Steve

I am an experienced international house sitter and started in 2015 whereby over 50 house sits have been completed in the US, UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, all with 5-Star Reviews (computer date-stamped screenshots can be sent).

I am big on cats and dogs, they both sense my affection for them and come over to me straight away. People are always a bit amazed because they say "my dog usually barks at strangers for days!" or the cat is straight on my lap and usually goes into hiding. I have a few tricks with animals that make them feel non-threatened and relaxed :)

Anyway, I'm big on exercise, running the 5km parkruns weekly on Saturdays at 7:00 am so am always happy to get more walking in. I go at the best pace your dog can manage and your dog will come back and want to sleep after all the excitement. I'm very gentle with dogs because I like to let them "read" the messages in the ground if they stop to do so, this is all part of tiring them out, in my opinion and providing them with a full experience.

I'm strong so any size dog is fine and I've walked up to 3 dogs before but could easily manage more.

I grew up with cats and dogs on a farm in Africa so am very familiar with animal behaviour and can sense when something strange might happen or if a situation is not looking good. If your dog or cat has any behavioural issues I'm pretty good at 'tactfully' making suggestions that remedy the issue.

I've found that a lot of cat owners don't realize that cats require their water bowls to be cleaned out and refilled every day with fresh water, not just topped up. So I have to squeeze this into the conversation too at some stage because I care about the welfare of animals as a priority even if the owners feel a bit offended - they still need to know :)

I'm available at short notice too because I work from home but am always looking for a useful distraction especially if it involves a bit of exercise.

Thank you for considering me and reading this far!