We, Beth Anne (63) & Dave (65), were professionals (Business analyst & IT programmer/analyst) at a large financial company in Ontario for over 20 years. We quit those jobs in 2008 and sold our farm to pursue our long time dream of full time travel.
When we lived on the farm we needed someone to stay at our place and care for our animals whenever we travelled so we absolutely know what it's like to be in your shoes. You want someone you can trust and rely on...we WILL provide you with that peace of mind.
Despite our “middle age” we are a very active and fit couple who are young at heart and love animals. We are non-smokers, responsible and experienced house sitters who are prepared to care for your home and pets as if they were our own.
WHY WE WANT TO HOUSE SIT
After months traveling in our RV it absolutely feels small. The chance to look after your house will be a pleasure and we would respect and live in it as if it were our own.
We also look forward to spending time with your animals. We lived on a 49 acre hobby farm for 20 years and have always had pets including dogs, cats and horses. A rural assignment that includes caring for your 4 legged family members would be ideal because we miss that animal contact when we travel.
We are not comfortable being care givers to people.
OUR HOUSE SITTING EXPERIENCE
Recent
2022
- 3 week (April) rural house sit on 50 acres in Southern Ontario. Took care of a large house, 2 cats and 3 very active dogs (a standard poodle, a small terrier mix, and a recently rescued street dog from Mexico.)
2020
- 4 week (January) rural house sit in southern Ontario. Looked after the property/house and a middle aged German Shepard.
2019
- 2 week farm sit in Southern Ontario. Looked after large property, 2 horses, 4 barn cats, 1 house cat. This was a repeat assignment, orignally looked after the place in 2011
- 3 week rural house sit near Milton, ON in late summer. 25 acre property, two dogs (husky mix and border collie mix) . Also a repeat assignment, originally looked after the dogs in 2018
2018
- Long weekend urban house and 2 dogs (whippet pup & senior pharaoh hound) sit. Returned in mid summer for a 3 week stay.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
Between 2009 and 2013 we had 14 very successful house sitting assignments (varying lengths of time from 1 to 10 weeks) in Canada. Here's some of the highlights:
- Oct 2012 we looked after a rural property in South Western ON for a week. That assignment included caring for their 4 horses, 4 barn cats, a 6 month old mastiff and a 2 yr old doberman.
- November 2011 we completed a repeat 10 week assignment in northern Ontario where we maintained a large rural property and cared for an elderly cat.
- August 2011 we spent 3 weeks farm sitting for a family in Southern Ontario. We looked after their house, large yard and vegetable garden as well as 4 horses, about 15 barn cats, a 5 month old Border Collie pup and house cat.
We also house and cat sat in Escazu, a suburb of San Jose, Costa Rica for the same people in 2009, 2010 and 2011 for about 5 weeks each time.
We took a hiatus from travelling and house sitting in 2013 until late in 2017. During that time we went back to work for 1.5 years, bought, renovated & sold 2 houses. We did most of the renovation work ourselves and gained valuable experience which would also help us take good care of your home and property.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE/SKILLS WE CAN BRING TO THE ASSIGNMENT
Living on farms for 23 years has given us lots of experience with the day to day care and work required to maintain larger properties so we would be most happy to look after rural homes. In fact we prefer assignments in a country setting.
- Dave is a great handyman including experience with building structure, electrical, plumbing, small solar systems, hot tubs and pools.
- I love to work in the garden/yard and be outside but will also make sure your house is kept clean and neat.
- We're both very comfortable using and maintaining wood source heat systems.
During those years, we had 5 dogs. 3 we had from pups and one lived to be 17. The other 2 were labs that we adopted as seniors...we have a soft spot for older dogs.
As far as cats go, we had 3 much loved house cats and I’ve lost track of how many barn cats we’ve had over the years. Most of them were strays that we adopted (or maybe they adopted us!).
We had as many as 5 horses at once so we’re very familiar with the work required to look after them. While we don't typically charge for our services, we would expect some compensation for a detailed & extensive schedule of care for larger animals.
REFERENCES
Excellent references can be provided on request. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, thanks!