Below is a short video of our home & pet sitting journey, followed by our detailed home & pet sitting profile. We invite you to contact us if you have home and/or pet sitting needs –worldwide– at kath.p54@gmail.com.

ALL ABOUT US

Hello! We are a Canadian couple, retired since 2015, adventurous, fit and young at heart. We are travelling and seeing the world, stopping at times to home & pet sit. We have extensive experience with home and pet sitting over recent years and truly appreciate the opportunity to enjoy and care for others’ pets at a time when we can’t have our own due to our travel lifestyle. We appreciate the win-win nature of the exchange, providing the peace of mind that home & pet owners need for a worry-free vacation, while meeting our own needs for shelter and the nourishment provided by time spent getting to know and caring for their pets. We are animal lovers — I doubt your pets will get better care and attention than we will give them. During the pandemic we stayed close to home for a couple of years, however we are now travelling again to warm countries in Canada’s winter.

WHY WE WANT TO CARE FOR YOUR PETS and HOME

House and pet sitting is a beautiful addition to our world-experiencing lifestyle! While we love to move about and see the sights, we also love opportunities to be homebodies and live the stable life of caring for a home and pets for a time. When we are caring for pets and their home, that will always be our top priority. Pet and home sitting facilitates this perfectly. We are both big animal lovers and we find ourselves rejuvenated by time spent caring for and sharing pet love. We have made life long friendships with home owners and their pets through our house sitting connections, and appreciate the opportunity to stay in touch with the progress of our temporary charges.

We especially appreciate the win-win nature of the exchange of home & pet care for accommodation — an all ‘round perfect solution when the correct fit of people, pets and home environments is accomplished. That we can give other travellers a worry-free vacation, knowing their pets and home are in responsible, caring hands, is most satisfying for us.

OUR EXPERIENCE

We have plenty of experience worldwide – from the one small pampered dachshund we cared for one summer (3.5 months) in Victoria, Canada to the 13 rescue pets we cared for in a remote Costa Rican jungle home. During winter/spring 2018, 10 weeks (5 dogs/8 cats) was spent with these lovely creatures. While there one of the cats was stung by a scorpion and we nursed her back to health with chamomile baths to her eye. Happily she recovered as good as new. We have administered medication to cats and dogs, for worms and ticks, as well as performing tick removal.

Summer 2017 we cared for a small disabled dog. Dickie was paralyzed in his back legs. Along with caring for all his needs, including toiletting, we encouraged him to learn the skills needed for his new wheelchair. It was most gratifying for both of us to see him transformed from a subdued, seemingly depressed fellow to a confident, capable walker eagerly exploring the world. More recently we have spent 7 months in Panama, and while travelling in between, completed 5 sits. Most enjoyable!

So — yes, we are experienced, and this is only the beginning of the stories! (Stay tuned for short stories here about our delightful experiences in pet and home sitting.)

BACKGROUND

We are both retired, Kath from health/education assistant in a secondary school and Aaron as a school psychologist and UBC professor in Vancouver, Canada. With these backgrounds we were required to be strong communicators and compassionate human beings. During our many years working in schools we were both required to have clean criminal record checks. Between us, we are able to communicate simply in Spanish and French.

We are local to the Victoria area in summer and travel most winters to warm areas. We are open to consideration of a sit in most areas of the world, though we have some definite strong interest points. Ask about our availability — you never know, we just might find a fit!

WHAT WE BRING TO SITTING YOUR PETS & HOME

We are responsible, honest, clean, nonsmoking, physically fit, non-partying animal lovers with multiple (over 45) 5-star reviews and references. We love to hike, kayak, paddle board, cycle, snorkel, travel & experience the world, do photography, read, write, spend time interacting with animals and love seeing wildlife & bird life. We enjoy a balance of social and solitary time.

We are previous home and pet owners and understand the responsibility involved in caring for both. We consider pets family members, to be treated so — your pet’s care takes priority when we are sitting. We have owned a home with a pool and hot tub and are conversant in their care.

We love the process of providing photos, videos and anecdotes of the pets’ daily life to the HO while they are on vacation (but only as often as the home & pet owner wishes ; ).

With us, you can trust that your home and pets will be well loved and cared for while you vacation with peace of mind. We always make your home and pets top priority when sitting, and you will return to happy, healthy pets and a clean, orderly home.  We are available by video call at your convenience, and can provide current references to whom you can speak.

If you have further questions, email us at kath.p54@gmail.com or view our profiles at Trusted House Sitters, Mind My House, House Carers and House Sit Canada.