Grandparents wish to house/pet sit near our daughter's family

About this sitter

I am a retired teacher, my husband is a retired case worker. We live in Vermont, but our daughter and her family live in Idaho. We like to visit for around two weeks at a time but that can be overwhelming for all of us in the same house. We are experienced with dogs and cats. We have also had experience with a variety of rodents, but can't do guinea pigs because my husband is allergic.

Why they want to house sit

We want to be close to our daughter and her family without being on top of each other. We like our privacy and they like theirs! We are willing to do short term or up to 2-3 weeks. We have found that pet sitting works out wonderfully for longer term visits.

Their experience

We house sat and took care of a wonderful little dog twice through Mind My House for a family in Fremont, CA. I'm sure they would give us a recommendation. We have both had dogs while growing up and had one dog as a family. Our Cubby, a lab-golden mix, was with us for 12 years and was our pride and joy. I, Joanne, grew up on a dairy farm and we had both outdoor and indoor cats. We've also have had cats as a family, one for 14 years and our current one for about five years. Our daughter had many different rodents while growing up - mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, so we have had a fair amount of experience with these small pets including cleaning lots and lots of cages! We have very basic experience with horses - our daughter was in a horse 4-H club for many years and owned a horse during her high school years that was kept at a boarding facility. We spent a fair amount of time there helping clean stalls and doing some feeding. We learned a lot but wouldn't say we are "experienced." If you have healthy horses that only need to be fed we could discuss this with you.

What can they bring to the assignment

We would be happy to do an exchange with our house in Vermont if you are willing to take care of our kitty. We love animals and treat them like our children. When growing up on a farm our "barn cats" were pets, not the typical barn animals. Our daughter has been an animal lover all her life and is now a veterinarian so we'd have a professional opinion if we were nervous about anything with your pet!