Pepsi

Though Jerry and Carole are TrustedHouseSitters members, we were recommended for a sit for them by friends outside of the site.  We sat their lovely home in San Miguel Allende, Mexico and watched their 16 year old poodly dog, Pepsi from November 19 - December 1, 2022.  As we often do, we had the opportunity to come a day early and get to know the routine and home and have a personal face to face to meet Pepsi's owners.  We got along so well as we both share an affinity for travel and they are very experienced travelers as we are.

Pepsi had a very straight forward routine and only one pill to take each morning that we could easily hide behind a little bread and peanut butter.  Pepsi loved to be near his people and we grew very fond of each other over the ten days we sat with him.  After they got back and we left, Pepsi was reportedly still looking for us.

Pepsi was such a sweet boy.  He is completely deaf and has some trouble seeing, but he was still very spry for his age and was certainly food motivated! :)  Jerry and Carole have a large home with a pool and hot tub and it made for an easy sit.

We got the chance to visit in town for a few brief instances but didn't leave Pepsi on his own for very long.  He would take several very short walks each day and fortunately they had a very nice little green space inside their housing space.

They were so happy with our sit, they were planning another trip for us to sit for just after Christmas but in the end they decided not to travel and so we didn't have the second opportunity but we miss Pepsi.

Rocco

We had the opportunity to do our first official TrustedHousesitters dog sit.  While we have had many pet sits in the past, they have all been through referrals or meeting people. 

Technically, we were recommended for sitting Rocco too as our nomadic friends Tim and Amy (from the Facebook GoLite Nomad Group) had pet sat Rocco in Spain and recommended us to sit for Rocco in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Jim and Lou, Rocco's owners, have been locating between Europe in the summer months and Mexico in the winter months and as we knew Amy and were living in Guadalajara at the time, it was a natural recommendation.

We watched Rocco from Nov 2 - 7, 2022 although we got there Oct 31 and stayed with them for an extra day and a half so we could avoid any holiday concerns and get a chance to meet them and go through Rocco's routine first hand.  We also stayed an extra evening and went back the following morning in case there was any delay situations from Jim and Lou returning on time.

Rocco was a Pug and such a wonderful boy.  He was very loving and mellow.  He never pulled, he just wanted to be with his people and he loved pets and snuggling.  His routine was very straight forward.

One nice feature was that in Puerto Vallarta they have a "country club" for dogs called Ruffy's.  It was only about 10 minutes walk from their place and we went there every single day except our last because they were closed that day.  Rocco loved it.  It was open air but shaded and had artificial grass so the dogs could run around the fenced off area while the humans got to sit around in chairs, have some food or drinks and socialize as well.

Rocco got a lot of socialization there and exercise.   We would typically take him in the afternoon for about two hours or unless we got an indication he was tired and ready to go.  The rest of the day we either followed his walking routine or just hung out with him at their place.  We had been to Puerto Vallarta many times and so there was no need to go anywhere other than some restaurants which we could also bring him.

Rocco was such a fun pet sit and we miss him a lot.

Lucy

While we were living in Guadalajara, Mexico, we took the bus four hours to Bucerias, Mexico and did a five week house and dog sit for Wayne and Lisa Elliot.  We didn’t know them; it was a referral through a friend of a friend, and we had to do interviews, send references and finally let Lisa peruse our Facebook page before they were comfortable with us.

It was their first-time using strangers to house sit. They have a rescue dog, Lucy, that was two years old.  She is a dachshund mix, very sweet.  She required no medication but had a very specific meat only diet that we learned on the first day there.  She was one of the easiest dogs we have ever sat for.  While it was hot and humid at the coast at this time of the year and rained a lot, we managed to get nearly all her walks in and even took her on a couple of outings.

We mostly just spent the time with her at the house during the five weeks.  I bonded with her instantly and she shadowed me a lot.  Jeanne was ever the mom for her with towels at the ready after a wet walk, or a shower if she was getting dirty, or some nail trimming if it was bothering her.

It was a wonderful experience being with Lucy and we still miss her a lot.  For the home, we had a hurricane come through during our stay.  Damage was minimal; mostly just some clay tiles that had fallen off their awning by the pool and I cleaned that up along with protecting and replacing all their potted plants during the event.  We had some satellite and power issues that I worked with Wayne on addressing but other than that, we managed quite well.

Jose

Jose Cuervo was a mini-Schnauzer mix who was a rescue dog from Tequila, Mexico.  He was found on the streets and rescued.  He was probably around two when we first started watching him.  Marlena and Marlin Sampson are Jose’s owners, and they would bring Jose over to our apartment when they traveled.  We first met them through a Facebook request for a last-minute dog sitting need.  As we love pets and didn't have anything going on, we first watched Jose back in September 2019 and continued to watch him at our home in Guadalajara, Mexico many times during 2019 and 2020.

Jose was a lovely little guy who loved getting lots of pets and belly rubs. He loved his walks, and we would walk him four times per day; two of those for at least 30-40 minutes.  He was the only pet we have had in our apartment in Guadalajara.  Marlena said that we were the only sitters that he would come back from without stress.  He had some challenges eating because during the course of our long period of stays, it was discovered he had a bullet in his stomach that got removed.  After that healed, he ate like normal.  

He was such a sweet dog for the trauma he must have endured on the streets in Tequila.  Jose never liked thunder and lightning or loud fireworks and there were times we had him when these would occur.  Jeanne even had to snuggle in with him under our bathroom counters during one really loud storm.  We watched him from time to time over the course of two years until they moved away to Puerto Vallarta.  Even then, we came and stayed at their house there for a visit/vacation, so we got to see Jose there as well.  We just loved watching Jose.