Violetta

Hello!

My name's Violetta and I'm available for dog walking, house sitting any pets (although probably not big spiders as they scare me!) or dropping in to check on your pets as and when needed.

Whilst I haven't pet sat officially before, I've dog and cat sat for friends, family and colleagues over the last few years and really enjoyed it. This summer, I spent a lot of time living at a friend's house, looking after and walking their Russian Laika and by the end of the month, I had made progress with reducing her anxiety around crossing roads and taking new walking routes, so I am pretty proud of that! I've also spent time at another friend's house looking after her VERY fiesty little dog, so am also experienced in caring for slightly more challenging dogs personality-wise. 

I have my own cat, Kimchi, now, and whilst she loves humans, she can be pretty antisocial when it comes to other animals, so I can't offer sitting in my own house I'm afraid - Kimchi would definitely start some drama!

In terms of dog walking:

I can pick and drop off your dog at your house and will be happy to take your dog on a route of your preference or to explore your local area if your dog is comfortable with walking new routes. Walks would be at least 30 minutes but if you would like a longer walk, such as 45 minutes or 1 hour, then this can be agreed in advance. If you would like your dog feeding and watering when I drop them back home, again just let me know and I can sort this before locking up and going home. If the walk is in my local area, then we have Norbury Park and Streatham Common nearby as well as the woods just behind Norbury Park.

In terms of availability, I'm currently studying and taking a break from full time work, so am pretty flexible in terms of days - generally, I can do most weekday afternoons and evenings and Saturdays same sort of time. I can't do Sundays at the moment.

Re house visits:

I'm happy to visit and feed, water and play with any animals. If you have a dog and would like a walk as part of the house visit, then I'm more than happy to do this too! I can also water plants, take in any mail and sort out any other bits and pieces around the house that might be needed. Litter and cage cleaning is no problem -comes with the territory, so just let me know how you would like this done and I'll follow your instructions.

I could do one or two house visits a day depending on your needs and also happy to house sit on a longer basis to cover any holidays or work trips away. In terms of visit duration, I would definitely stay at least 30 minutes, but happy to stay longer if your pets like human company.

If your pets need any medications, then I can give these orally, but I'm not trained to administer any injections - however, I would be more than happy to take them to the vets or similar if needed. I love grooming so can handle brushing, trimming and nail clipping (depending on the animal and if they're ok with being handled like this by a person that's new to them).

Further afield, I wouldn't be able to do daily visits but would be more than happy to do longer term house/pet sitting for holidays etc. For house sitting, I would also do anything that's needed, such as putting the bins out, collecting the mail, cleaning - and would obviously leave the house as I found it in terms of putting the dishes away, making sure everything is clean and tidy etc. Before going home on the last day, I would also make sure that the pets have been walked, fed and cuddled and that their water and food bowls are topped up as needed.

Feel free to ask me any questions!