I think that the one main thing dog owners have noticed about me is that their dogs seem to sense that I am "safe", someone they can instinctively trust. I know that something I do (I'm not quite sure what it is) makes them feel good around me, and my experience with stay-over's has repeatedly given me the reward of leaving my doggy charges with their tails wagging! I have had different kinds of stay-over's, including two weeks of care for a couple of large dogs while their owners were on vacation, repeat one-day visits combining housecleaning with caring, feeding and walking Mitzi, a gentle black Lab mix and a two-to-three week stay with her while Dr. W. and his wife were on their honeymoon. I have also done some weekend pet watches and over the past thirteen years have cared for some pets on and off for a couple I'm really close with, including a tank-full of fish, a parrot and a wonderful female Pug named "'Bubbles". I should add that Bubbles and I became so familiar with each other over the years that she actually came to expect me as a regular guest, and usually needed a day or two to get used to my not being there. I have also, of course, enjoyed caring for pets of my own, As a kid, I had several pets including two dogs, two cats and a litter of four kittens, a tortoise and a duck. I speak three languages, English, Meowish and Bowwow. I don't speak any duck. Seriously, though, I am able to recall the first experience I had with pets of my own. We had a black and white mixed Terrier named Inky. Inky was a pup about one year old when we got him. and he needed a playmate. Around that same period of time another creature came into our home from the surrounding hills: a sweet, gentle grey tabby whom we named Pepper. Pepper was a refugee from a litter of feral kittens that we found at the animal shelter. We loved him at first sight and took him in. Little did we know it, but we had just inherited a free backyard circus! These two rascals would spend hours chasing each other, rollin' n' rasslin' and putting on a display that was better than even watching TV! It was family entertainment at its best! Over the last several years I have lived in places where pets unfortunately weren't allowed, something I hope to change one day. As compensation, I would very much enjoy giving my love and care to your dogs, and bringing my past experience to your aid, so that they are left in safe keeping in your absence. My availability is flexible though it may tighten up a bit when I go back to school this fall. My courses will be fairly light (6 units) and I would still be available some weekdays and nearly always on weekends. As of now, Wednesday is the only day that I cannot sit.