Zachary D.
Zachary D.
Contact Zachary D.
Highlights
Pet care experience
Happy Tails, Happy Hearts
I have been around dogs for a large majority of my life and have even earned the joking nickname of “dog whisperer” among my friends. I fell in love with caring for animals with my first dog, Mattie, when I was only 4 years old. Since then my family and I have housed 9 dogs in total over the last 23 years, 6 from rescues. For as long as I can remember I have been asked to dog sit/walk for anyone who knows my love for animals. I am the proud owner of 2 adoptees currently, Baymax and Tator-Tot. Both are well trained through classes at Smoken Dakota Kennels. I am NOT a certified dog trainer by any means, but I am fully confident I can teach some basics or even a set you up with a trainer or training class! I am trained in animal CPR.
Qualifications
Ratings and reviews
Zach does a great job, our pups like him. Communication could be more timely prior to reservation as we weren't sure he was planning on coming since we had made the reservation 5 months prior. But he did reply so all was good.
Zach has done drop-ins with our dogs and I have always been impressed with his friendliness and willingness to help. 10/10!!!!
Zack took the time to get to know my grumpy old dog, who doesn't like anyone. We think she loves him more than us now. Zack house sat her for a week, and even watered my flowers while we were gone. Will definitely be using Zack for all our dog watching needs. Highly recommend!
Zachary did amazing with our St. Bernard & she absolutely loves going for walks with him!
I had a last minute dinner come up & Zachary came to watch my dog. He did a great job! I will be using him again in the future. Thank you again!
Zachary was great with Franklin! He was always good about responding quickly and we loved the pictures he sent every day on their walks.
Calendar and availability
Schedule
I usually spend my days taking care of my 2 dogs which includes, walks, going to the park, working on our training and some rest periods in between to keep everyone’s mood positive. I usually bring my parents’ 4 dogs with me, but that is not a requirement of my day by any means. Yes, I typically spend my days taking care of 6 dogs with only 1 being a small. So I am very used to high energy days and having my eyes everywhere at once!
Where your pet will stay
Home characteristics
Safety, trust & environment
I have a fenced in backyard with 6’ wooden fences ,grass lawn and water access. I like to take the dogs out to parks or for hikes as opposed to keeping them locked up in the backyard. For parks I usually keep it to the Sioux Falls area with Family and Spencer being my most frequented. Hikes I will go as far as Luverne but that’s a rare occasion. I usually do leashed walks but occasionally I will let my dogs loose in the off-leash side of family park. While resting we usually just go inside for some A/C, water, and a nap for the pups. Occasionally on a nice cool day we will just stay outside and rest.
Pets
A typical day
I plan to go for walks around my neighborhood with a park less than a block away or going to Family or Spencer park. I also go on hikes with dogs although hiking is usually a longer trip. I have snuffle mats for brain stimulation while we aren’t doing anything physical. I also plan to slowly incorporate some basic manners training.