Oby

We did a Trustedhousesitter sit for Oby, a 4-year old labrodoodle.  Nate and Steven, Oby's humans, had a wonderful home in the Multnomah area of Portland, OR and we sat for them from September 23 to October 6, 2023.  We came the evening before and stayed overnight so we got the opportunity to go through the routine first hand and get ourself introduced to Oby.  Nate and Steven were nice enough to let us stay the evening that they arrived back home so that we could do our 8-hour drive into Washington the following day.

Oby was a wonderful dog to sit for.  He was happy, smart, energetic and lived to chase his ball!  I would eventually have to say "ball tired" and give him a rest sometimes during the day.  We got to explore a natural area right by the house that had several hiking trails and Oby loved going for a hike each day.

Oby was an excellent passenger in our SUV too.  He was real relaxed and got in and out without any excitement.  Nate and Steven made it easy to take care of the house.  We had everything we needed for the stay and, as always, left it in as good or better as we started.

We really enjoyed our stay with Oby and hope we can do it again.

Review:  "Ed and Jeanne were amazing. They took care of our home and dog for two weeks, and they were clean, responsive and reliable. We can’t recommend them highly enough!" This was a formal Trustedhousesitter sit and the review can also be found on the app.

Finley, Riley and Prince (second sit)

We enjoyed a second pet sit for our friends Jen and Joe.  We sat for them earlier this spring and got to come back for a sit from September 15 - 22, 2023.  We wanted to do repeat sits and we finally got our chance.  You can get the specifics of who we sat at our first sit link here

Riley had a funny way of carrying his frisbee back

Finley and Riley were quite happy to have us back and while Prince is skiddish of people, we took good care of him too.  The only routine that had changed from our last sit was that Prince's twice-a-day mixture got more complex with the ingredients that we mixed for his meals.  But after a couple of time following directions, we had a system down between the two of us that took less than 10 minutes.  After that we spent time with Riley playing chuckit and Finley playing tug-o-war and chase.

Our weather this time around was warmer and dryer so it made for more time outside and the doggies enjoyed that.

It was another enjoyable sit with them and we will see them again next spring for another, and longer, sit.  As this was a second sit and not a formal sitt app one, we didn't ask for another review but you can refer back to our first one.

Bea

We sat for our friends John and Mary Anne from August 28 to September 15, 2023.  They have a wheaton terrier named Bea and live in the Reed College area of Portland, OR.  We have already known Bea from visits in the past but this was our first long sit with her.

They had already done a lot of training with Bea and while she is high energy, they have a good set of disciplines to keep her a good girl and we followed those during our stay with her.

We took her in the car and she was very good sitting in our dog hammock in the back.  We also took her on daily hikes through the Reed campus trails.  They have a network of trails that are perfect for a daily hike and she loved going on those.

We took care of the front yard and as it was tomato season, we harvested a lot of tomatoes and raspberries from her garden too.  We really enjoyed our time with Bea and as they are friends, I am sure we will see her again soon.

Bea got to meet Rayna, one of our earlier summer sits, for a hike

As this wasn't on a formal pet sitting app and they were our friends, we didn't ask them for a formal written review.  But they are readily available as a reference, as all our sits are.

Luna and Bailey

We had the pleasure of sitting for two older bigger dogs named Luna and Bailey from Aug 18 to Aug 27, 2023.  Their humans, Danielle and Caleb, were very nice and easy going.  We kept them up-to-date on a daily basis with pictures and updates while they were having their adventures in Alaska.

One of their favorite treats were ice cubes!

Luna was an 8-year old Weimeraner and Bailey was a 12-year old mixed breed.  Despite their age as larger doggies, they were in excellent condition.  That allowed us to be very active and take them for local hikes along with their daily walks.

Their home in Hillsdale had a nice little forest with a maze of trails for their daily walk.  That sat right next to a large dog park as well and so we had ample routes in which to walk with them.

Marquem Nature Park was only an 8 minute ride away and provided for nice forest hiking.  We have a very nice dog hammock for the back seat that we use when taking pets anywhere.  We can secure them safely and prevent them from falling into the foot well in the back.  They loved going for a ride.

They were very good on a leash and that made for easy hiking.  Both of them loved the hiking there.  Its nice when we can take advantage of the weather with the pets we watch!

Luna and Bailey were very food motivated.  Naturally, we adapt to the many eating routines and behaviors at each pet sit.  Some require more attention to finish meal times.  Others, like Luna and Bailey, cannot wait.  They had a special area just for their bowls at meal time that they could get up and eat on should they choose.

Even though they were high energy, they were also good snugglers during down times.  We got to spend a lot of quality time just enjoying them when we weren't doing some activity.

We enjoyed our time with them and as per our usual routine, left the house in as good or better shape than when we got there.  

This was a formal Trustedhousesitter sit and our review can be found on the site but we have also added it to our reference page linked from the top post on the blog.  (contact info provided by request).

Cash, Willy and Dutchy

We enjoyed a week sit with three dogs for Barbara and Brian in Hillsboro, OR from August 3-10, 2023.  Cash was an 8-year old Shih Zhu, Willy was a 9-year old Shih Zhu and Dutchy was a 10-year old mixed breed.  Each of them had very different personalities but all were very lovable.

Barbara and Brian lived in a large beautiful home with an amazing outdoor space in the backyard.  With it being summer in the Portland area, we used the outside space quite a bit.  All of the doggies loved to be out back as well.

Cash was the most food motivated and wasn't eager to go for a daily walk unitl you got him on the leash and once outside, he would want to go much further than the other two.  Jeanne often took him on extra distance after I brought back the others.  He also liked to dominate the spot by the pillows between us in bed.

Willy was so fun.  He was the little "diva".  He loved to dominate attention (usually from Ed) and was the pickiest of eaters.  We were well instructed by Brian that the others would try and eat Willy's food if given the opportunity and that if he doesn't eat, just wait until later in the day.  We found that he would shake during meal times and we would just be there with him and his dish and after awhile he would stop shaking and then eventually he would eat his food.  This worked for most times but there was still the odd time when we would have to just put the dish up and try again later.  Willy loved his walk and he loved to find a lawn and then roll in it.

Dutchy was the oldest of the three at 10-years old but she was such a delightful girl.  She really seemed like a plush toy dog come to life.  She had the cutest waddle walk and was very humble compared to the other two.  She really liked her walks in the neighborhood and the school field and she would immediately queue up for belly rubs if you went to pet her.  She liked to follow us around the house and back yard.

Brian had the most detailed and comprehensive manual we have experienced in all of our dog sits to date.  He made sure to stock their drink fridge with drinks we liked and was very generous and welcoming for our short stay.  We really enjoyed the sit and the doggies and will miss them.

This was a formal Trustedhousesitter sit and our review can be found on the site but we have also added it to our reference page linked from the top post on the blog.  (contact info provided by request).