| TESTIMONIALS |
| Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009 Comments (0) Recommend (0) 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. Paula Horton: 509- 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com |
| AT HOME CRITTER CARE------- FEATURED IN LOCAL NEWSPAPER (TRI-CITY HERALD) ARTICLE |
| Search Reviews 1 review for At Home Critter Care Sort by: Recent + Votes | Date | Rating | Elites' Dave F. Pasco, WA 6/15/2009 Excellent service at a reasonable price. Cats were pleased. I highly recommend Jackie. Add owner comment Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review yelp |
| Provided by YELLOWPAGES.COM Exceptional Great petsitting servicePosted by catphenatic1 on 02/03/2009 I have used this pet sitter for years and is really easy to use and they are very professional. My cats love the sitter. She cleans the litter boxes and checks on them twice daily. They get my mail from the box and bring in too.I would recommend this service for all your pets needs when you are away! Less I have used this pet sitter for years and is really easy to use and they are very professional. My cats love the sitter. She cleans the litter boxes and checks on them twice daily. They get my mail f… More Report Abuse Respond to This Review Read All Reviews by catphenatic1 Rate This Review: Thumbs Up (0) Thumbs Down (0) Provided by YELLOWPAGES. COM Exceptional Fantastic Horse and Dog sitter!Posted by horsey_chick on 01/20/2009 They take care of my 3 horses just like I would if I was there. Jackie is very experienced with them and very comfortable around them. She also takes care of my Dog and indoor Parrots leaving us no worries while we are gone. She turns on and off the house lights and gets the mail so that we can return after 2 weeks and feel like we have only been gone a day.I use this professional service each time we go out- of -town knowing my pets are in caring hands! Less They take care of my 3 horses just like I would if I was there. Jackie is very experienced with them and very comfortable around them. She also takes care of my Dog and indoor Parrots leaving us no w… More Report Abuse Respond to This Review Read All Reviews by horsey_chick Rate This Review: Thumbs Up (0) Thumbs Down (0) |
horseychick WOMF Rating:The Best Pet Sitting Service in the TRICITIES!!!! AtHomeCritterCare Being a single gal with a mini ranch/farm I thought it was wonderful to find Jackie with At Home Critter Care. Its very hard to leave town for a couple days when you have 2 horses, 3 dogs, 2 cats and a fish tank. But I don't have to worry anymore since I called this Pet Sitter. She comes to the house twice a day to feed, water and play with my pets. She changes the lights in the house too! Its just great to have someone I can depend on to take care of and check on my animals and place while away. I will be calling her again! She even text messages a picture and let me know my pets where ok cause she knew it was the first time I had left them and was a little uncomfortable. I liked the convience of emailing her with questions too! Cute website: www.athomecrittercare.com Respond Share This Posted 17 Mar 2009 (47 Views) Rank 0 Tri-cities WOMF |
| Rank 0 My cats LOVE this petsitter too!!!! She had to give pills to one of my cats who is quite old and has to have them twice daily. Cleans the litter boxes out daily and feeds twice a day.Whenever I need to leave town I just email Jackie and she responds right away. My cats usually run and hide when company comes to the house but the seemed to love this sitter! I also love this service. Posted 18 Mar 2009 by catphenatic Tri-Cities WOMF |
| Customer Reviews MerchantCircle Yahoo! Local Citysearch Insider Pages Yellowpages.com Worryless care! Jackie did a great job of taking care of my dog and horse. She even cleaned up after an accident my dog had when I forgot to open the doggie door. She also turned on and off various lights at different times so it would appear that somebody was home. She also runs errands -- she did one important one for me that needed to be done while I was away. March 16, 2009 by Marilyn in Kennewick, WA Merchant Response: "Thanks so much Marilyn. Just doing my job! Glad you like the services." - March 18, 2009 Fantastic Pet Sitter I love scheduling my pet sitter by email, its so simple! I have 12 cats and At Home Critter Care is so dependable. They come 2 times daily to feed and water and clean litter boxes! Jackie the sitter has even sent text messages to me while out of the country with photos so I don't miss my pets. Grest peace of mind when you are not there. The Tri-ciies BEST pet sitter! February 03, 2009 by Joannie in Pasco, WA Excellent Cat SItter I can always count on Jackie to help me with my 3 cats when I have to leave them at home. They require specific meds daily and it was always a hassle to leave them in the past. Now I can go with no worries knowing she will give them thier medications 2 times daily and check on food, water and clean the litterboxes daily! She even drops me a text message daily to let me know how they are doing. She also gets my mail and paper and changes the lights in the house so it looks like I am there. I highly recommend this responsible pet sitter! January 16, 2009 by J. McPherson in West Richland, WA |
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