--------------------------------------- WHAT IS MY MOTIVATION? --------------------------------------- I have had the pleasure to be an overnight in-home caregiver for a disabled man who owned a dog (Layla, the pug-beagle mix) and miss them since moving away from home! I love experiencing the joy of being around such beautiful and intelligent animals. This was my main motivation for becoming a Rover sitter. Many of my clients are military families (I am an Army wife myself) and I love that I can provide affordable, trustworthy care for the community. As you'll see by my detailed profile, I take my responsibilities as a pet sitter seriously! ------------------- MY ANIMALS ------------------- I share my home with a 5 year old, 18 pound orange tabby cat named Cheddar, and two ferrets named Kaylee Frye (from the show Firefly) and Harry Potter. I am also a foster mom through a local animal rescue named TARA. I have become known as "Nurse Alysa" and my home has turned into the ICU/recovery center for felines that need to a lot of love and support to regain full health. In the past, I have fostered a kitten named Minnie that was hit by a car and had a broken left leg, another kitten named Ash that was hit by a car and had a broken left leg, eye socket, and jaw, and a third kitten named Pebbles that was bitten on his right leg by a wild animal and was found crawling out of a cornfield, dehydrated and flea infested. I also fostered a 2-year old 6-toed calico named Skittles who was neglected by her owner and had about 70% hair loss. Her was covered in scabs from a flea infestation. If you are interested in adopting through TARA, please let me know :-) Because of my own pets and the fosters my husband and I care for, I am unable to accept animals to stay in my home. ---------------------------------- MY (FULL-TIME) CAREER ---------------------------------- I am a full-time self employed graphic and web designer with an office in downtown Fayetteville. I completed my Bachelor of Science Degree in Visual Communication Design with a minor in Marketing from a university just north of Baltimore, Maryland. Because I am self employed (aka, freelancer) I find my own clients, set my rates, send out invoices, process payments, write proposals - all of it! And I love my career :-) I hope to obtain a Masters in Graphic Design so I can return to the classroom as a Visual Design professor. I decide my own hours so my schedule is very flexible and I am (almost) always available last minute to care for your furry family members. ------------------------------ ANIMALS I CARE FOR ------------------------------ All of them! (Okay, maybe not snakes... if they are small snakes I would consider it.) As I mentioned, I have a cat and two ferrets. I would love to watch your feline friends or exotic pets :-) Growing up, I helped my dad maintain our family fish tanks. Back home in MD we own a 10-gallon freshwater, a 35-gallon saltwater, and a new 65-gallon saltwater fish tank. No animal is forgotten! I do not have any age, breed or size limitations. I welcome all animals with (literally) open arms :-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MY PET SITTING STYLE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If your pet has an accident in your home or crate I will certainly clean that up during my visit. I have a portable carpet cleaner for pet accidents on carpets (if given the okay to use in your home). I ask when your trash pickup day is, and where you keep your cleaning supplies in case of any messes. I'll also ask if your pets are allowed on the furniture so I can abide by house-rules. It is my goal to ensure that you come back to not only a happy animal, but also a clean home. If you would like to receive pictures or videos of your pets while you are gone I am more than willing to send them! To be honest, when I had to leave my pets with a sitter for the first time I cried! Of course I trusted the sitter who came highly recommended, but my animals are important to me. Being able to see their faces while traveling out of town helped ease my mind, and allowed me to enjoy my trip more. I am happy to provide that service to any of my clients as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SO, HOW DO THOSE OVERNIGHT HOUSE SITTING JOBS WORK? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inviting someone you recently met to stay in your home is nerve-wracking, I agree. That's why I wanted to outline my entire process here: I can swing by your house before your departure to do a Meet & Greet and put your spare house key on my personal car key chain where it will NEVER be removed until I hand it back to you. Alternatively, we can FaceTime, Skype, or have a phone call to discuss the stay (if a Meet & Greet doesn't fit in the schedule). You can hide the key somewhere safely and discreetly outside of the house and (preferably) send me a picture of the hiding place if we are unable to meet face-to-face before the job begins. If you'd like me to hide the key when I leave, I can do that as well or we can arrange for me to drop the key off to you once you return. We will also decide on the time you would like me to arrive. I can be at your door as early as 6am or as late as 10pm. I will bring an overnight bag with my own toiletries, bath products, bath towels, hair products, clothing, etc. If you have a guest room, I can sleep in there, or if you have a couch I can bring my own sleeping bag and pillow. I can also use my sleeping bag on top of your guest bed if you like so you don't have to change the sheets when I am done. It is totally up to you, I can sleep just about anywhere. I'll pack my own breakfast, lunch and dinners and store them in glass Pyrex containers in your refrigerator. I'll also bring my own utensils. By packing my food in glass containers I can microwave my food without dirtying up any of your dishes. I will never feed "snacks" of human food to your pets. If the stay is longer than 3 days/2 nights I may run home for an hour or two to get more clothes and pack more food. For safety reasons, I ALWAYS tell the location of where I am staying to my husband. If I feel that your pets should not be left alone for an hour or two (due to destructive behavior, inability to stay in a crate, or separation anxiety) I may ask my husband to run me some more food and clean clothes. He will NOT be entering your home; we will do a trade off at the car. If you have an enclosed back yard, we will play as often as your dogs like. I'll ask what signs your dogs give when they need to use the bathroom so they can be let out. I will take your animals on walks in the morning before it gets too hot, and I'll walk them just before sunset. I am mindful of North Carolina's summer and plan around the hottest hours of the day so puppy paws are not exposed to extreme heat from the pavement. In order to keep myself and your pets safe, I do not walk dogs after sunset. ----------------------------------------------------- TRANSPORTATION & LEGAL HISTORY ----------------------------------------------------- Transportation to your animals is never an issue. I own a car that is kept in good condition; my husband was a mechanic before he joined the military so I put him to work! I have never been pulled over or ticketed for a traffic violation or speeding. I have never been in an accident that was due to my negligence (just a few people rear ending me when I lived in MD but we all know MD and DC drivers are the worst!) I have never been detained, arrested, brought in to a police station, questioned, summoned to court, police have never been called on me, I have never called the police on someone else, etc. I live a very drama-free lifestyle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHY DON'T I HAVE PICS WITH ANIMALS ON MY PROFILE? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel like pets are children to a lot of people. If I were to babysit someone's child I wouldn't post a photo of me and the child on my babysitting service page. I take the same approach when I sit someone's furry-child as well, and like to respect the privacy of my clients. ------------------------ LET'S END HERE ------------------------ I hope all of this has provided a lot of useful information to assist you in your pet sitting scheduling process! I hope to hear from you soon :-) - Alysa