Katie O.
Irvington, IN
The Grateful Dog in Irvington
Pet care experience
Update 8/10/21: After a round robin of vet trips, meds, and diet adjustments it seems our fosters are getting back on track and feeling better. We should be reopening by mid August to take meet & greets and ready to take boarders by the end of the month. We know we are parasite/bug free, but a senior foster injured himself and needs another week to heal before we can accept stays. As of 7/23/21: We are currently CLOSED until further notice due to sick fosters. If you already have a stay booked with us, it should be far enough down the line that no issue need be taken yet. To others, we deeply apologize but safety and health of all animals comes first and we do not want your dog getting sick too. The Grateful Dog is located in the Historic district of Downtown Irvington . It is a two story, smoke-free, air conditioned home with a medium sized fenced in yard which gets plenty of sun and shade at any time of the day. Pets have free range of the home and back yard or have the option to relax in a private, air conditioned room upstairs on a full sized bed with a nice view out of the window. Food and water stations are located in several points of the home with night lights nearby so they can always find their way. Tasty home-made treats made from all-natural ingredients are provided for your pet to enjoy throughout the stay. We also feature a large claw-foot tub with a detachable shower head to provide bathing and brushing options. Our dogs are bathed regularly and I have always had a knack for getting dogs to enjoy baths. The pet will not be harnessed or leashed but rather allowed to relax in a large tub and enjoy a good head to toe scrub. I am originally from West Virginia and my fiance, Chris, is from Indiana. We recently bought our home in Downtown Irvington in a lovely, safe, and quiet neighborhood convenient for long or short walks. We have had pets, mainly dogs, in our families our whole lives and currently own and foster several. We have our fully adopted Great Aussie, Rory and 4 fosters: Max is a young Siberian Husky, Hunter is a senior Habernese mix, Clara is a senior Treeing Walker Coonhound, and Roman is a blind & deaf senior Cockapoo. All pets were adopted from or are part of the Forever Foster Program through Our Lil Bit of Heaven Sanctuary in Poland, Indiana. I have a long history of caring for a variety of animals from newborn puppies to senior hospice for dogs of all sizes and breeds. I have loved every dog I have ever met, and they have loved me back. Chris has a reputation as a "male Snow White". Any and every animal loves him so, do not be surprised if you come to pick up your pet and find him/her snuggled and belly up in his lap. He is also very strong and, if available, can walk the large and extra large breed dogs during their stay. At The Grateful Dog your pet will be treated as more than a house guest. Your pet will receive the love, attention, and comfort of family.
Reviews
Katie and Chris are so knowledgeable about dog behavior and really went the extra mile with my nervous dog to help her feel at home. Can't thank them enough for their kind patience.
Katie and partner were great! She obviously knows and cares for dogs, and was patient, observant, and kind with mine over the stressful 4th of July weekend. She carefully observed their eating, drinking, and results thereof, letting me know when she had concerns -most importantly, she spotted that my older girl had a peeing problem - it turned out to be a nasty badder infection, now cured due to the heads-up.
Ted LOVES Ms Katie's house. So much that I tell him it's a Ms. Katie day and he follows me around the house crying until it's time to go. So much that I open my car door and he runs right into her house. I'm so thankful that I have a place for my dog to go that he loves and they love him.
I highly recommend Katie! She did a great job of integrating our dogs into her house and her other guests. We have one dog who can have problems with other types of dogs but Katie was able to get them to be best friends!
About Katie O.
Communication
Skills
Safety, trust & environment
Pets are free to roam the home and back yard at their own leisure. There is a dog door if they would like to help themselves in and out.
Home
Information Katie O. would like to know about your pet
It's very important to know if your dog is aggressive in ANY way about absolutely ANYTHING. We will attempt to accommodate that aggression but we must know before the meet and greet, not during or after. Failing to provide this info, making excuses for your pet or doing so in vague wording before the meet and greet can have ER kinds of results. I'm putting my foot down on this and if it is violated and another person or animal is harmed I will report to Rover and Animal Control. I respect and appreciate wanting your dog to have a home-like environment while you are gone, but some dogs will do better in kennels, especially if they have an abandoned/rescue/rehome kind of past. I will not tolerate excuse makers and I will call you out as such and, NO, complaining to Rover won't do you any good when I do, especially because I will have reported you and your profile to them for the protection of other sitters and pets long before you get a hold of anyone of them about me, my home, my dogs, my business, my rules and how I called & kicked you out for breaking them.
A typical day
Due to this being a mostly senior / disabled environment, play and certain activities are limited to outdoors most of the time and walks are on an as needed basis.
Services
Katie can host
Availability
I work from home and caring for the fosters is already a full day routine. I work on many things through the day as well.
About Katie O.
Communication
Skills
Safety, trust & environment
Pets are free to roam the home and back yard at their own leisure. There is a dog door if they would like to help themselves in and out.
Home
Information Katie O. would like to know about your pet
It's very important to know if your dog is aggressive in ANY way about absolutely ANYTHING. We will attempt to accommodate that aggression but we must know before the meet and greet, not during or after. Failing to provide this info, making excuses for your pet or doing so in vague wording before the meet and greet can have ER kinds of results. I'm putting my foot down on this and if it is violated and another person or animal is harmed I will report to Rover and Animal Control. I respect and appreciate wanting your dog to have a home-like environment while you are gone, but some dogs will do better in kennels, especially if they have an abandoned/rescue/rehome kind of past. I will not tolerate excuse makers and I will call you out as such and, NO, complaining to Rover won't do you any good when I do, especially because I will have reported you and your profile to them for the protection of other sitters and pets long before you get a hold of anyone of them about me, my home, my dogs, my business, my rules and how I called & kicked you out for breaking them.
A typical day
Due to this being a mostly senior / disabled environment, play and certain activities are limited to outdoors most of the time and walks are on an as needed basis.
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Pets
Katie O.
Irvington, IN