Bromley Cat Sitting and Dog Walking

Winter is upon us.  I have spent the day dog walking in the rain and enjoyed every minute of it.

Today I started the day at 8am when Buster (John's little charge for the day), a little chihuahua cross was dropped off for day care.  After playing with him for a while I got ready to go and visit the 5 cats I am looking after at the moment.  Buster went up the garden with my husband to his workshop and I scooted off to visit Valentine and Petra, Bobby and Kooky and Daisy.  Cat sits finished I started my dog walks.  I had two ad hoc visits booked today, a labrador called Lobo and a Labrador/Staffie called Brinna.  John took Lobo and Buster out and I walked Brinna.  Brinna is walked on lead to so I always walk her on her own and then I went off to pick up Marley (spaniel) and Poppy and Paolo (cairn and westie) for a walk in Beckenham Place Park for an hour.  I have been walking these dogs for a couple of years so we are all old friends.  The rain stayed in the air mainly so we didnt get too wet.  I met up with a friend who also has a spaniel and the dogs played for an hour before we all headed back.

Back home for lunch after dropping the dogs back and cleaning them up as best I could.  A little bit of tlc for my daughter who has a cold and is off school and its time for checking on emails and doing any admin that is required.  Buster's owner picked him up at 4.30pm so I had time for a little chat before going off again at 5pm to walk Wolfie, a lovely little dog who lives down my road.  Wolfie is very scared of fireworks and unfortunately he heard a small bang in the distance and it took all my strength to stop him running off home.  We managed the 30 min walk without hearing any other fireworks and I took her home for her tea.  Then it was off to the two evening cat sits I had.

At 7.30pm I headed home for tea with the family and a well earned rest in front of the tv.

All in all a good day's work and plenty of time to get everything ready for tomorrow.  Let's hope the sun manages to shine just a little and the drizzle stops.

Come back soon,

Sharon

Pet Sitter Bromley - Purr-fect Kitty - running hot and cold

Hi, it's no wonder the English discuss the weather constantly; we have so much to discuss.  One minute it's pouring the next it's brilliant sunshine and we're all flagging in the heat, the next we are sheltering from a hail storm and then we're taking pictures of the brilliant rainbow in the sky.  Having an outside job I get to experience every change in the weather that's thrown my way throughout the day and I never know what to wear from one day to the next - sometimes from one hour to the next.  I think I am going to have to invest in some outdoor wear that keeps you cool but dry, so if anyone has any suggestions please email me.

Luckily for me I live near a very large wooded area with a little river running through it, so if it's hot, as it has been just lately, I can take the dogs for a walk and stay mainly in the shade with a stop off for a wallow in the stream.  John and I have been splitting our walks and this has been working out much better for us.  So usually now I will only be walking three dogs at a time.  Much more manageable!  I do admire the dogwalkers who can walk six or seven dogs without any help but that's not for me. 

So who am I looking after at the moment?  Buster a big black lab, very well behaved and well trained.  Bear, a tri coloured Jack Russell cross, who has a few behaviour issues and Bob, the Schnauzer who is working through his unusual behaviours with a trainer.  I also have two gerbils staying for a week.  Outside of the house I am looking after a cat that doesn't even belong to the family who have hired me to feed him and their Guinea Pigs, two lovely puppies called Jasper and Honey and two beautiful Spaniels called Skye and Freddie who give me a heart attack every walk when they run off and don't come back for quite a while, they do always come back though, phew!  I am also looking after a client's garden who is on holiday, just watering and tending the plants.  Of course I cant forget Poppy and Paolo, two little regulars who enjoy their midday walk in the park, today accompanied by Jasper.

More cat sits starting soon and I will have some piccies to post very soon, so come back and visit again.

Thanks

Sharon

News from the Bromley Pet Sitter - Purr-fect Kitty

Good news for all!  My husband has decided, that after working in Pharmacy for many, many years (sorry John but you are quite old :) ), to come on board with Purr-fect Kitty to dog walk and pet sit, allowing me to take on more clients.  We are going to start advertising in the local area and hopefully will attract lots more clients to our pet sitting service in the hope that John, who will still be working 2 days a week in Pharmacy, will be able to give up completely.  Watch this space!

I have Buster staying at the moment and we have just had an hilarious time in the garden.  I was watering the plants at the top of the garden and Buster decided to completely flip and started trying to drink from the hose. He was launching himself at the nozzle and got soaked from head to foot.  I got my daughter to take some pics of him

 Buster loves water and was this morning over Beckenham Place Park running in and out of the river and enjoying playing with his ball, which he ended up sharing with Cooper, my friend's Springer Spaniel, because we lost a ball as soon as we got to the park.  Nothing new there then :)

I have a few cat sits on the go at the moment.  Athena and Rosie and Garlic and Rosie.  Rosie is quite a popular name for cats.  I have at least five amongst my clients.  Harley and Marley are also really popular names for both cats and dogs.

Here are a few pictures of some of the cats I have looked after recently:-

Athena

Parker and Derek

Stella and Luna

Harley

I am approaching one of the busiest times of the year, the Easter break, so expect to see lots of lovely pictures of cats and dogs on my blog early May.

Come back soon xx

How to choose a Pet Sitter

We're all thinking of our summer holidays and that means sun, fun and what the heck are we going to do with our dog?  Or cat, if you're a cat person.  For many people, the thought of leaving their much loved, four-legged family member in a boarding kennel is too hard.  A pet sitter is a brilliant option. But how do you choose one?

A pet sitter should be CRB checked and have liability insurance. Ask to see proof of these.  

A pet sitter should also be able to provide you with references from previous clients.  For your peace of mind call a few of them and have a chat.  

Always meet with the pet sitter before making any booking or paying a deposit.  Most pet sitters will want to meet you at your home to meet with your pets and to find out where everything is kept that will be needed during the pet sit. Be very wary of pet sitters who do not insist on this. 

Keys must always be checked in the locks, there will be forms to fill in and a contract to sign between yourself and the petsitter. Give as much information as you can to the pet sitter about your pet to ensure your pet sitter takes great care of your pet.

Follow these tips and book your pet sitter with confidence!

Go to www.purr-fectkitty.co.uk for my download 'How to prepare your home and Pet for your departure'

Bromley Pet Sitter - Purr-fect Kitty Dogs and Cats

 Well what a winter it has been.  A winter of many cancellations.  I like the snow but when it starts to get in the way of everyday life, like it did before Christmas, it becomes a pain.  Christmas should be my busiest time of year but with everybody having to cancel their holidays, I wasn't that busy at all. 

I also had some really sad news before Christmas.  Charlotte sent me a Christmas card with a lovely picture of Colin on the front and sadly told me that Colin had passed away.  There are quite a few pictures of Colin on this blog as I looked after him quite a few times.  Sadly he was getting iller and iller. The picture above is Colin in happier times.

Here are some pictures of the pet sits that did happen over the Christmas period :)

My daughter Anya with Kizzy

 This is a new puppy I am helping to look after when the owners' shifts coincide.  Her name is Kizzy and she is a little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

 

Me and the Penge chucks

Pip, Marley and Buster

Another little pup I looked after a few times before Christmas.  Her name is Nala.

 

Buster
Unfortunately my time with Buster has ended but he may come and board next year.  Fingers crossed.

This is Honey.  Honey is deaf and can't walk very well.  She is coming to stay while her owners are on holiday in a weeks time so expect to see some more pictures of her.

 

Chloe guarding the door.  I had another dog at home that day and Chloe was making sure he couldn't come in.  Bob was fine with it though, he's been with us for a long time and doesn't let silly things like that bother him.

This is Skye. You can read a bit about her in an earlier post.  Skye came to stay while her owners got married in December.  I was a bit worried about how she would get on, but I needn't have as everything went swimmingly.

Bob getting his Christmas Cracker

Boris trying to get his muzzle off.

Bear my last boarder. And above with Bob, my day dog.  Luckily I have Bob twice a week at the moment.  Bob is doing excellently with his training and is a pleasure to walk now.  Bear should be coming to board a few times next year while his owner works away.  We can't wait to have Bear back.  He grew very attached to my 21 year old son and really missed him when he was away at work.  He loved having his belly rubbed as you can see in the photo above.


You can now follow me on Facebook.  Just "like" Purr-fect Kitty, Bromley Pet Sitter (local business) and see more pictures on a more regular basis.