All for animals: Tri-Citians trust pets with sitters

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

When Laurie Ellis walked into the backyard of a Benton City home, she was quickly greeted by four old friends who excitedly jumped, barked and wagged their tails.

TJ, Mugsey, Lulu and Bubba are basset hounds owned by Tommy and Helen Martin, and they usually only see Ellis when their owners are out of town.

Ellis is their pet sitter and has been the go-to caregiver for the dogs whenever the Martin's are away.

"They wonder where we're at, but they love Laurie," Tommy Martin said.

The feeling is clearly mutual and easy to see as Martin watched Ellis play with his four-legged family members.

Getting to play with animals all day is exactly why Ellis started her company, Pawsitively Pet Sitters, 12 years ago.

"It's great to do and it's a lot of fun," she said. "It's low stress and the pets, probably about 95 percent of the time, are happy to see me.

"Dogs are certainly happy to see me and most of the cats are happy."

The idea of hiring a professional pet sitter to take care of dogs, cats, birds, horses, alpacas and more may seem unusual, but Ellis says she has about 170 clients in Kennewick, Richland, West Richland and Benton City that keep her and her part-time helper busy throughout the year.

A quick look online, in the phone book or the classified ads shows several businesses offering pet sitting services around the Tri-Cities.

The cost of a pet sitter per hour or visit depends on a variety of factors -- the business, number of animals, length of visit and additional services requested -- but seem to run anywhere from $14 to $30.

Jackie Downing of Burbank started her company, At Home Critter Care, five years ago because she loves animals and saw a need in the area.

"It's just really hard to leave when you have animal -- be it one or 10," Downing said. "...I love it because it's so much more fun than dealing with people all day."

Downing, Ellis and other pet sitting businesses actually do a lot more than caring for pets while their owners are out of town.

Many provide vacation services, such as checking the mail, bringing the newspaper in, taking the garbage can to the street and turning lights off and on in order to give homes a lived-in look while families are away.

And, caring for the animals is more just plopping down some food and water for them once a day.

Pet sitters clean out litter boxes, take dogs for walks and give animals love and attention. Some also can dispense medicine to pets as necessary.

"I give them a little people time while their people are gone," said Downing. "They're used to some attention. They need a treat."

Downing takes care of all animals, including livestock.

"There's a lot of people who aren't comfortable (with horses) but to me it's not a problem. I grew up around them. I just love them," she said. "It's not any harder (caring for a horse) than a dog or cat for me."

She is, however, "scared to death of snakes," so it's the only pet she won't watch.

Although taking care of pets while owners are away on business or vacation is the most common reason pet sitters are called, many also provide services to help owners such as pet taxi services to take an animal to the veterinarian and shopping services for people who can't get to a pet store.

At Nanny Canine, run by Veronica Alford-McGlothan, a Nurse Nanny service gives pets their daily medications. She also offers Nanny Sleepovers, where a nanny spends the night with a pet while their owner is away.

"Pet parents love it," Alford-McGlothan said. "We also do a little bit of light housekeeping, so it's nice and they appreciate that. We have a funny affection name for it -- house grooming."

Nanny Canine has been caring for Tri-City pets since November 2007. The five nannies, plus Alford-McGlothan, pet sit for all domesticated animals in Kennewick, Richland, West Richland and Pasco.

"I think people still are learning about us and some people aren't aware of pet sitting and the advantages of it," Alford-McGlothan said. "We're as safe a provider as the person you let babysit your children on a daily basis, or the person you let into your home to clean your house or onto your property for yard work. ..."

"One thing that is valuable is we're all pet parents or have been," she added. "It's important to us to provide the level of care that we would want our babies to receive."

Making pet sitting services available also means that pet parents don't have to ask neighbors, friends or family members to take care of their pets while they're gone, or worry about what they'll think when they see the long list of things to do to make Princess or Bowser happy.

"For our team of nannies, when we go into a home we're really there for their pets," she said. "The bulk of the time is spent interacting with their babies and we leave little notes for them so people know what we were doing with (the pets) while they were away."

"... We do all the quirky details that natural pet parents have and we don't think they're quirky," Alford-McGlothan added, noting that one time they watched a dog that had to be spoon fed.

Downing, who describes herself as a 50-something woman with gray hair, has also used the advancements in technology to help her. She uses her cell phone to take pictures of the pets she's watching and sends a text message to their owners so they get a friendly greeting while they're away.

Regardless what pet sitting service is used, the experts say it's important for pet owners to make sure the people they trust with their pets and their homes are bonded, licensed, have proper insurance and are knowledgeable about animals.

Martin, who's called on Pawsitively Pet Sitters six or eight times to care for his basset hounds, said he likes keeping TJ, Mugsey, Lulu and Bubba at home while he's gone because they're more comfortable staying in their normal environment. It's also more convenient for Martin to head out on the road without having to pack up the dogs and drop them off somewhere, he said.

He says the best way to find a good pet sitter is to ask around and get recommendations. Martin, however, found Ellis after his regular pet sitter fell through at the last minute before a trip.

"We were just excited and happy with everything she did and she's been back every time," he said.

For more information contact:

-- Laurie Ellis, Pawsitively Pet Sitters, 628-0668 or pawsitivelypetsitters.com

-- Jackie Downing, At Home Critter Care, 539-0410 or athomecrittercare.com

-- Veronica Alford-McGlothan, Nanny Canine, 946-2669 or nannycanine.com

* Paula Horton: 509- 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com

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Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009

All for animals: Tri-Citians trust pets with sitters

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer