I have known my neighbor Natalie for well over a decade. As a little girl she used to tag along with her older brothers as they took care of our chickens while we were away. I have an indelible memory of coming home from vacation and finding her busily tackling the chores alongside them, carrying a heavy water bucket and just really “getting after it” with enthusiasm. Natalie has grown into an adult with an exceptionally strong work ethic. She is not afraid of hard work. For many summers she has helped on the family farm, including moving pipe on our fields. She very strong and efficient at the job. I tried once to help out, and spent the next few days recovering from trying to do a fraction of the hard work that she takes right in stride and makes look easy, morning after morning all summer long. This work ethic carries over into pet care as well, as Natalie is diligent about doing even the less-pleasant tasks of keeping our donkeys’ corral clean, and the chickens’ roosts and coop scraped and raked, and their food and water fresh. Natalie understands the importance of cleanliness to our animals’ health and works hard to make sure all chores are performed to high standards. Natalie loves to do vacation pet care work. Whenever I have asked Natalie to do pet care for us, she has always responded with enthusiasm. She is happy to take the time to thoroughly review our pets’ needs with me prior to our departure. She is very good about asking for clarification on anything she is unsure about. She follows instructions well, and is reliable about performing the work. She stays in touch with daily texts to let me know all is well, and to alert me to anything unusual. Natalie is responsible and trustworthy. When we needed pet care for our tiny baby chicks who were in a carefully temperature-controlled environment indoors, we felt entirely comfortable giving her the keys to the house. She was able to work around some flooring installers—and not be intimidated by that chaos—while keeping our chicks clean, healthy and protected from the dust and fumes happening elsewhere in the house. Natalie loves animals of all kinds. In her family she has cared for dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and more. For us she has babysat chickens and donkeys—two very different creatures—but to her they are equally fascinating, and neither intimidate her in the least. Natalie recognizes animals’ individual personalities and takes a real delight in them. She is also eager to learn everything she can about them, so she can apply that knowledge to their care. In our donkeys’ case that is especially important as they must follow a strict diet. I can absolutely trust Natalie to feed only the foods we specify, and not try to spoil the donkeys with treats that lead to serious health issues (which was an issue with a different pet care provider we had hired in the past). Natalie is relaxed and comfortable with all our animals, and clearly enjoys spending time with them beyond their minimal care needs. During our last vacation she voluntarily made an extra visit every day just to spend time with them and be sure all was well. This is an important point, as it really is necessary to get to know specific animals’ personalities and normal behavior in order to be able to spot when something is not right, so it can be addressed before it becomes a serious problem. Fortunately we have never had a serious problem crop up while we were away, but we appreciate having an observant pet caregiver like Natalie who spends extra time beyond doing chores just observing and interacting with our pets every day while we’re gone. Natalie has an easy rapport with all of our pets. She is gentle, kind and loving with all of them. She is not intimidated by our large dogs’ barking and bluster. Our dogs go to a boarding kennel when we are gone, but we understand Natalie has provided pet care for other peoples’ dogs and enjoyed it very much. Our dogs do love it when Natalie visits as she is relaxed and friendly with them despite their bluster, which of course quickly turns to wags as they follow her around, begging for the kind and loving attention she freely gives. Natalie is responsible, reliable and trustworthy. She has a great sense of humor and is a delight to be around. We enjoy spending time with her whether it is pet-related or not. Natalie has told me repeatedly how much she enjoys taking care of our own and other peoples’ pets. It is a great boon to us that Natalie is so willing and eager to help us out with our pets when we travel. She carefully follows our written instructions, and cheerfully performs them to our high standards. Most importantly she is very responsive and stays in touch via text, letting us know every day that all is well so we can relax and enjoy our vacation time. We are confident in our recommendation of Natalie as a responsible, reliable provider for your vacation pet care needs.