Throughout my childhood my family raised cats, dogs, rats, and even a chinchilla! I also learned how to care for and ride horses. I grew up loving animals and developed an interest in animal behavior. At 13 I began training my own Diabetic Alert Service Dog, Maxi, under the tutelage of professionals. Maxi and I worked together for nine years and she attended college with me in Middlebury, VT. She was the first service animal in laboratories at both Middlebury College and the McGovern Medical School in Houston! Now that Maxi has retired (and is being spoiled absolutely rotten by my parents) I have adopted two formerly feral cats, Hilda and River. These girls each have special medical needs and are teaching me a lot about caring for re-domesticated animals. I am currently a doctoral student at Dartmouth and have a variable schedule. Though I cannot host animals at my apartment (this would be too stressful for my cats), I would love to help care for your furry (or scaly!) family members via house stays and drop-ins. I enjoy being outside and would love to take your pet for a walk around the neighborhood or a full on hike depending on their health and energy level! I believe animals are happiest and healthiest when we keep them engaged both mentally and physically. So, if you are interested, I am also happy to do some positive reinforcement training with your pet for practical purposes or just for fun! I find training can be a great way to build a positive relationship with animals, especially if they’re a little shy or wary of new people! I also have experience working with animals with arthritis, diabetes, deafness, visual impairments, herpes, incontinence, tooth loss, etc. So I welcome the chance to help care for any special needs your pet has! If you think I would be a good fit, please reach out so we can discuss what exactly you’re looking for and how I can give your pet the best care possible and give you peace of mind!