In the beginning...

When I was 6, I decided I wanted to take on the task of baby sitting. Obviously at my age, I still needed a baby sitter myself. So after announcing my career ideas to my Mom, she tried to steer me in the direction of pet sitting instead. In 1990, pet sitting was not was it is today.

During those times, everyone just let their dogs out in the yard and made sure to leave an extra bowl of food out when they decided to travel. I snagged my first client (Ms. Ernest-right across the street) and began pet sitting every time she had to travel for work. She has 2 cats...Boris and Natasha-probably the biggest and fatest cats I have ever met. At my age, I couldn't even pick them up! Although I periodically forgot to stop by and check on them, them seems to live off of their fat reserves on the days I forgot to stop by. But what could I say? It was the summer and I was 6-my time was best spent swimming all day at the pool. Luckily for me, Ms. Ernest was very forgiving and I have since learned about the wonderful invention of Day Timers.

Times has changed since then and my level of professionalism has intensified. I began working for the pet sitting company that eventually became mine in 2000, and am now the CEO, CFO, COO, etc. I have 4 ladies that work part-time as pet sitters and they are great. Business is growing at a rapid pace and I am lucky just to keep up. Pets have made great progress in the household since 1990. They are now our children, we celebrate their birthdays, we bake them homemade treats, so why wouldn't pet sitting be the ideal line of work for me?

Sorry to bore you with all the details...but now you know how this all started. It is off to sleep-Sophie has a big day at the groomers tomorrow for her second summer cut and I have a full day of pet visits and working at my new house.

Ta-Ta
Sarah & Sophie

Hello and welcome...if Sophie approves

I come across so many interesting things each week...from people who want me to prepare gourmet meals for their dog, pamper their pig, or take their cat on a walk. I wish I had started compiling this log of my experiences years ago when I first started pet sitting at the age of 6. Well, it had been 17 years since then and I am just now starting. I could kick myself!

I purchased a pet sitting company in January 2007 and it has been quite an exciting time. I have hired a permanent assistant (Sophie) who guards my office and monitors the phone lines. She hasn't quite figured out how to answer the phones, but we are working on it. Sophie is the light of my life and the sweetest (at least to me) little chow mix you could ever imagine. You will hear much about her in this blog because, like I said, she is my baby!

Over the next few posts, I plan on recapping all the experiences I have can recall that are worth writing about. Through this blog, I wish to share some of my funniest times, as well as those that are unexpected, sad, or even life-changing. For now, it is off to bed. Have a long day of pet visits to make tomorrow, plus I have to go by a house in Old Norcross that is literally inhabited by ghosts...I swear by it! More to come...

XOXO

Sarah and Sophie