In-Home Pet Care, Vacation Time & Midday Dog Walks

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Ask lots of questions!
1) Why are they dog walkers? is it something to do over the summer break or is this their career choice.
2) Watch your pets. What reaction do they have to this new person during the first 30-60 seconds?
3) Has this pet care specialist had any form of formal traing besides growing up with dogs? Training is not difficult to obtain but it does show commitment. It also provides a wealth of information that your pet sitter can use to aid in becoming the best they can be for your pets. It also, allows you access to a professional with great access to answers for you.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. If I were outside the trade of professional petsitting, I would like to know many things. First ( foremost) is why do they want to pet sit? Is this a way to collect summer money or is this a career choice? Does the pet sitter have a back up plan? Even dog walkers can get sick or have car troubles. What happens to my pets on these days? Does this group have any specialized traing or belong to any associations (or preferably both!) which gives me the benefit and access to a LOT of knowledge that the average pet lover may not know anything about? Lastly, I'd like a list of as many references as I need to check on the experience of other pet owners.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Our business is unique from some (and similiar to others) in several ways. We are certified Professional Pet Sitters. This means simply that we belong to the National Association of Professional Petsitters. But more than that, we have mastered their cromprehensive course which includes 37 areas of learning all about petsitting, observing animals health changes, communication and many others. We also belong to Professional United Petsitters and Pet Sitters Internationsl. Yes, they are easy enough to join and wear their badge of honor. But what they provide in the area of research is priceless. This is a direct benefit to our clients. Just last month, we started providing info from one group to all of our clients about K9 anxiety during T-storms and loud noises. Out of 14 clients receiving info, 4 showed significant relief in their dogs. 3 others showed moderate relief and 2 more are unsure. That leaves only 5 people out of 14 that didn't witness help. Best part? all remedies and ideas are drug free and affordable. This is but one way in which we stand out.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The best part of my job is that I am a Human Toy! Think about it, my job is to provide excitement, playtime, a long walk, love and cuddles. Oh! And the ever important treat at the end!
My schedule is flexible-to a point-and allows us the opportunity to help out a lot of people. Emergencies, the late night unscheduled meeting or a last minute invite to go out for the evening can be difficult for pet owners. None more so than the dog owner. Our availibility and flexibility provides us with the honor of helping out at the last minute.

We also are in an excellent position to help people find info and ideas for everything from training to boarding and vet care.

We work hard at networking ourselves by talking to our clients about their house cleaners, tree services, handy work, etc.

We love it when we can provide info that can other wise be lost.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. My entry into the world of petsitting wasn't especially noble at first. I was a stay at home Mom whose toddler had gone off to preschool. I wanted something to do! I'd been with pets for 40 years. My next door neighbor had a company. Most important, I could maintain the freedom to keep my daughter as the top priority everyday. I figured, "why not?"

Boy! was I in for a surprise! I found more joy and more balance than I'd ever known working in "the outside world". Everything just clicked. I found I was learning more from the animals than they were ever going to learn from me! I am reminded daily to enjoy the moment and top stop and smell the roses. I thrived on this kind of "work." Hard to think of it as work, really.

After 6 years, my neighbor decided to move and offered to sell the business. I, frankly, didn't like the condition the business was currently in nor did I like the price. I set out on my own in 2006. 3 clients followed me because they didn't want to change their primary walker. Now, I have a team and over 160 clients-happy ones at that!