Hi! I'm Toby. I'm originally from the US, but I've lived in Germany for 9 years now. I speak German and English. I grew up in a house with three cats, two dogs, several goldfish, and a horse. Well, the horse didn't technically live in the house. Unfortunately I am not permitted to have animals in my current apartment, so I am looking to meet pet owners who need someone to come to them to provide care and companionship for their animals. In addition to family pets (which are not included in the years of experience since I was not the primary responsible adult) I have had two long term fosters. "L" the tortoiseshell cat, was with me for a few years while her owner was overseas for work. She was a senior cat who needed a daily medication (a pill which she typically took well in Leberwurst), but she never let that slow her down. With enthusiastic permission from her owner, I habituated her to a harness and leash so we could explore the town together. My second long term foster was the black GSD mix, "C". Much of C's history was unknown, and although he was housetrained when he was surrendered to the rescue, he had not been trained otherwise. With help from a trainer, I was able to work on basic obedience, loose leash walking, and began to counter-condition his severe reactivity. He made a lot of progress in his time with me, and has since moved on to his forever home. I learned an enormous amount about positive reinforcement training techniques and reactivity, including how to walk defensively to ensure that I saw C's triggers before he could. While I now know that I can stay calm and hold my ground with 40kg pulling on the other end of the leash, I also know tricks for redirecting a dog's attention in order to prevent negative reactions in the first place.