Well it’s been a bit since I updated this site. Realistically I didn’t think many people looked at it, I tend to get a lot more traffic through social media or by word of mouth but someone made a comment the other day about how lovely my website is :-0 so I skeptically thought I’d better check that I haven’t been hacked or something.
No hacks but some new ads and images that I didn’t put there but they are quite lovely. No, that’s not me standing on the side of a mountain but I wish it was!!
As with the rest of the world the pandemic changed a LOT of things including the pet care industries. There were the ups and downs of not being able to take dogs to training, the groomer, etc and spending ALL DAY LONG at home with our pets making videos and pet social media accounts to finally returning to work and the discovery of pets with separation anxiety, zero training or socialization. I’ve had people ask but aren’t you so busy now with all the people who got dogs?
Well the reality is I have found the expectations of some pet owners are far different now and not often something I can accommodate most of the time. In a typical day I walk anywhere from 10 to 15 dogs depending on the day. That fills my day – I am typically walking from 9/10 am to 4 pm. That’s a lot of walking and driving to the homes where the dogs live. I cannot accommodate the owner who wants me to sit at their house with their dog for 4-6 hours because it has separation anxiety or wants me to visit hourly. It just isn’t feasible and I don’t believe it’s in the dogs’ best interest. Even if I wasn’t walking all the dogs that I am I have dogs of my own that I’d be at home with or hiking with or training.
There are also a LOT of new pet care businesses that opened up post pandemic and many of them offer the type of service I do not so I’m happy to refer to them if I get a call for something I don’t offer or can’t accommodate. As long as I believe they are legitimate with the dogs’ best interests in mind and are insured I will send people their way. There are some who have just advertised to walk dogs because hey anyone can walk a dog right? But are they insured, do they know what to do in an emergency, are they reliable with references? DO YOUR HOMEWORK and check these people out thoroughly!!! I have also had a very difficult time hiring help, as is the case in pretty much every industry post pandemic, so I have to keep things small enough that I don’t overwork myself and burn out. For this reason I haven’t been able to take on many new clients lately.
I still firmly believe dogs need to learn how to be alone and don’t need someone to be with them 24/7. That is a completely unrealistic way to try to live life with a dog. That is why I only offer walks/potty breaks to break up their day and provide relief for bathroom duties and to stretch their legs and get some fresh air and don’t offer ‘sitting’ with them for hours in your home.
Some other changes for me include losing my heart dog Party in February of this year. It still doesn’t feel real and I miss him everyday. He was the very best dog in the world. RIP Party September 2009 to February 2023. Yes, I did cake smash photos for his 13th birthday 🙂
During the pandemic I also got a puppy who is now 2 and doing really well competing in agility and starting to learn sheep herding. I refuse to call her a Covid puppy because I was creative during the pandemic with her training and don’t have any of the issues that typical Covid puppies experienced. Extra the Bearded Border Collie