I adore animals and, as my grandmother and mother did, frequently rescue and foster animals in need. Often, they just turned up on their doorsteps and now mine and are waiting there in the morning! After growing up in Nashville with labs bred for hunting, mutts, cats, gerbils, canaries, goldfish, and spending weekends on the family farm with the mules, cows, chickens, and a revolving cast of other animals, I started house sitting and pet sitting in the 80’s in grad school before starting my own human and rescued four-footer family. In 2015 and 2016 after the last of my four-footers passed away, I fostered and rehabbed a dog at a time for the Cincinnati SPCA when the schedule allowed. My last dog foster, 70 pounds of muscle-bound American Staffordshire, went to his new home after five months of intensive rehab and reward-based training. It was because of him that I discovered Rover, since he had spent two years in a cage at the pound and I was not going to put him in a cage again, ever, so boarding was out when I traveled. Some dogs like their crates as their dens. Oliver, though, chewed his heavy-duty metal crate into slivers the first time in his very gradual training (30 seconds to start with while I left and then came back, with 30 seconds added in a sequence) that I left him for a whole 15 minutes, and he took a long time to place. So, when I had to travel, he had a Rover sitter. My last feline foster in 2020-21, Pepito, has a blissfully happy life now with a half-dozen loyal servants to do his bidding. In NC I foster for Second Chance in Raleigh and Burlington Animal Services. Since joining Rover, I've cared for many different types of dogs, cats, and other animals, included a young, very strong jumping bean/pit bull cross, a gentle giant with occasional dog reactivity, an ancient and very ladylike Sheltie, a Senegal parrot, four rescued greyhounds at once, and a motley crew of cats including two feral boys. When there's spare time, I'm often reading or watching footage about dogs and dog-human interactions, since I hope to start training service dogs over the next few years. I trained my wonderful service dog without pain or force to full certification after a spinal injury in the Middle East nearly 25 years ago, and since getting back on my feet, have wanted to help others form solid partnerships of the kind we had in retirement. I’ve retired and am training to train now. When I moved to North Carolina, I was thrilled to be accepted to foster dogs for Second Chance in Raleigh, the best fostering organization I’d ever worked with. My first foster, a Corgi mix and mighty fetcher named Betty White, now has a truly lovely home, and my second foster, Gustavo the gentlemanly chihuahua with a habit of snapping when displeased, also found a great home after a couple of tries. Somehow, other than one fierce tabby whose mission in life is to repel any and all invaders from her apartment when her dad's away, animals know in a millisecond that they can trust me, and they're right. I’m also a five-star pet sitter and house sitter on another site as a traveling house sitter in France and the UK in 2014, 2015, and 2017, where I cared for Norfolk terriers, a pair of young Samoyeds, a Newfie mix and his giant ginger tomcat, a strapping golden retriever fond of long slogs through the winter marshes (and his rescued battery hens and cat), an eventing horse and his Shetland pony buddy, and a few households ruled by cats. I love them all to this day, including a lurcher dog who is best buddies with three black pigs who came running to meet him at their fence in the churchyard when he came out of the woods. I work remotely from home (research, writing) for most of the day. I go to the gym or a pool every day, and might need to be gone for a medical appointment, but otherwise your animals would have lots of company. Pets are the best and most welcome reminders to get up and move often. I absolutely respect my clients' privacy and actually feel icky about being anywhere other than where I’m with your pet/s, working, or sleeping. I am meticulous in caring for your possessions, having grown up tiptoeing around antiques and fragile things. Your house will be as you left it when you return. Most people can't tell I've been there, other than by how happy and relaxed their animals are when they come back. After spending much of the last 40+ years traveling to and living in the Middle East and elsewhere, it's safe to say that I am calm in a crisis. Having raised and rescued and cared for animals since childhood, and having saved a kitten (Sekiz, now my grandcat) after she was thrown from a truck onto I-75 on Easter Sunday about ten years ago, I'm also familiar with getting animals to emergency care and always learn those locations wherever I travel. I will map the route to your vet from your home at least once before starting the sit. You can trust me to keep your dogs and other animals safe, and to give them lots of affection. Dogs in my care get the walks they are used to and plenty of play time and cuddles, and cats get the same but without the walks, unless they are leash-trained, and I love learning to care for other animals! In my experience, dogs and cats and some others need mental and physical workouts during the day (insofar as they are able) to be happy, and I like learning what works best for each individual animal. My response to Rover’s question, "Why are you house sitting and pet sitting?" is this: it helps to speed up my writing to move to a new setting every now and again. Plus, pet sitting gives me time with animals and their good people who want their animals to feel safe at home when their humans are traveling. I’ve met the most wonderful humans as well as animals! NOTE RE. 25 MARCH 2024 CANCELLATION ON SHORT NOTICE: I was diagnosed with RSV and learned 7 days in that it is highly contagious for a while even after symptoms are gone, and my doctor was seeing many cases where it lasts two weeks or more. As soon as I learned that I was still a walking germ vector, I let my clients know and they chose to cancel the booking. I did the cancellation from my end since they are fairly new to Rover. I feel awful about not understanding early on that it isn't just a cold that would be gone in a few days. I'd feel worse if I made these lovely people sick though, because this germ is a beast! Y'all be careful out there!