I have 43 years experience taking care of dogs and 26 years experience teaching students - including middle school students. Working with kids is oddly similar to working with dogs (though dogs tend to be better listeners). I have had dogs since I was 5 and began dog-sitting when I was 10. Along with dog-sitting, I have volunteered at shelters in Edgecomb, Maine and St. Louis, Missouri. While I enjoy being with dogs in any setting (from playing with a dog at its home, to walking a dog around its neighborhood, to taking a dog to play with others at dog parks), my favorite activities with dogs are taking dogs on hikes or swimming in ponds or the ocean. I also have a four year old Black Lab who believes everything is his best friend (from other dogs to cats to raccoons and oppossums - all he wants to do is play). He is an ideal playmate for other dogs if desired. *I am allergic to cats and -unfortunately- unable to sit in homes with cats.