Hey! We are a small family of four humans and two fur babies! We believe that animals are members of the family and our daughter has grown up with pets from the very beginning. Our daughter (8) and son (2) has been taught to be very respectful to our pet family members. There will be no wrestling or manhandling from my children. I have pet-sat for friends since high school and have two fur babies of my own. A 8 year old boxer mix Nala (trained with positive reinforcement and a bundle of energy), and a 13 year old cat Tanya (who allowed herself to be semi trained). Both animals are rescues and loved to pieces. Nala is a high energy dog (her tail goes a 100 mph), but a very sweet playful dog. Tanya is a cat who will ignore your dog, unless they are in need of a good ear/face cleaning. We live in a gated community and have a tall-fenced backyard, even though it is a little small. We will provide ample exercise and know the joys of having a high energy dog. They will get walks from me at least twice a day, and if they require a more strenuous run, they can run PT with my husband. When I am not out walking other dogs or picking up the kiddo from school, I am home. Your dog will have myself or my husband at home for the majority of the day (around 21 hours a day, somebody will be home). The entire house is dog friendly, and the automatic litter box is behind a closed door leading to the laundry. We have multiple pet gates that can be placed according to your dogs needs (we will only allow potty trained animals upstairs and in bedrooms). They will be allowed on the furniture, but we prefer they do not sleep in the bed (but if it happens, oh well). Crate training is wonderful, but by no means required.