In Redcliffe – Qld – Home territory with Ruby & Buzz – 26 Sept to 04 Oct 2020

Chosen by Ruby and Buzz’s owners we were to be their first pet & house sitters. While on the sit it gave us the opportunity to reconnect to our hometown as we still have our own home leased here, on the Redcliffe Peninsula, while we pet & house sit full time. We were to be looking after Ruby a little four month old Labrador/Kelpie X & Buzz who is an elderly Labrador.

Ruby & Buzz
Buzz
Ruby

Ruby and Buzz are the best of mates sleeping and playing together. Buzz did have his limits with her and certainly would let her know when he had enough. A deep growl and a gentle snap was all it took. Ruby went on long walks each day and Buzz did only a short trip out due to suffering from arthritis in his back legs. They both enjoyed these outings and when Buzz went out Ruby had a little anxiety being separated from him.

Two in the Bed
Where is Buzz?
Licking the water drops from Buzz’s face

Feed time was quite comical with Buzz and Ruby waiting at the laundry door while we got their food ready. Buzz being the typical Labrador though, just needed to come in and inspect what we were doing each time. Buzz has medication included into his food daily. We had a lot of fun with these two lovely dogs and on the owners return have been asked would we sit again next year.

Responsibilities:

Food/Water Buzz & Ruby

Medication for Buzz

Daily Individual Walks

Security of the Home

Mail Collection

Return Sit to Little Mountain – Qld – 13 July to 23 Sept 2020

We feel very fortunate and grateful to have been offered the chance to sit again for the owners for the length of time we did during Covid19. It allowed us to be in the one spot and also return to their beautiful acreage property and to a sit that we enjoy doing. As we only have chickens here to look after and family members of the owners living in the same street we were also able to take a short 3 day sit in Flaxton and also for Bruno to do a sit in Mount Isa with me staying on here.

The chicken coop cleanup!
Free Ranging
Back for the Inspection
Receiving the seal of Approval

Previous Sit: 02 Feb to 18 May 2019

Bruno’s Solo Sit With Bagel – Mount Isa – Qld – 14 Sept to 23 Sept 2020

Spotting a sit in Mount Isa we applied as this gave Bruno the opportunity to return to the town where he lived for 17 years, visit with a friend who is unwell and spend time with Bagel a lovely young Border Collie Cross while on the sit. We spoke with the owner and she was very happy for Bruno to do the sit on his own and knew the reasons for him coming to Mount Isa. The owners also on our return sit in Little Mountain were happy for me to be there solo as well.

Bagel

With the house placed at the bottom of a hill & with a great view of the town from the top it was daily morning/evening walks to there with even an early morning trip to see the town lit up and sunrise!! Bagel was a little trooper Bruno says making it to the top each time. Being only young he still had all the traits that go with a puppy. Shoes and anything else had to be put out of his reach.

Just prior to Sunrise. The view from Townview

Responsibilities Included:

Daily Walks with Bagel

Food/Water

Security of the Home

Mail Collection

Three Day Sit – With Ryker & Tandee – Flaxton – Qld – 20 Aug to 23 Aug 2020 – Our First Standard Schnauzers

We feel very privileged to have been looking after Ryker & Tandee two beautiful Schnauzers who live in a historic home in Flaxton on the Sunshine Coast. Being close by we applied for the sit and were accepted by their owners whom we shared a meal with the night before they left.

Both the home and grounds were outstanding and even though Ryker & Tandee have plenty of room to play they were always up for their daily walk. It was a pleasure to take them out and if passing the local French Restaurant a stop for their usual treat from the owner was a must!

We really enjoyed our time here exploring with Ryker & Tandee and learning about the history that relates to the home and the area. Both dogs are well behaved and a pleasure to be with. Each afternoon we had a visit from some birds looking for their usual daily food. They included a baby bird being fed by her Mum.

Responsibilities Included:

Food/Water & Daily Walks for Ryker & Tandee

Security of the Home

Watering Plants/Pool Care

Juno & Lenna – Tanawha – Qld – 04 July to 09 July 2020

We were asked by a fellow sitter as to whether we would be interested in a short sit that, due to her house sitting commitments was unable to fill. We phoned the owners and arranged to visit as we were staying close by at the time. Confirming that they were happy for us to sit for them we accepted and with Covid19 in full swing this allowed us to get our pet fix!

In our care was Juno a 10-month-old Ridge back pup and Lenna a beautiful Burmese who was an “indoor only” cat. Both pets were just a delight and we had a lot of fun playing with Juno who was always up for a game of ball or whatever other toy you could throw. She has plenty of room to move as the owner’s beautiful home is on acreage. Juno stays in her crate at night in one of the downstairs rooms and is very happy to do so, this was a first for us and as I had read saw the security, she must have felt by going in each night. An early let out in the morning and she was off!

Being young Juno was fed three times a day a very healthy diet and Lenna looked forward to that sardine included into her meal each night.

We enjoyed our short stay with these two lovely animals and for us, a first with Juno’s age and breed.

Responsibilities Included:

Water/Feed Juno & Lenna

Security of the Home

Mail Collection

Watering of the Plants

A Week With Tilly – Everton Hills – Qld – 27 Jun to 04 July

Tilly is a lovely natured, playful little girl living in Everton Hills. Her owners were going camping for the week and we took the opportunity to look after her in order to be with a pet again.

She is an outside dog and had a go at trying to see how far she could push the friendship by whining which then turned into a howl at 2.30am our first night there. She was soon relocated to the back deck, closer to us where she settled nicely. Her owner informed us a stern “NO” would have had her stop. Needless to say this is where Tilly slept for the duration of our sit with her. Each night she was put into her stylish jacket due to the cold weather.

Responsibilities Included:

Feed/Water for Tilly

Daily Walk

Playtime

Security of the Home

Mail Collection

Falling In Love With Gidget – A Little Boston Terrier With A Huge Personality – West End – Qld – 05 Mar to 24 Mar 2020

We were contacted by Gidget’s owners through our website and accepted the sit as we were free for the month of March. This then completed our sits before we were to fly out to France.  We were able to visit before the sit and meet with Gidget and her owners. This would be again, a first for us sitting a Boston Terrier. We were greeted by this little ball of energy and fell in love with her immediately.

Cuteness Overload
Scoping out the opposition
Busy Bee

Gidget lives in a lovely apartment across from the Brisbane river. There is a great river walk and also an off-leash park close by. These were our destinations several times a day and Gidget also came for a family visit and beach outing to Caloundra. Her owner said that her “likes” in order are the beach, balls, people, food and then other dogs. She has her certain favourite toys and would deliver one to your feet hoping for that one more throw or game of tug of war. You needed to be the one that stops play as she would go on forever, knowing no boundaries. It was quite hot while we were there and we didn’t want this little ball of energy overheating. She made us laugh several times when she would lie down not wanting to budge if she knew that we were heading home or if she was still in control of the ball, she would just drop it far enough from herself in order for you not to be able to reach her! Such a clever girl!

Family visit
Beach Visit
No, I’m not ready to go home!

Due to Covid19 the owners took the decision to return back to Australia from France 5 days earlier than they were booked to return.  We stayed with Gidget until we were certain her Mum & Dad were back in Australia. We left her and the apartment in the evening, allowing her owners to be in their own home to self-isolate for the 14 day period that was required. It was lovely to receive a video of their homecoming and her reaction.

Deep in conversation
He’s reading and I would like to go for a walk!
Read my face! I would really like to go for a walk!

Responsibilities Included:

Feed/Water for Gidget

Daily walks several times a day & ball play

Medication for Gidget

Mail Collection/Security

Seaside Living with Charlie in Tropical Nth Qld – Grasstree Beach – 14 Feb – 28 Feb 2020

We were contacted by Charlie’s owners back in 2017 to sit for them but unfortunately were unable to do so. We were contacted again in 2019 asking whether we were available to sit for the above period and were happy to do so as we had this time free. We leisurely drove up over a two day period from Brisbane and arrived the day before the owners left. This gave us time to be shown and told the workings of the home and property and most importantly Charlies routine.

Charlie’s beautiful home is a short walk to Grasstree Beach, there is an access track not far from the house which takes you straight onto the beach. Each day we enjoyed an early morning & late afternoon beach walk with her. We walked her at these times due to it being very hot and humid at the time. She is a lot of fun to be with as she is very well trained and obedient and this allowed her to be off leash on the beach with us. Her favourite thing to do was chase the little crabs and thankfully they were a lot faster then she was, burying themselves in the sand to escape.

Each afternoon we had an assortment of native birds arrive for fresh water and seed. These included cockatoos, magpies, curlews, crows and the odd bush turkey! The owners are conscious of not putting the seed out daily as they don’t want the birds to become reliant. Throughout the day we also had an everchanging view of the sea!

Responsibilities Included :

Feed/Water for Charlie

2 X Daily Walks Charlie

Mail Collection/Security

Lawn/Garden/Pot Plant Care

Feed/Water for Native Birds

Pet Free Sits – Kallangur 18 Jan – 02 Feb & Wooloowin 03 Feb – 12 Feb 2020

Kallangur – A message went out in the housesitting community asking if anyone was available to help the owner who had been called away to help with the bushfires that were raging down in New South Wales – Australia. We had a small period of time available and were able to help out in this instance and also organise another sitter to take over from us. Our main responsibility for the owner was the security of the home.

Wooloowin – This also was a sit where the owner was looking for the security of the home as several of the houses in the street had been broken into over the past few months. We had the garden and indoor plants to look after as well as collecting the mail each day. By coincidence we also arranged for another sitter to take over from us as we had another sit pre arranged and the owner was happy to do this.

Chevy the Greyhound – Built For Speed But Prefers the Quiet Life – Gold Coast – Qld – 06th to 18th January 2020

Chevy belongs to our daughter and grandson and we looked after him, their fish and their unit while they were away on holidays in North Queensland. He is a 6 year old ex racer and was purchased through the Greyhound Adoption Program and has been a loved family member for the past two years.

Chevy loves to go for his walks but I think secretly prefers to be on his bed as this is where he can be found anytime during the day. We took him out both early morning and late afternoon due to the weather being so hot at the time. He is a very gentle dog preferring to just walk on by when meeting other dogs. It is always interesting to see people’s reactions to a greyhound with some either very curious or crossing the road or even turning back in order not to meet up with you. I can fully understand this reaction as prior to getting Chevy I had no idea of their gentle natures.

This sit was not without mishap! We had an unusual amount of rain with an early morning storm and at 4.30am found ourselves having to mop up and try to contain water that was coming through the front door. Thankfully Bruno found a blocked drain on the top of the driveway and once unblocked the water started to drain away!! The aftermath was a couple of hours of mopping but the unit is now with very clean floors. At one stage I said to Bruno “This could happen to us on a sit!” His reply “We are on a sit!!!!”