Well, it appears that Summer never really got started but Autumn definately has! Our pet sitters are busy digging out wellies, waterproofs and winter coats to keep them snug while walking the dogs we look after. It also means that we are approaching the time of year where our property care services swap from keeping an eye on gardens to ensuring that homes are cared for and properly maintained during the winter months . . freezing pipes and leaks are the way forward until spring!!
We quite like Autumn though, especially when it means we get to have lots of fun playing in the leaves like Coco here .. as long as we have not spent the morning sweeping them up! ;o)
After all our puppy talk we felt we must share this link with you. There are a lot of things to consider when you are thinking off bringing a new addition into your home.
The Kennel Club’s inaugural National Puppy Awareness Week (PAW) is a
celebration of the joy that puppies bring to our lives and gives
potential and existing puppy owners all of the information they need to
ensure that the relationship they have with their new family member is a
happy and fulfilling one.
The week will help people to find out more about the differences
between the 210 breeds of dog and to consider which breed, or cross
breed, would fit best with their lifestyle. It will also help to ensure
that people do not get caught out or unwittingly buy from a cruel puppy
farm, which can have a long term impact on the future health and
happiness of their puppy. There are simple signs to look out for that
will help people to sort the good breeders from the bad.
The week will also help people to find out about how to train their new
family member and the steps that they need to take to ensure that it
has the best possible start in life. Explore this website for great
competitions and all of the information you need about puppy buying and
ownership!
For further information National puppy awareness week please click here
Due to increased demand for our live in pet sitting services we are looking to recruit more horse sitters to our friendly team. Pet and Property Sitters care for a variety of horses with a variety of requirements so we are looking for people with different levels of experience.
The position involves moving into our clients homes and caring for the property and whatever pets they may have, including horses. In some circumstances this may involve working alongside their groom or taking sole responsiblity for care. You will however, not be required to ride as our insurance does not permit you to do so. Please see our horse sitting page for futher details.
By it's very nature pet sitting is best suited to recently retired people and we only employee people with a considerable amount of experience but we do tend to find that horse sitters are a little younger! You would need to be friendly, responsible, flexible, professional and accommodating to our clients needs. The position is very much ad-hoc/part time and would not replace a full time job. However it is a great way to get away to different places and get paid for the pleasure!
You can find more information on pet sitting here, but please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss the opportunity.
Have you ever thought about becoming a pet sitter? It can definately be described as something a little different, and an ideal solution to the extra time retirement brings. It gives you the opportunity to stay in some gorgeous homes, explore new areas and spend time with a variety of delightful pets.
Why not see what our sitters have to say?
“We started
pet sitting after downsizing 5 years ago; pet sitting provides a welcome change
of scenery for us and gives us a break from our commitments to grand
children! We enjoy pet sitting because
we love walking and visiting new areas, especially peaceful places. We also love being with animals and giving
them loads of TLC!” Mr &
Mrs C, Brighouse
“We enjoy
pet sitting because it is a great opportunity to break away from your own
environment, see different places, meet different people and animals and make
friends with them both! It is the next
best thing to a holiday and gives you a boost when you know you have done a
good job.” Mrs &
Mrs C, Darlington
“After
running public houses for over 30 years we retired but felt that we still
wanted to do something to keep active.
After loosing our own much loved westie we decided that pet sitting
would be an ideal way to fill the void in our life. Pet sitting takes us off the beaten track, to
places we have never been before. It
gives us chance to explore these new places, meet different people and make new
friends, human and furry alike! In
between sitting we like to travel so we find our two lifestyles fit very nicely
together. Our funniest sit was looking
after 5 dogs and five cats. All the cats
were from the same litter and all had a firm idea of where they SHOULD be
sleeping! The dogs were all different
breeds from a large wolfhound to a small terrier and every single one of them
had a different personality; we were definitely in the dog house! The biggest challenge came at meal times as
they all ate at the same time!
Fortunately there was a lovely pub with a nice beer garden in the
village .. we all became regulars!” Mr &
Mrs T, Northallerton
“I enjoy pet
sitting because I find it challenging and interesting. It is a great opportunity to explore new
areas, meet new people and their pets. I
love caring for animals and will do everything I can for them, even if it means
them sharing my bed! I am very content
in my own company and enjoy the chance to escape my busy life, it gives me a
great chance to get some fresh air, catch up on my reading and indulge my
jigsaw hobby!” Mrs W, Redcar
For further information on becomming a pet sitter click here
We are busy recruiting new live in pet sitters here at Pet and Property Sitters. We found this little chap among the applicants; we think he would be the perfect addition!!
We are in the middle of another busy summer here, sorry that we have not had chance to keep the blog as up to date as we would like!
Traditionally we have always found that the majority of the dogs that we care for are rescues or older dogs who need a little extra tlc. However, we do also do an increasing amount of work at the other end of the scale .. puppies! Our pet sitters can be an absolute god send for puppies as we are available to stay in your home and continue your training as well as giving them them attenton they require and ensuring there are no little accidents!
Providing we have a sitter in your local area we are happy to pop in and stay with your puppy for as little as a few hours; however well you plan for your new arrival it is possible for life to catch you out and take you away from home. Many of our clients find that they do not want to leave puppies for long, and will only fret if they do! Having someone there all the time gives you much more peace of mind than pop in care as we will be there all the time. We can continue your house training routine and ensure that they don't get themselves into trouble while you are away!
We are also able to provide care for litters of puppies if required!
Please do not hesitate to contact us about your puppies requirements and we will tailor cover to you!
We've been busy pet sitting for animals with a few quirks and special requirements this week so this clip really made us laugh! These are our sort of dogs, we love a bit of personality and can't help but laugh when they do what they want to do rather than what you'd quite like them to do .. within reason of course!
It just reminds us of a few dogs our pet sitters look after, in fact we think Pet and Property Sitters could of put on our own version of this, and generally humiliated ourselves in the process too!
Don't worry if your dog is a bit quirky, naughty or stubborn; we've seen it all before and enjoy a little 'personality'.
Rachel, our dog training expert has been very busy over on our facebook page answering your dog training questions! In case you have not see them we have posted a few questions and answers below for you:
Ellen from Newcastle asked: I have two English Springer Spaniels and the
younger one (a bitch) is always running in to the older (dog) when we
are out on walks, barges him and bites him. He's getting so that he
walks by my side all the time instead of running because I think he is
afraid of running as she then chases him and hurts him! Any help
gratefully received!
Rachel: This will have developed as the the younger dog
played with the older one as a puppy, if he is soft he will not have
'told her off' for being rough with him. This in turn allows the younger
one to bully him outside as well as inside... and ...as
she matures she is now stronger and the bullying and chasing has
escalated. You have to work with them separately and give free running
separately so he is not intimidated. This could be a more complex case
so feel free to call me, and if your dogs are insured we could arrange a
referral and the fees will be covered!
Melanie from Birmingham asked:I have a 4 year old Weimaraner who gets very over
excited when anyone knocks the door and will not stop barking. Is there
any way I can train him to just bark as a warning and then cease when
given an instruction to?
Rachel: Your Weimaraner has developed this behaviour over
time and the repeated practice has made it a strong habit. It is
important from an early age that we train puppies to greet people coming
to the door in a controlled manner. If w...e... do
not do this as a training exercise daily then we lose control of the dog
at these times and territorial barking flourishes. The regain control
you will nedd to go back to basics and teach a solid foundation of SIT
and Stay and build the duration up as he learns to concentrate and
control his impulse to rush at the door. As he is 4 years old now this
will need daily commitment and plenty of repetition.
Our pet sitters will work with you to ensure that the advice, training and routines Rachel advises are maintained whenever you are away to ensure that all your hard work is not undone! Rachel will be back on our facebook page answering more questions soon; if you have anything you would like to ask her let us know! If you would like to ask her anything further regarding the advice above or would like to have a chat about your own dogs requirements you please visit her website: http://www.rachelbean.co.uk/
You would have to be living on a desert island to not know that there is a Royal Wedding happening this week. But we have one question .. who will look after the corgi's?!
Pet and Property Sitters have the solution to ones problems; a live in pet sitter! We are quickly emerging as an extremely useful new wedding service. After all, everyone who would normally be likely to care for pets tend to be attending the wedding leaving much loved pets somewhat on a limb. Because we are pretty much the only live in pet sitting company who are willing to provide day cover we can provide lots of helpful options:
Cover hen/stag nights, especially as many are abroad these days!
Wedding day planning and preparations (one less thing to worry about when you are running around!)
A sitter on hand to take your dogs out of the house and away on a nice long walk on the wedding morning so that everyone can get ready in peace
We can bring them to the church or venue for photos!
Cover for honeymoons
Make sure that you include us in your planning; true peace of mind for animal lovers!
And ma'am, if you are stuck we do still have some availability for Friday, we even have a dedicated member of the office team awaiting your call; she feels she would fit right in!
The phones have been going mad in our office this week as everyone has seen the sunshine and decided to make the most of the great run of bank holidays coming up soon. We are happy to provide pet sitters to care for your pets whilst you take an Easter break with the added bonus that we do not charge extra for Bank Holidays! Time is running out though if you want to ensure you pets are lovingly cared for while you are away; we are booking up quickly so make sure you call as soon as possible.
Keep an eye on our blog and facebook/twitter pages over the next month as we have some new services and exciting news coming .. we know we keep hinting at things but promise to reveal all soon!
Hope you all have a fantastic Easter break and don't forget we are now taking bookings for Christmas!
