Please read our entire profile all the way through for all necessary information. It should answer 95% of your questions. I am a retired high school teacher. I have loved dogs my entire life and have been pet sitting for people 45 years. Now professionally with Rover for 12 years. I stay home all the time. We do not take trips or vacations. I only go to doctor appointments or go to church. We live off of I-69/ and East 96th Street, right behind the Meijer store. Kaitlin, my adult, high functioning autistic daughter, was brought up with many animals and loves them too. You can trust Kaitlin to care for your pets, if I had to leave for a funeral or emergency! 🐕 My dog is Scotty. He’s a 10 years old West Highland White Terrier. He is our experienced ambassador who vets your dog (s). My daughter’s dog is half Golden Retriever half German Shepherd. His name is Sirius Black, he is 5 years old. He weighs 80 lbs. He has a fairly high energy level. At first some dogs might get overwhelmed by his energetic personality, but eventually he settles down. He barks for attention, so during meet and greets he is the most vocal. Once dogs come to stay here, Sirius settles down. Dogs just love playing with him. Lucy is 4 years old. She is half Maltese and a quarter poodle and Westie. She is a barker. She loves being outdoors and goes crazy when she sees our resident squirrels! 🐿️ We are certified in CPR and First Aid training. We can give shots & medications. Your dog’s health is our greatest concern! We have had approved background checks. We have had 700+ Clients, with a nearly 5 star rating. We also have 200+ satisfied repeat clients . 🐺👌🐶🐩🐺 We NEED to have a 25-30 minute meet and greet 3-5 days prior to scheduling your dog to see if we are a good fit for each other. We need to see your updated veterinarian shot records. You can text it to us or just bring it with you. Please leave your small children at home if you can. Having them around increases your own dog’s anxiety because they’re being the most alert and protective with them around. No last minute scheduling unless it is an emergency, with explanation. Let us know right away if you are having an emergency. We can usually help you out. We have done this several times. TIPS: Rover asks you if you want to leave a tip for hosts after your dog stay. If you add it to your bill, rather than in person, it puts us higher up on receiving new clients. That would help our business. We hope that a tip would reflect our above and beyond expectations and/or special kindnesses for your dogs. Such as, providing extra food if you run out, hand feeding your dog most of the time because they are reluctant to eat, giving a bath if they get muddy from rain, taking care of your dog if they have diarrhea from being overly anxious. These things do happened. Our yard is shaded 90%. We have interactive toys to find the treat, using their paws! Outside we have a swinging ball on a Bungie cord, for the dogs to grab, pull and swing. We have a doggie swimming pool for cooling down in the summer time. It is big enough for 4-5 dogs. We drain and refill it frequently. We keep it on our upper deck so the dogs stay clean from the grass/ground. We have a smaller pool that fits 2-3 dogs. We also have a dog sprinkler that they love. We are usually outside with the dogs as they play. If it’s too cold for us we will stay inside, but watch from the door. Dogs go out every 60-90 minutes, or more if the dogs stand at the door wanting to go out. We have Santa bells in the door knob they can ring if they want to go out. Many dogs use that method. Please have your dog wear their dog collars with their name tags or rabies tag. We allow dogs on our furniture and have laminate floors. We only have a large carpet in the family room so they don’t slide while they are puppy playing. 😀 TIP: PLEASE have your dog’s toe nails clipped to a shorter length. It’s helpful as to not scratch us. We will send text messages of how your dog(s) are doing and send pictures later in the day. 👍😍 We will always be honest and tell you exactly what is going on here with your dog and the others, regardless if it is positive or negative, on our part or on the dog(s) part. *So please be upfront about your dog. If you choose to book with me and hold back any of this pertinent information we will either: •Have your come pick up your dog • I am expected to write a review of your dog on Rover and one on you as the owner.👍 For feeding, we use stainless steel bowls, in various sizes, in separate locations for your dog because their feeding & health is extremely important to us! They are in the same room just in different locations. Food aggressive or food fixated dogs are fed on the opposite side of our gates to give grazers a chance to eat. All dogs try to go and sniff or eat other dogs food regardless of food motivation level. Sometimes they will wonder away from their bowl and another dog might try and take their food. When we see it we separate that dog and they eat alone. But most of the time, it works out and there are no issues. Grazers will have an opportunity to eat and re-eat their food after an hour until they are satisfied. Occasionally, we have had to hand fed several dogs because they were reluctant eaters. That’s one of those above and beyond scenarios. Cuddling is my favorite thing to do with your fur babies! Dogs enjoy sitting on my lap and looking out the window, watching TV or watching the actions of other dogs! We have 2 benches next to my windows so they can look outside and see things.🥰 Dogs that arrive with no collar get one of our bright green collars to wear with a tag on them stating: I am on vacation, my sitter is Karen, with our Cellphone numbers.👍 We have a wicker basket full of toys. We have many dog beds, that we wash & sanitize. If your dog loves his own dog bed, please bring it along. Or bring your tee shirt with your scent on it. That is always comforting. If your dog is a known chewer, please bring your own toys so they don’t go through ours while they’re are here. TIP: Please send along your dog’s favorite treats, besides their food, which they are use to eating so they don’t have any upset stomachs. TIP: Bring extra dog food because sometimes you get delayed by airline flights or regular trips due to delays, weather, traffic & accidents, or deciding to stay away longer etc. This happens frequently. Please put your food in zipper containers or something that can be closed. Make sure you have your name written on your bag/container and all items that belong to you. No regular plastic bags. Dogs can smell the food and can easily get into the bags and tear them up. Thanks! 👍 At night the dogs usually sleep upstairs with me. However, if a dog does not feel comfortable with everyone all upstairs, they usually let us know by whining or scratching at the door, so they are given the opportunity to sleep downstairs behind the gates to have more space. If parents want their dogs crated, they should bring their own dog crate. I have several dog beds upstairs or they can sleep up on the bed with me! 😊 We use pet friendly ice melt in winter so it doesn’t hurt your dogs paws. Also, I have dozens of clean dog sweaters, in all sizes including raincoats, just for cold weather in all sizes!😃 We operate like a hotel. Daycare is $35 per day. 8am - 8pm, it can be longer. Boarding overnight is $40 per night. Check-in: 3 pm and on. If you need to bring your dog in the morning of an overnight stay, you will be charged a daycare visit. check-out: next day by 12 noon, just like a hotel. I can extend it a little, too. Clients who cancel their booking 3 days before their stay, will not be assessed a fee. If they do not, they will be assessed a cancellation fee from Rover, not myself. I will give one discount per visit for: Multiple dogs Senior citizens, 65+ Or extended stays, 2+ weeks. Dog Review: reviews are for how well we took care of your dog and our communications with you. If you feel I did a good job dog sitting, would you please consider writing a review. Maybe a funny story that we had texted you about what your fur baby did or maybe some extra out of the way kindness that you appreciated. I hope we exceeded your expectations and your dog enjoyed their stay while in our care. I only take care of dogs, in my own home. No cats. I have a safe and friendly environment that my clients have been happy with for their dogs. We only take care of dogs inside our own home. Our services includes overnight boarding and daycare. We do not walk dogs because our yard is huge, 1/3 of an acre, and they have tons of fun running our large yard. I love watching the dogs play outside! We have a 6’ -5’ privacy fence. Sincerely, Karen and Kaitlin 🐺🐕🐶 🐩 Last updated: December, 2025 We are available at all times. We stick to a regular schedule for getting up and going to bed. We also eat at the same time for breakfast and supper, at 6 pm. We will take care of your fur baby just like they are our own!