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

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!

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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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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!

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 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!!!!”

We were pleased to be accepted for this sit as it gave us a chance to look after Guinea Pigs something which we had not had in our care before. They were easy care, gentle and very amusing little creatures. Their two storey cage shares the balcony with the bonsai plants.

Each morning they were fed fresh fruit and vegetables, hay & pellets. It amazed us how much these little guys could put away. Due to the temperatures in Sydney at the time of our stay we ensured that they never ran out of water and on days 30 degrees plus (which there were a few!) added frozen water bottles to their cage.

While on this sit we were able to take in some of the sights of Sydney. When the owners said the ferry terminal was just across the road, it really was just across the road! Both of us had not been to Sydney for many years and it was nice to visit “The Welcome Wall” at Darling Harbour. Bruno’s name is as the wall which honours all those who have emigrated to Australia. It was also nice to reconnect with the city.

We had started to organise our New South Wales sits mid July and in August the owners accepted us for this sit. We were able to visit prior to the sit starting and pick up keys and information regarding the home, chickens & gardens. To our delight we also found out that we would have a family of kookaburras visit each afternoon for some food and water.

During our stay we enjoyed fresh eggs daily and also any of the beautiful vegetables that were ready to pick. Because of the ongoing drought that these areas are experiencing everything is so dry and brown. There are strict water restrictions and any watering that we did was by watering can only and the grey water from showers & washing. It was sad to see as the owners have beautiful gardens both ornamental and vegetable and are having to let some things go.

Here, we also were using the Fires Near Me App as there was a threat that the fires could easily reach this area. We had constant smoke haze in the sky for our stay. Thankfully for us we didn’t experience anything further but believe that the fires did come close to the whole Bowral/Burradoo area.

We had in our care Jack the Border Collie 17 years old – Junior the Cattle Dog 6 years old and Mishka the cat! Two days into the sit Jack became very unwell and we drove him to the afterhours emergency vet in Inglewood. The decision was taken by his owners after consulting with the vet to have him euthanised. Due to Jack’s age and health problems at the time we feel that this was the kindest but hardest decision the owners had to make. The vets were just wonderful and made him comfortable until the owners arrived in order for them to be with him that night.

During our time in Bargo we had the Fires Near Me Alert on our phone as this was bushfire territory, so much so that the day after we left the owners were evacuated and their property water bombed!