How we became pet sitters

As many pet owners, we like our pets as much as kids. Everytime we went abroad (we love to discover new countries) we faced the same problem : what are we going to do with our furry animals ?

A cat needs to stay home, hates  to change his daily routine,  it is rather difficult to travel with a dog, it was really harder with 2 ! Many hotels or B&B owners refuse them, restaurants are not often welcoming. Heat can be a problem when we park in sunny places with them on board even for a short time...

People with whom we exchanged homes did not want always to look after our pets, but our vet's assistant often accepted that huge responsability. When she retired, it was urgent to find another solution. To tell the truth, we were afraid to let our cat and dogs in strangers' hands. 

Our first experience with a couple of pet sitters has been a nightmare but the following couples  were reliable, behaved as we asked them to, sent daily news, many pictures. Some couples came back when we asked  them again. Our animals are all sweet and easydoing.

Registered as home owners first, we decided we could become pet sitters as well,  due to our long experience as home swappers and animal owners. We know how to train puppies, love to play and make walks with mature dogs, we are not afraid by medical issues, are able to give treatments, to face emergencies.

We appreciate calm, organisation, tidyness. And we are always curious to meet other pets (and their owners). We have in mind sweet souvenirs.

Married for a long time -40 years - I do enjoy conjugal pauses. When Vincent feels like staying at home, does not want to move and come with me, my husband keeps our pets, he seems very happy to stay alone with them.

When Vincent accepts to travel, then we look ourselves for sitters.

Once chosen by a pet owner, it's much easier to select the right person than the other way round : when you know when you will be away, you can begin your own search and select the best candidate(s). Owning a house with a garden and pool, we find quite easily applicants.

So far we have welcomed french, norwegian, sweedish, irish, belgian, english, swiss, australian, american sitters and a couple from New Zealand. In their thirties, fifties or much older. Often alone, sometimes with their family, even their own animals (cats or dogs). our pets are sociable !

Being retired, I thought it could be difficult for us, or me alone, to draw the attention of younger owners. I was wrong. Since 2019, we've been chosen 40 times by THS pet parents:  24 times I sat alone (often a week or less), 16 with Vincent ( generally abroad and for longer periods.)
 
We have been invited to sit in France, United kingdom (Cotswolds, Kent,  Devon, Cambridgeshire, Whiltshire and Guernsey), Switzerland (Nyon), Spain (Mallorca, Madrid and Cataluña), lately New England (Boston, Melrose & Kittery point) and Italy ( in Umbria).
 
Our stays, so far, did not last more than 3 weeks. We sat mostly dogs and cats, a few times poultry,  twice rabbits and only once tropical fish.
 
On my "double hat" experience,  I wrote an article (published in november 2021, I was less experienced than to day), on an on line magazine :
 where I explained how both my experiences  (as an owner and a pet sitter) were mutually enriched.

 Unfortunately Foudre, Nuage & Zig,  our 2 dogs and black cat shown in this article have crossed the rainbow bridge... But we adopted a new dog, Tahoe,  and 2 new black cats, Zia & Zoé. We can't live without animals...

  All photos shown in this blog are  published with their owners' permission.