My husband and I have over 30 years of experiencing helping pet parents with their pets' behavior problems and training pet professionals. I’m a best-selling author of pet behavior books, and we are both Certified Animal Behaviorists. After we lost our last dog, our cherished Irish Setter Coral, we planned not to acquire more dogs and cats of our own for awhile, but have discovered that being "empty pet-sters" is more difficult than we imagined. We have endless love and experience to share, and decided pet-sitting is the perfect opportunity to do exactly that. It would be difficult to engineer a more affectionate, supportive, and attentive environment than our home. There isn't a pet parent on earth who could be more particular than I was when looking for people to sit for our pets. I know how hard it is to be separated from a cherished four-legged family member. I wanted our pets' wellbeing to be the same top priority to the person caring for them as it was to us. I know how important it is to receive regular updates and pictures, and for care instructions to be followed expertly. I’ll care for your pet with the highest standards I could hope for as an owner. My husband and I love doing most anything outdoors, especially hiking and camping in scenic areas. I walk a lot, swim and work out regularly and enjoy competing in short distance triathlons. After being 'snowbirds' for 6 years, commuting between Denver and Sun City AZ, we now live full time in Sun City. We have a single family home with a backyard enclosed by a 6 foot cement block wall all the way around. Walking daily is something we enjoy and we love having a dog along. Our work with animal behavior is extensive and intensely rewarding. I've appeared on national morning talk shows as well as local news shows. I've developed unique training protocols and pet education programs for national pet related chains. My husband and I created a DVD on canine body language, and we have several successful websites providing educational products and services to both pet parents and pet professionals. I was the co-founder of one of the first pet loss support programs at a veterinary teaching hospital, and also established one of the first behavior helplines at a large metropolitan animal shelter. I've taught animal behavior to animal control officers, veterinary technicians, veterinarians, groomers, pet sitters and more. I'm passionate about enhancing the quality of life for animals. My husband and I have both shared our lives with pets since we were children. When we married 31 years ago, we blended our pet families of four cats and three dogs. We've both worked professionally with dogs and cats for 30+ years in a variety of settings from veterinary teaching hospitals, to an animal shelters, to our private behavior consulting practice. We've trained other professionals on four continents, and been a consultant to national humane associations and well known pet product corporations. We both know dogs and cats--and how to understand and meet their needs--inside and out!