Anne g.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
About Anne g.
53 years old
|
public health professional
WHY I WANT TO HOUSE AND PET SIT
In the last five years I have house and pet sat in Abu Dhabi, France, Italy, England, and numerous states in the USA; I simply love animals (though not snakes or horses) and the opportunity to be somewhere new. I have so enjoyed all the cats, dogs, fish, and chickens I've taken care of. Additionally, walking dogs is a great way to learn about a community. When I was in Bristol, I walked Lily (or rather she walked me!) for hours every day and in a park there a woman approached me and held out her hand exclaiming, "You must be the new Paul?" Paul is Lucy's owner. Through pets I am able to meet people and get to know places in a more intimate, perhaps even more honest, fashion. Additionally, being in a new place allows me to recharge. I love to see new gardens, new art, and to taste regional cuisine.
MY EXPERIENCE CARING FOR PETS AND HOMES
For 16 years I owned a Queen Ann Victorian built in 1896 and dealt with normal mishaps such as leaky faucets, broken central air, and cracked window panes. I’ve also had the unexpected: the painters catching the house on fire during lead paint removal, a flooded basement, and a substantial hail storm that resulted in a new roof, (another) paint job, and new screens. I am a well-seasoned home owner. I know how to care for a home, what to look out for, and when to take action (and when to call in the professionals!). I will look after your home with the utmost of care.
As for pets, I can still name every cat and dog I’ve ever owned. I’ve also had fish, hamsters, chickens, and guinea pigs, and had the opportunity to care for rabbits. Honestly I don’t do snakes because of an over exposure to the fer de lance, anacondas, and boa constrictors of South America. But I’m enamored with lizards, skinks, and turtles because I find them beautiful and plucky. I have trained every dog I’ve owned, and I’ve worked hard to understand and accommodate every cat (that means all the tasty begonias go on the top shelf, out of snacking range!). During a recent pet sit by Day 2 I could tell the difference in the dogs’ bark and reached out to the owner, asking if the stunning blonde golden retriever that went by the house was a friend. Her response was an enthusiastic and impressed yes! I try very hard to tune in to animals so that I can meet their needs, and so that we can enjoy each other. Animals are incredibly important to me; I believe animals make us more human. I wil
Language(s) spoken
English
Compliments received
Community opinion
Baden, France - October 2017
Anne and her daughter Béatrice stopped off at our place last summer, between two house-sitting stays in France, and we feel very lucky to have met two such lovely and interesting people. We spent time chatting, cooking together and talking about our experiences. When they left, it was like saying goodbye to friends! They stopped off again to say hello the next time they were back in our region. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to highly recommend Anne and Béatrice if you are lucky enough to have them apply to look after your home. They are genuine animal lovers, and you’ll meet lovely persons!
Usak, Turkey - September 2017
Anne and her daughter Beatrice cared for our 1 dog and 6 cats (plus one full-time and several part-time garden cats that came with our rental house) for about 2.5 weeks. One might consider the sit challenging, for a few reasons: (1) we'd only brought the animals to our new home in Italy a few weeks before Anne and Beatrice's arrival, so dog and cats were all still settling in/getting comfortable; (2) our dog George is a nervous one, wary of noises and visual triggers like banners/flags/door curtains; (3) one of our cats needs to have his own space away from the others and so this requires monitoring of doors to various rooms, open or closed. None of these issues threw Anne or Beatrice off; instead, they threw themselves into tackling the challenges presented by our sit and embraced our furry family, all the while partaking of everything our village and surrounds has to offer. Prior to arrival Anne was easy to communicate with, responding quickly to emails. She is highly organised, and came to our initial Skype conversation armed with questions about George and the cats, our neighbourhood and the house. During the sit Anne kept me updated when necessary (skin issues with our dog that cropped up, cats reluctant to come in at night etc. communications with our landlord, etc.), sent videos and photos of the animals. They cared for our garden cat(s) beautifully. Our dog's abundant energy means that he needs lots of exercise, and we know that Anne and Beatrice walked him for hours every day -- he has twice the stamina he had when we left. We returned to a spotless house, a pantry better stocked than it was when we left, and most importantly happy, healthy animals. We appreciate Anne purchasing essentials like cat litter so that we didn't have to run out on our first day back to restock. We love that Anne and Beatrice obviously enjoyed exploring our village and beyond and seem to have derived much enjoyment from the sit. Anne went above and beyond by taking it upon herself to update/add important details to the House Manual we keep for pet sitters. All in all, one of our best (out of 15 or so) pet sitter experiences. We recommend Anne and Beatrice highly and we (and all our animals) would happily welcome them into our home again.
Johannesburg, South Africa - August 2017
Best homesitters ever! Anne and her daughter took fantastic care of our house and all our animals. Even when one our of chickens kept on escaping, they took it upon themselves to fix the problem so she wouldn't get out again. We came home after a day's driving to a clean house, happy animals , home cooked meal and dessert! I cannot thank them enough for all that they did for us. Les meilleurs homesitters que jamais! Anne et sa fille ont pris soin de notre maison et de tous nos animaux. Même lorsque l'un de nos poulets a continué à s'échapper, ils se sont chercher une solution pour résoudre le problème afin qu'elle ne peut plus sortir. Nous sommes rentrés à la maison après une journée de conduite vers une maison propre, des animaux heureux, des plats cuisinés et même le dessert! Je leur remercier pour tout ce qu'ils ont fait pour nous.
Paris, France - August 2017
Nous sommes satisfait de cette 1ere expérience, Annie et ses filles ont été attentionnées avec nos animaux, ont pu s'occuper très bien de notre maison. expérience à reconduire