Well, I’ve started my search for a new dog-sitter and so far, so slow. There are a bunch of people/places that offer pet-sitting services, but most board the animals at their homes or places of business and I’m looking for someone who would be willing to stay at my house for the four (ish) days that we’re away. I have found a few who WILL actually come and stay at the house with the dogs, but not during the weekdays when they’re presumably working at their day jobs. I thought I had finally found the perfect sitter but two things she did/said when she came over gave me pause: 1. Leaving the dog she was watching alone in her car with the back window open while she came in to visit and, 2. Her response upon learning Jelly’s age (14): “Wow. I can’t believe she’s alive!”. Hmmmm. Maybe I’m being picky, but I’d rather be extremely careful now than very sorry later. Always in the back of my mind is the story of a local woman who lost her dog after he sitter forgot to shut the front door – and front gate. This poor woman’s dog disappeared back in November of 2012 and she still hasn’t given up the search, constantly updating her dedicated facebook page and following up on suspected sightings all over town. Given the same circumstances, that would be me!
Seriously, how hard can it be to find someone willing to lounge about my house for four (ish) days, watching movies in my home theater room, sampling from my well-stocked liquor cabinet, and, occasionally, bringing my dogs out to the backyard. And getting paid for it?!
Well, the search continues tomorrow when I hit the local pug meet-up for advice. In the meantime, I have few things to get done this weekend including…
…meeting up with some friends from out of town, in this case Jeff and his lovely wife, Barbara. We went out for lunch (spicy Korean!), then double chocolate shots and sweet, sweeeet snacks:
And NOW I am officially on the program. No, really! I mean it this time!
Seriously, how hard can it be to find someone willing to lounge about my house for four (ish) days, watching movies in my home theater room, sampling from my well-stocked liquor cabinet, and, occasionally, bringing my dogs out to the backyard. And getting paid for it?!
know any out-of-work actors you can trust? or any have dog-friendly friends that can do it?
What are the dates? I’ll book my plane ticket right now and you can pay me in sweets! 😀
Too bad Beth Baisch is a cat and amphibian person. She’s effectively been laid off until SmArt Framing and Accents opens new store at…Surrey Central? I’m not sure.
Gilder Anne McCarroll baterista9@aol.com San Antonio, TX, USA Sent from my iPhone
Did JeffW fix your oven? Did JeffW bring you a cheesecake as a gift? Did JeffW make you a pizza while he was there? You just went to dinner with them? And he didn’t have to cook it? What a waste of talent.
lounge about my house
watching movies in my home theater
sampling from my well-stocked liquor cabinet
bringing my dogs out to the backyard
getting paid
Lawren is not available? Glad you didn’t pick that one girl. Poor dog that she left in the car! And the comment about Jelly’s age… Terrible! Maybe find another pug owner. Fly in your old dog sitter – Christine (?). Did she move very far away? If you want the best, you got to pay for it. Cute picture of the Bubberman!
You sure get around, JeffW! Say hi to Barb for me.
I’m terrible for finding sitters. I pretty much haven’t. We’ve used family, YMCA childcare for short work-outs, church nurseries and Bible schools, and the regular schools. That’s it.
When our oldest was four months old, the family member who was helping watch him casually told me she would often doze from her pain medication while holding him. Not in an asking for help sort of way — she really was just casually talking about herself. Apparently, I have no gut to give me pause. At least you have that.
Send me a round trip ticket, I will watch them. True dog lover. Will give them more attention than they need and I wont touch your liquor. Up to you
Joe, I’m not doing anything. Fly me out from Edmonton, and I’ll watch the kids for you. I’ve dog sat my sisters vary active Border Collies, I can handle yours.
Completely agree Joe, considering Jelly is 14, you need someone that, while not needing to watch the dog 24/7, will be there and available to cater to Jellys needs and will make sure that Jelly is safe. The whole person keeping her dog in the back of her car, with the window open would send alarm bells ringing for me too.
While I’m sure you’re not looking for perfection, it’s clear and rightly so that you want something to look after your dogs and for you to be able to return home and find them alive and well and in the same way you left them prior to leaving.
*want something
Meant to say want someone there. Either way best of luck in your search lol
First, hello Jeff & Barbara! Too bad we couldn’t meet up in Vancouver again. We always seem to be a week off.
That lady sounds terrible! You definitely don’t want someone like that. Those dogs deserve the best!
Only two more days left in my trip but having a great time.
Hoping you get some good ideas for sitters at the pub meet up.
Nice to see you JeffW and Barbara. 😀
Joe, call the vets.. really. Many of them have staff who darn well know what they are doing who can pet sit. Also, local breed clubs… a lot of the folks who show ALWAYS have pet sitters and can give you good recommendations. 🙂
@Joe:
Thanks so much for the hospitality that you and Akemi gave so warmly today…you all are special people! And good luck on the dog sitter hunt; we have our fingers crossed for you.
@gforce:
I’m having that problem a lot lately 😉
Maybe we should just plan a date months in advance and have all his blog regulars meet up in Vancouver? (Full disclosure: Joe said something along this line today, but the meeting point was in the ‘States, so it’s not my idea, it’s his.)
@Ponytail:
We offered on the oven, but Joe has it well in hand. On the rest, I think I would have had some difficulties getting my pizza peel, pizza cutter, and springform pans in my carryon 😉
I, too, would be able to dogsit, your liquor cabinet would be safe and heck since I’ve gone raw vegan for 2 months I don’t even need your stove, and it would only cost you a box of choccies from Beta 5… but alas like everyone else on here I’m geographically undesirable.
I wouldn’t have thought it would be hard to find someone given the size of Van. Good luck with the hunt though…
K
Dude! Add me to the list of potential dog sitters! I’d only have to come from Idaho, USA. That’s not a problem, is it? 😉
“…but the meeting point was in the ‘States, so it’s not my idea, it’s his.)”
Storming the MGM offices and protesting for more Stargate? I’m in!!
Hey Joe, try your vet’s office, maybe one of the techs would like to do it. I know what a hassle it can be to find the right person; we’ve had all kinds applying (especially when Elway needed someone full-time during the week) and it can be daunting. I don’t let any pet-sitter take my dogs for a walk (the yard will do until I return), and I worry about people being careless once I’m gone. Right now, I have one girl that I trust completely, but I’ve known her for years. If she can’t pet-sit, I don’t go. 🙂 I’d let someone come in for a half day (read: nanny cam) while you’re close by and see how that works out. I’ve never tried boarding the Boxers, and probably never will. You can’t be too careful!
is that the start of Joe’s new Chocolate Diet?
Good luck with your pet sitter hunt. Someone will come along. Maybe a college student? I’ve got to find a pet sitter myself. I have a teenager in mind but I haven’t asked him yet. He’s responsible, bright and loves animals. My vet has been stopping by to check on my cats while I’m out of town but she is so busy that I hate to bother her.
It’s wonderful that Jeff and Barb met up with you both! Another couple of foodies to share a meal with. The desserts looked yummy.
I was discussing cheesecake last night with a friend and telling him about JeffW’s recipe. My friend, Michael, is a physicist and always is interested in new cooking techniques. Michael uses a pressure cooker to make cheesecake. He says it cuts the cooking time in half. Interesting idea but I think I’ll stick with an oven. Michael was interested in the Sous Vide method you described, Mr. M.. It sounds like something Michael would try.
If I lived a bit closer (I am in Winnipeg), I would gladly do dogsitting for you, as I’ve lived with dogs most of my life and have had ones that lived to be about 17 years young. Best of luck with your search!
I would gladly do it for you Joe, just chuck in the air fair from London to Canada on top of my normal fee for dog sitting, 100 quid a day. I would even take them on walks. An with my sister dog 18 year old and I look after him for 2 weeks, and he was still alive! so I am sure Jelly’s would survive a few days of me looking after her.
I’d love to come up and be dog sitter for as long as it takes. My passport expires next year, so no worries there. 😉 Dogs, cats, fish, ducks, turtles, guinea pigs..no problem. 🙂
Try finding someone to critter sit 3 horses (1 older than Jelly in horse/dog/human equivalents) and 3 dogs in the middle of nowhere at -40C….hence, I stay home lots 🙂
I was reading that the Monster manga was being adapted to a TV series for HBO, this show of course joins stuff like Noir in anime properties that are making their way outside of Japan. Noir seems to be an upcoming Starz show.
If Noir is successful, I don’t see why someone can’t pick up Madlax or El Cazador De La Bruja, I mean, all 3 shows are part of the girls with guns trilogy. Makes sense lol
With Madlax you might have to switch the countries a bit with the Madlax backstory/general location but could be done in Canada or America anyway.
Thought it was interesting anyway.
Good luck on your search, I hope you find someone who treats them with the care and kindness they deserve
I’m 60 and an experienced and loyal pet sitter. If you’re in the LA area, I’ll come down and visit my son while taking excellent care of your place and those sweet doggies. I’ll pay my own way.
Also, I do animal healing and the dogs I’ve helped over the years have lived very long lives … one was 17 when he finally went on. All the rest are still alive and well into advanced years and yet active and happy.
BTW, I follow your blog because of the laughter you always have in your voice — I love to hear you talk … you should do more of it.
Contact me through my FB page if you want more information~ I’m the only Randy Sandknop on the planet!
You are right about those pet sitters. I have been shocked to hear about some of the things my competitors have done. I am glad to now have their dissatisfied clients. One who was rated best in our town is charging illegal credit card processing fees. You just never know. Trust your instincts. Vets sometimes do not endorse people. They will give you several cards of people who leave them. Vet techs are a good source, but they can’t leave their day jobs. Right now I am not set up to do 24/7 for any client. In order to do that I would not be able to take anyone else. Sometimes new jobs might overlap in days so I might have to turn away several people. I have only had 2 calls in a full year for this type of service. I can stay overnight, but have to be free to see some of my regulars during the day, ones I have already committed myself. Maybe it is that way for some of these people. This is my only job. But that is something very difficult to accommodate. I imagine if I add this, it will be an as-needed employee who just likes occasional work.