Adventures in Pet Sitting

I’ve got some news to share with you! 

No, I am not moving to Bali.

No, I am not closing on a ranch to shelter 50 dogs & cats.

No, I am not getting that F-Type that I’ve been fantasizing about.

I have been working diligently on my first book! 
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Yes, it is true! I am in the trenches! I have written every day since January 1st!
“They” say that everyone has a book in them and I believe this is true. Whether or not everyone actually writes that book is another thing.  And whether or not anyone else reads that book is yet another thing.

I am not expecting the world, but I have definitely enjoyed the experience of writing at least 1000 words daily this month.  Some days the flow is better than others.  Some days I write pieces that aren’t related to my book, but it still feels great to be in the groove of writing daily.

One reason I decided to go for it is I that I have found that throughout the years whenever I am in social settings and people find out that I am a pet sitter they ask me tons of questions.  No one really cared about my career in the corporate world as an executive assistant.  I suppose supporting executives is pretty uninteresting unless it mimics “The Devil Wears Prada” (which was a great movie, by the way).

So I have found that people are very curious about my experiences as a pet sitter.  I guess when you think about it, people probably don’t meet many pet sitters.  No wonder they are curious.  One pet owner I met at a party recently was stunned when I told him that people pay me to sleep in their home with their pets while they are gone away on vacation.  He asked me again, “so let me get this straight, you actually SLEEP in peoples beds WITHOUT them there?” 

I calmly responded for the 3rd time, “Yes, people actually pay me to take care of their pets in their home.”  I smiled.  His mouth hung open in disbelief. 

He was one of those people I call “boarding kennel” people.  Boarding kennel people will graduate to pet sitters eventually after their dog comes home from the kennel with weird ailments, a UTI,  a traumatized attitude, or worse.  If not that, most boarding kennel people will decide to use a pet sitter once their pet is in the senior stages and too fickle and fragile to blend in with the mass chaos at a boarding kennel.

So I am sure boarding kennel guy will be calling me soon enough to look after his 9 year old Border Collie.  Just sayin’!

Anyway,  I suppose people are interested because I’ve always shared interesting stories when people ask about pet sitting. Like the times I got to pet sit for "celebrities", the times I got bit by client’s dogs, or that one 4th of July I discovered that some dogs lose their minds, or that time I flooded a client’s house, or that one time I got propositioned by a client, or that time I...

The list goes on and on.  I have had some terrible and amusing experiences in my 15+ years of pet sitting.   In the early days, I was inexperienced and I made a lot of mistakes.  It has been fun and not-so-fun writing my book and reliving my experiences pet sitting over the years.  There were many cringe-worthy moments I can laugh about now (well, mostly laugh, just so I don’t cry). I decided all of my stories would make a nice collection for a book.

In a few months you will get to read all about my colorful, cringe-worthy, and laughable pet sitting experiences! In the months ahead, I am excited to endure the rest of the writing, re-writing, editing, re-writing, re-editing, designing, publishing and marketing that comes with publishing a book.

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Have a great weekend!

- Yvonne