Background
I’m 60 years old. I’ve been retired 7 years. I was with the Austin Tx Police Department for 24 years retiring at the rank of Commander. I was also in the Air Force for 10 years in the K9 program, 4 years as a handler, 6 years as a trainer. I handled and trained Patrol, Bomb and Drug detector dogs. I was stationed for 5 yrs at Kadena AB Okinawa and the remainder at bases in California and Oklahoma.
My wife is originally from Matamoros Mexico and graduated from the University of Texas Austin. She was a teacher for many years before joining the Texas Education Agency where she helped create semester tests for ESL students. She is fluent in Spanish. She currently works as a contractor for another Education agency creating ESL tests for Puerto Rico and Texas. WiFi is very important for that purpose.
We are both fully vaccinated. 3 Pfizer shots. We are both in good health and exercise regularly. We offset that by eating a lot of good food. We are both non smokers. We both have valid drivers licenses and current insurance.
Up until recently we’ve been the proud parents of 2 Yorkies that were our kids. Both have passed from age, and it has left a hole in our lives. We plan to rescue again in the future but we're taking a break to travel and see the world for a couple years. Some people may take care of your pets in order to stay someplace free and that's ok, I'm sure they do a good job. But we are looking at it like we GET to take care of your pets. I think there's a difference. Our friends love dropping their babies off with us when they travel. We never charge and they know they are getting all the attention they deserve. And when we visit our friends after a sit, the response we get from their pets when we walk in tells them all they need to know.
This is the 1st time we’ve been free to go anywhere (our dogs kept us grounded and we hated to board them, not knowing about this site)
House sitting is an exciting option to allow us to see the country and meet interesting people and pets. And as I mentioned, we love animals and this gives us our “fix” to care for and love animals. The house part is nice and we certainly appreciate it, but we’re more excited about having fur babies again, even for a short time.
Experience
We’ve house sat for friends and their pets for years. We’ve traveled a bit and stayed at several AirB&Bs. I've included all my reviews from AirB&B that confirm we are excellent house guests . We’re both animal lovers and we respect other peoples things. We don’t just treat them like our own, we treat them as peoples belongings entrusted to our care. We had elderly dogs that required daily medications, so we are familiar with keeping a schedule, creating the correct doses from whole pills if necessary. We follow instructions on feeding and type and amount of treats allowed. Your animals will weigh roughly the same as when you left them in our care. We take pet instructions seriously. We understand that what we gave our babies may not sit well with your babies so we follow your instructions on what to feed them and what not to feed them to the letter.
As I mentioned earlier, I have 10 years experience with handling and training K9’s. (Although our Yorkies actually trained us), I am familiar with basic 1st aid. I’m a problem solver by nature and training. This means I can handle the little things that pop up without bothering you, yet know what rises to the level where you need to know about it now.
I've owned houses, and rentals. I know basic maintenance and I’ve created some beautiful back yard oasis’ so I have basic gardening and soil Ph knowledge. I had houses with Salt and fresh water pools and handled the maintenance.
She is the best doggie mom you can imagine. She doesn’t know all our neighbors names but she knows the names of every dog in a 3 mile radius. She refers to the neighbors as "Max' mom said hi" or "Peaches' Dad asked about you". So now I think of Bill as Peaches' Dad.... Her license plate holder says “Yorkie Mom”. We knew every dog friendly restaurant in town. Our Yorkies had health issues, Sebastian had knee joint surgery, Pancreatitis, and enlarged liver. We bought a stroller so he could go on walks with us until he healed. She had all his meds memorized and we never missed a dose. She actually convinced our babies that "Medicine Time!" was to be celebrated like "Treat?" time. So she is very excited about fawning over more babies.
Summary
OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE YOUR PET(S) FALL IN LOVE WITH US
It's no small decision to invite people into your home, and an even bigger decision to let someone care for your loved ones while you are away. I think we've lived our lives in a way that demonstates we are trustworthy. I come from a Law Enforcement background, and she taught grade school and special needs students. We've got an 800 credit score, not a blemish on our records and our reputations are spotless. We can provide yo