loving a good cuddle, Nela enjoyed staying in our care over a half dozen times when Karen did trips ranging from weekends to entire months. We definitely will miss little Nela!

2 sits, June 2016 & February 2017

San Bartolo, Guatemala

We sat for Scott, taking good care of his 3 fur babies, as well as his 3 bedroom home. We made sure Cookie-dog had lots of play and walk time, and also cared for Dobby, a standoffish rescue cat, and Twinkles, a sweet cuddle monster.

This threesome kept us busy with lots of laughs as they played together. Scott knew he could count on us to keep his home happy and safe!

March 2017

Antigua, Guatemala

We took care of this adorable pup Jewlie in our apartment, when her mom had some out of country travelling to do.

She had lots of personality and love to give. Jewlie was so easy to care for, and we took her everywhere we went.

She even got to sleep in bed with us, I mean really, who can say no to that face?

February 2016

San Bartolo, Guatemala

While owners Gus and Annie were away, we got to play with their dogs Kisha and Vinny and stay in their lovely three-story home.

We provided regular exercise for their active pups (and ourselves in the process), watered the exotic plants in their backyard garden paradise and kept their house spotless and safe. An added bonus for Packers fan Tanya – Vinny was named for Vince Lombardi!

October & November 2016

San Pedro, Lake Atitlan

What fun we had with Sherri and John’s 8 chickens and 2 roosters, and their rustic lakeside cottage home was great.

Chickens were surprisingly easy to care for, and had amazing personalities to boot! By the end, we had them all named.

We loved the added benefit of fresh organic eggs every day as well. Yum!

July 2015

Vancouver, BC

Tanya had the pleasure of taking care of the property of Shanah and Peter for a month in sunny Vancouver, in the summer of 2015.

Mr. Deefer, their labradoodle could not have been cuter!

He loved playing ball in the yard and was always greeting her at the front door. She truly enjoyed caring for this pup and the property, while the owners traveled carefree.

Sept - October 2015

Antigua, Guatemala

With a big property comes great responsibility … and a great big dog! It was a blast caring for Dalton, an energetic Weimaraner who loves long walks around the working coffee farm where he lives near Antigua, Guatemala.

While traveling to Europe, John and Christel entrusted their beloved best friend, as well as the day-to-day care and security of Casa Patronal, their sprawling  6 bedroom, 3 bathroom home.

2 years 2006-07

Surrey Beach House, Ventnor City, NJ

Dave handled the day-to-day operations of a 14-room boutique beach hotel, located steps from the famed Atlantic City Boardwalk.

This including guest relations (reservations, check-ins, concierge service), managing the housekeeping staff and performing general maintenance.

You can count on your property being in good hands!

Some Testimonials

Tanya and Dave were amazing. – We recommend them highly! They sent us regular updates on the house, and our pooch. Took the dog to a groomer. Our dog was scratching, and they took him to take care of the flee problem. They took good care of the house, paid the maid and gardener, and left it impeccable upon our return. I hope they are available next time we need a house/pet sitter, as they are on top of our list. ~ Leo & Gabby, Ajijic Mexico

Tanya and Dave were terrific. They are conscientious, caring and communicative about both the house and our dogs.
The dogs loved them. We would not hesitate to use them again. ~ Jordan & Debbie, San Juan Cosala

Really helped me knowing Tanya and Dave were house sitting for me when the pandemic hit and when I got stuck in Thailand. They changed their flights and stayed an extra month while I tried to sort out how to get back to Canada in a time of crisis. Knowing they were there was a huge stress relief in an otherwise difficult time. I would not hesitate to recommend them as sitters. ~Cindy, Sechelt BC Canada

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