My Humble Beginnings

Well I finally have my own blog! I’m so excited, now I can talk about whatever my heart desires. I’m sure you realize by now, if you’ve poked around on my site any at all that I’m a pet lover. Therefore, after 5 years as a banker, and 5 ½ years as a customer service coordinator for a non-profit that supported the traffic control industry I have finally decided to follow my passion for being a caregiver to animals.

During my last year at the non-profit, which by the way was, COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY BORING, and terribly overwhelming (I would literally sit in my office with tears in my eyes, and pains in my chest)! I started to volunteer with the Fredericksburg VA Humane Society, a no-kill shelter, as a foster-mom for kitties. The ones I fostered were either kittens that were sick or they didn’t have room for, or adults that needed a break from the shelter. Sometimes people don’t realize how long these animals have to stay at these no-kill shelters, sometimes its years. So yeah, they need a break at times.

I had 2 cats at the time, Winthrop and Zoe who I affectionately called Zoe Face! They were a bit irritated about having to share their home with other kitties, but they eventually got over it. Except in the case of Harley, a gargantuan black and white male cat with one brown eye, and one gold eye who was discretely bullying my poor girls so he could have all of the affection. Besides that and the daily morning trash can tilt he would do, I really loved him. I had him for quite a while, and when I got ready to return him to the shelter I was very tempted to keep him. However, much to my relief there was another foster-parent there who wanted him…..she did however ask me if he had any bad habits, and I conveniently had a brain fart about the early morning trash can dump Harley liked to do. And how I had spent countless mornings picking chewed up trash off the floor of my kitchen, and being late for work. I’m sure she found out soon enough though….tee-hee. So, I was happy he found a good home, and my girls were happy he was gone.
Long story short, I got married to a great husband who much to my surprise didn’t care for pets too much. So I moved from VA to McDonough GA, and placed Zoe in a new home (my poor Winthrop had run away by then). But then eventually my great husband realized that I need furry friends around me constantly to be happy, so he got me Percy on our 2nd anniversary. He is the onery looking black cat on the right. Then about 9 months later I just came home in one day with Ralphie, the orange tabby on the left.

Anyhow, even though my husband claims not to be an animal lover, Percy has somehow become his cat, and Ralphie is my cat. We have daily discussions about which cat is cooler, and which cat is smarter. And when my husband is driving around town he informs of stray cats he has seen and how he wishes he had cat food with him so he could feed them. So being married to me, has reformed him from a former disliker of animals to a semi animal liker.

How I Got Out Of Banking

I worked at a financial institution up until June 2009. So why did I quit? Well, I have always prided myself on my work ethic. I hadn’t called in sick in nearly a year, I rarely ever made a mistake. The clients liked me. So when I was told after a massive company layoff that my position had been mysteriously eliminated, and that I was expected to willingly go work at a dysfunctional branch in a bad part of town the next county over that no other employees wanted to work at, I was LIVID. More than livid really! I was suspicious as to the reason why I had been singled out. My experience, seniority, and excellent track record out-weighed other employees by far, and yet the rug was yanked out from under me, and everybody else’s positions were safe and sound. I felt it was a funny way to reward a job well done.

It was a few days later after several people talked me out of quiting that I decided to make my dream of becoming a pet sitter a reality. I decided if I was my own boss then I would always be treated fairly, and rewarded well. I quietly bided my time while going about my new miserable position and saved my resources, and filed my paperwork and got my business license. I dragged my husband to a Small Business Administration meeting in Atlanta that was very helpful in guiding me on what I needed to do. I took a pet sitter 101 course, and then I went for the gold, a NAPPS certification. Then out of the blue, I get a call from a fellow pet sitter. Eindy Ramsey, the owner of Pet Shepherd Pet Sitting in Clayton County http://www.thepetshepherd.com/ wanted to meet with me. She said she normally liked to meet someone before she sent them any referrals. We met for lunch, and she gave me a lot of good information and guidance. Then we met for lunch again and she related more pet sitting adventures and experiences and more priceless advice. It made me really want to be a pet sitter even more. So I’m forever grateful to her for reaching out to me!
So a couple of months later, here I am with my own pet sitting company and meeting new clients and their pets just about every week. I still miss some of my co-workers from the bank, and some of the clients, but they all know I still love them!

A Big Surprise

One totally surprising thing about the pet sitting business is how much I enjoy meeting the pet owners! I consider myself an “animal person” and therefore, I sometimes feel like I’d rather be around animals than people. So I’m always surprised when I leave a new client’s home feeling great about the consultation and having met them. I’m even happier when they are genuinely happy that I did a great job with their pet. It makes me feel good about my career path and what I have chosen to do. Its exciting to me to make my business grow, and to see it grow as a direct result of the decisions I make, and the respect I have chosen to have for animals.

My New Volunteer Efforts

I have just started volunteering with the Henry County Humane Society. I really enjoy it. Since I can’t be a foster-parent without driving my husband out of the house, I choose to volunteer at the shelter instead. There is an awful lot of cleaning involved in volunteering with the shelter, but that is probably why the facility is so presentable, and such a great environment for animals. I really admire everyone who volunteers there, because you can see in their faces that they truly care about these animals, and they take out time from their full-time jobs to make sure these animals have what they need and a sanitary environment.

I try to offer reasonable prices so anybody can provide care for their pets. To me, this is also a form of volunteering my resources for the good of local pets. Maybe some might not see it that way, but I do. Making money is NOT my main objective, but it helps ! I’m confident that with my business experience, and knowledge of pet care I could charge more and still be successful, but I feel that if people can afford pet care, then they will be more likely to ask for help from a professional when they need it. That’s why I offer an economy membership so that people can afford daily care for their pets during the week while they are at work.

I’m also running a Presents 4 Pets Campaign to collect donations for the Henry County Animal Shelters. If you would like a list of the things needed for donation you can join my yahoo group by going back to the main page of this site www.domesticcompanion.com and a list will automatically be sent to you. The drop off point for these items is RBC Bank located at 210 Jonesboro Rd, McDonough GA 30253.

The End for Now

So there you have it, a little background on why and how I became a pet sitter. There is still more to come, so stay tuned to my blog!