Gone to the dogs!!!!

[livetogarden]

I run a pet sitting business in my home. I am sitting 2 Cairn Terriers right now and just recieved a call for another dog who will be coming tomorrow evening. They will all be here until Sun. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats and a rabbit of our own. Am I totally nuts or what???!!!!
If all 5 dogs cooperate I'll post a pic of the group. Fortunately our dogs get along well with other pets. They are registered therapy pets so have to have great dispositions in order to belong to the therapy organization.
Wish me luck! 
Cath
A funny side of this is my husband comes from a family who NEVER had pets. By the time we were married for 3 months he had acquired a horse, 1 new puppy and 2 kittens and it hasn't stopped since. I think the man is a saint!!!

[Pa Nancy]

He must be a saint. My dh would NEVER tolerate all those animals in the house.  Must never be a dull moment at your house.

That's a good idea pet sitting at your house,but my  dog would never tolerate another dog in the house.

[livetogarden]

Nancy,
  The 2 dogs we own now are very easy going. They have to be to be able to be members of the pet therapy group. It's good for them to have new dogs around now and then. That keeps them on the right path. Our cats aren't real crazy about new dogs being around but they try to stand their ground and if the new dogs aren't bluffed by their attempts the cats just keep their distance.
  Belonging to the therapy group gets me most of my pet sitting business. Other members pass my name along to friends and co-workers. Good deal for all of us, I make extra money and the people who use my sitting service know someone who knows me so they feel safe leaving their pets plus it keeps my dogs used to having different dogs around.
Cath

[CT]

What a great job Cath I wish I could that. Your husband sounds like mine. He is so tolerant of whatever critter is rescued or shows up and misses them when they are rehomed.

[LeeAnne151]

I think it is great that your dogs are therapy dogs. Good for you.    Such good work. Although if I am ever really sick in the hospital they better bring me a cat or a mini horse.

Cairn Terriers are adorable!

[livetogarden]

LeeAnne,
  One of our cats has made visits also. There was an elderly lady (she passed away a year ago) she had always had cats and her daughter called to see if anyone had a cat that could visit. Mine had never done visits before this but the president of the group called me and asked if I thought she would work. So we visited this lady until she passed away. I went to her funeral and they mentioned how much her visiting cat which she called 'my cat'  had meant to her in the last year or so of her life. How cool!!
  We have a group in Arkansas that does take a mini horse for visits. 
Cath

[GAJen]

Cath, we don't have a descent pet sitting service in our area. I love Marco with all my heart and sometimes I have to leave him at home which is worrisome since he is a spoiled Rat Brat and is more of a child than a dog. I applaud you. If I was loaded I'd buy hundreds of acres and make it a care inn for animals. 

[froggerLee]

Me too...................rich, lots of land, lots of critters. Love them all. Would love to do a rescue. I think a ferret rescue would be neat.

Cath, I would love for Sassie to be a therapy dog. I never got around to it, and it bums me out. She did her basic and advanced obedience, the got her good citizenship award, and I never went any further. I hope to do that someday, as I would enjoy that.

[barb]

Cool!  I bet that keeps you busy.  It's wonderful that they are therapy dogs, too.  I love animals, we have a houseful.  Four cats, two dogs, and a rabbit, it's a big bunny and he lives in my daughter's room, hopping around the room.  We also used to have two ferrets and a hamster (the ferrets came from shelters!)  but they got old and died.

Boarding for animals is difficult around here, especially for animals other than cats/dogs.  We do have a dog sitting service in town run out of a couple's house, but I learned the hard way that they are not as caring as you, Cath.  We left one of our dogs with them, and headed off to Vermont.  We came back home in the middle of the night because our son had a terrible asthma attack that didn't respond to meds.  That following morning around 11:00  I called to say we were coming to get our dog early, and after chatting casually with me for a few minutes about inconsequential things, the woman said, "oh, your dog ran away early this morning, sorry.  He jumped off the deck and ran off."  They never even called us!  We spent the whole day driving around town looking for him, they wouldn't even help.  My husband did eventually find him. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that home pet sitting services are in any way bad, not at all!  I still love the idea, it's more "homey" than a cell-like kennel.  We just have a terrible one here in town, I would love to try another service out if we had one.

[livetogarden]

Wow Barb, I would have been so steamed. Not to mention enbarrassed that a pet got lost while in my care. I can't believe they didn't even help search for it. What a couple of winners!!! I'm so glad you found him.
We have a nice big fenced yard but I NEVER leave a dog I'm sitting out there alone. Either me or my 18 year old son go out with them no matter how cold it is. We have had dogs of our own that were fence jumpers so I know how quick they can do that. I also put a tag on dogs I'm watching as soon as they come in my door that says 'temporarily staying at....'with my home phone and cell phone numbers on the tag. It's an engraved tag and I put it on a clip so I can easily put it on then take it off when the dog leaves.
I will sit nearly anything except I do draw the line at snakes. I can even handle lizards, etc. but snake sitting jobs will be given to my son. So far we haven't had any requests for that.
Pet sitters can be as varied as baby sitters....you find good ones and bad ones. We are lucky enough to have a neighbor who always cares for our pets when we're gone. She has a college aged son so usually one of them just stays in our house with them. When they're gone we do the same for them.
So far the 5 dogs are getting along just fine. The female Cairn tries to intimidate the yellow lab by growling when he comes near her but I think that's all it is...intimidation. It's actually pretty comical to see this little bitty dog growling at one about 10 times as big as she is.
Cath

[Viv]

LOL Cath, being a dog person myself, that sounds like a lot of fun to me!

waiting for a pic....

[Ky Kim]

What a great person you all.  You deserve a big hug/pat on the back for doing the Therapy thing.  You sound like a wonderful person.

We like that here with rescues.  They always seem to find our house.

Kim

[Pondpuppy]

We showed dogs for over twenty years and usually had seven dogs.  Also had a business in our home and three kids. My husband was an antique train collector, antique car collector and active in the boy scouts. Believe me when I say our home was a zoo all the time.  I look back now and wonder how I kept my sanity.

Carol