Stuck for what to do with your four-legged friend when you’re away on vacation or business?

Ever stuck for what to do with your four-legged friend when you’re away on vacation or business? Founded in 2009, Pasadena Pet Sitters offers in-home pet sitting be it dog-walking, playing with the cat, taking care of a hamster, what have you – in short, all creatures great and small.

“I’ve taken care of horses, lizards, Madagascar hissing cockroaches,” says owner Julie, who is Red Cross-certified in Animal First Aid. “But mostly it’s dogs.”

Does she own any pets herself?

“I have a Border Collie, a Yorkshire Terrier, two rabbits, a cat and a frog. Growing up I always had rabbits. I’m a pet person.”

Many people are incredibly attached to their pets, aren’t they?

“I think humans need pets,” she says. “You get something from a pet that you don’t even get from a spouse or your friends, and they need us too. They talk about how we domesticate them – I think it’s the other way around!”

How did she get into pet care?

“I wanted to be a large animal vet,” she explains. “I wanted to take care of horses and cattle. Along the way when it came time for college. I was 5’3” and weighed a hundred pounds. My Dad said ‘You’re too small to make a living sticking your arm up a horse’s butt!’ So I went into economics.

“I started pet-sitting unofficially in 2009. I had a few clients but I was also a mortgage banker. That was falling apart. One day I looked at my dogs and thought ‘You know, you guys really don’t help around the house at all!’ I was looking at it and a light-bulb came on. I thought ‘There’s got to be a way to make a living taking care of pets!’”

How exactly does the service work? How does one go about hiring you?

“99% of the time I take care of the pets in the owners’ homes,” Julie says. “They call or they email me and I do a consultation. I go to their house so they can meet me and, just as importantly, their pets can meet me. It’s very important that both of them are comfortable with me. I ask a lot of questions – about their health, their behavior, what they like, what they don’t like. I also spend fifteen or twenty minutes just interacting with the pet.

“My aim is to provide the quality of care that the owners would provide if they were there,” she insists.

Have you met animals with personalities that were tough to deal with?

“Well, I’ve been through animal behavior training but for sure, I have animal clients that tolerate me rather than love me,” she jokes. “One particular dog I have right now was rescued from a very tough shelter and he’s still not completely trusting. You have to build their trust, like with anybody else.”

And there are owners with tough personalities too, presumably…

“Some people are just very anxious to be away from their pet, and actually I’m probably one of them,” Julie says. “So I do try to reassure people. I will text you, I will email you, I will send you pictures. I also leave each client a handwritten diary so they know how each visit went.”

Julie’s website can be found at http://pasadenapetsitters.com and has all the details on the services she offers.