Sunday, June 21, 2009

Animal Crackers Petsitting Service - 8 Paws Up!


I don't travel a lot, but when I do, my amazing niece Michelle usually petsits for me. The boys have known her from day one and love her to bits. Michelle actually met Gabe before I did, and is responsible for "placing" him with me; and she came along the night we picked up Archie at the airport.

However, a few months ago, Michelle's sister Marie (who is also pretty amazing) proposed a flying shopping trip to Edmonton for her 26th birthday. The group included me, my sister Corrine, and Marie, Michelle, and Marissa (my other amazing niece). So, what to do with Gabe n Arch?

I looked around online and found Animal Crackers. I sent an email inquiry, and pretty promptly, Anna replied. Anna suggest that we meet in early June so that the boys wouldn't forget her before the trip.

The day of our appointment, the dogs got comfy with her pretty quickly. She had some contracts for me to sign; took copious notes about Gabe n Arch's habits and activities; and thoroughly explained her billing system. The plan was for her to stop in for an hour at lunch and supper on both of Friday and Saturday and to spend Friday night at the house. The cost would be $85, plus any incidental expenses that might occur (such as an emergency vet trip).

Upon arriving home after one night (38 hours) away, I found the boys happy to see me and eager to return to our regularly scheduled programming, which always gets slightly thrown off no matter how prepared a pet sitter is. Anna left behind a comprehensive statement of her activities with the boys. The cutest part is where she says "They both slept with me last night and we had a very good sleepover." I had been wondering how the sleeping arrangements would work out.

Although the boys would prefer to avoid a petsitter at all costs, they figure Anna was pretty cool. She greeted them with treats, played ball, gave them cuddles, and even washed up their dishes. How cool is that? They voted 8 Paws Up for Anna from Animal Crackers.

2 comments:

Evan said...

That sounds like a really good deal, and like a pretty impressive service! Sounds like a good retirement career for Tammy, too- she'd probably look after beagles all day if she could.

at the cottage said...

What a wonderful service. Anna sounds like a great pet-pal for Arch and Gabe :)