We are Cassandra and Tom and we love dogs. We had Basset hounds for 20+ years and at one time, we had 3! We lost our last one a few years ago and have been filling the void by dog sitting through Rover. We’ve had the best time meeting and caring for different breeds and sizes of dogs! Please be patient with me on my response to your requests - I usually respond to all Rover messages every day in the evening. We have recently changed our dog sitting approach and will host up to 4 dogs at a time. We'll be making several weekend trips back and forth to our vacation home, so ask that you only request our services if your dog travels well and you are comfortable with us driving them. Generally, we require a meet and greet before hosting a new doggo. We are happy to host the meet and greet at our home so that you can see where your dog will be staying and get to know us. It’s important that we observe your dog’s personality so that we can be confident that all the dogs who stay with us will have a great time. We won't accept a booking request or hold a spot until the meet and greet has been completed. We have a large, fenced yard with plenty of room to run, chase balls and play. When it’s hot outside, we have “pool day” with a small kiddie pool and the dogs just love it. Our home is dog friendly with easy to clean, hardwood floors and pet friendly furniture. We are very easy going and calm; something most dogs seem to pick up on right away. Boarding services include the full day and overnight for up to 24 hours. Drop offs are after 8am and pick ups until 10pm. If your trip requires drop off prior to 8am, please plan to book the prior day. Likewise, if your pick up time is after 10 pm, please book the next day. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions or need special accommodations – I’m happy to help! I (Cassandra) am an independent bookkeeper who works from home and I love being able to have dogs hang out with me during the day. I take regular photos during the day (even if they are just relaxing and laying around) and send you a recap in the evenings so you can see what your pup has been up to. Additionally, we have a vacation home on the Pacific Ocean and would love to have your dog accompany us to our home on weekends. Generally, your dog won’t be allowed off leash except in our extra large fenced yard, but we love to take walks on the beach using long, retractable leashes so your pup can explore. More of our story: Over 20 years ago, we wanted to take a vacation but we were new to the PNW and didn’t have anyone to watch our dogs… it was stressful to board them at kennels; especially knowing that they weren’t getting much exercise or love. Thankfully, we ended up finding a wonderful house sitter (eventually). We wondered if there were others like us out there; dog moms and dads who would feel better about leaving on vacation or even just for the weekend if their dogs were with people who would treat them like family. We’ve been hosting dogs ever since. We want to be those people to you – we’ll treat your dogs like family. We’ll snuggle your dogs, pet them, and play with them. You can rest assured that your pups will be happy and well cared for at our home. The safety of your pup is of utmost importance to us. We have a large, fully fenced yard and Tom does "perimeter checks" each week to be sure everything is in order. We have a gated area at our front door to ensure that they only people or dogs who can go out the door are the ones who are supposed to! We have a system of gates to be able to provide up to 3 different spaces in the house in the event that dogs need to be separated from the pack for any reason. We've been sitting dogs through Rover for 6+ years and longer on our own and have dealt with most any situation that you can think of. Safety is the primary reason that we require a meet and greet for every dog that stays with us - we want to know upfront that our guests are well behaved and friendly. We only take "get-a-long" dogs is how we describe it!