NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - What do you do with your pet when you have to leave town? Typically, the options are board it or perhaps have a friend or neighbor take care of it.

A new service hopes to expand the alternatives.

WCBS 880′s Alex Silverman On The Story

DogVacay.com sets people up with someone who will watch their dog while they’re away.

It was just launched in New York City and is the brainchild of Aaron Hirschhorn and his wife Karine Nissim Hirschhorn.

They have a network of over 400 New Yorkers willing to give your dog a place to stay, WCBS 880′s Alex Silverman reported.

The hosts set their own price for watching your dog.

Hirschhorn said his service is a much better option than a crowded and overpriced cage.

“A lot of [the sitters] are casual dog lovers – somebody who wants to make a little extra money doing what they love,” Hirschhorn told Silverman. “We’ve had several who found someone to watch their dog in their building or the building over that they never would have connected to otherwise, almost like an online dating site.”

The service also works both ways. Some people don’t have the time or money to care for a dog on a regular basis, but would love to have one for the weekend.

“I’ve been passionate about dogs my whole life. So it’s just been a great opportunity to have dogs in my home all the time,” Danielle, one of the dog sitters, told Silverman. “So far, I’ve had two dogs and one of them lives only a block away from me and the other one lives on the other side of Prospect Park.”

Would you entrust your dog to a stranger via this site? What do you make of the idea? Sound off in our comments section below.