September Shenanigans!

September has been such a fun month for Fur Your Convenience and has also marked the start of a very new and exciting project for me. Read on to find out more!

Bear, Ollie and Diego...

September started with the end of my stay at Bear the Bulldogs house and the end of my drop ins for Ollie and Diego. Their owners went away together for a lovely city break in Stockholm and fortunately for them they are very close friends of mine so I happily squeezed them into my crazy schedule at the end of August for some cuddles, enrichment and attention! Their owners had a fantastic time and so did their beautiful pets - all three are super friendly and super well-behaved!

Tristy...

After looking after Bear, Ollie and Diego, I had some fantastic drop in sessions with the gorgeous Tristy. Tristy is a Romanian rescue dog who I have met on many occasions before as she regularly uses the kennels that I help to run and manage. Unfortunately, the kennels were full at the start of September but Tristy's owner had a son turning 18 and wanted to take him away for a few days to celebrate. Because of this, Tristy had some drop in sessions with me to make sure she had her regular walks, food and most importantly - cuddles on the sofa! She was very excited to see me and even a little confused at times but she loved our time together nonetheless  

Sooty...

I had loads of meet and greets throughout September which was absolutely fantastic to meet so many potential new clients and their pets. One that booked in immediately after our meet and greet was Sooty the cat. Sooty's owner also used to have a puppy that was a little too crazy for her so my original meet and greet was meant to be to offer support with the puppy, however her son has decided to take him on instead. This meant that Sooty needed my help instead whilst his owner went away for a short trip. Although most people think cats are pretty solitary and don't require much attention, Sooty definitely does and has previously shown signs of separation anxiety so his owner requested I stayed overnight to ensure Sooty felt comfortable and didn't become stressed in her absence. She was so glad when she arrived home to see Sooty hadn't shown any of his usually anxiety behaviours such as pulling his hair out and also hadn't lost weight despite him being a little fussy with food!

Rumble...

Another fabulous meet and greet that I went to this month was for Rumble the Jack Russell. Rumble has now become one of my regular Monday walks before his owner goes to training in the evening. Rumble is such a funny little man and often either walks for miles and plays endless games of fetch with his favourite blue ball, or he decides to not walk at all and completely put the brakes on! I hope with time Rumble will learn to love our extra long walks just as much as I do!

Jackson and Tink...

Jackson and Tink's owners were away for a few days in September so asked me to help out with some drop ins to ensure Jackson had his breakfast, tea and walks each day. I didn't see much of Tink this time as they have had some contractors in the garden so Tink hasn't been very impressed with her sleep being disturbed so stayed upstairs most of the time but she ate all of her food every day and we did have a few cuddles! Jackson loved his walks around the field near his home and defintely took full advantage of my attention without Tink interrupting our cuddles!

Smudge...

A little bit of a bitter-sweet situation with our lovely old girl Smudge this September... Smudges owners went away for a weekend so asked me to do a couple of drop ins for her again so she could spend her time outside during the day but have the security of the house at night. A week after her owner returned, Smudge took a bit of a turn and was unfortunately put to sleep. At 23 years old she had an absolutely fantastic and ridiculously long life so it was lovely to see her and get to say goodbye to her during her last few days, even if I didn't realise it at the time. I will definitely miss my time with Smudge but will hold onto her memories fondly.

Alfred...

Thinking back on some of my fabulous meet and greets means I had to include this beautiful Bassett Hound called Alfred. Alfred's owners have only recently moved to the area meaning they needed a new dog walker after their previous one was just too far away now. Alfred and I went on a lovely walk around his new neighbourhood and had some beautiful cuddles. Their new home is a huge project and despite having many walks booked in, Alfred's contractors were available earlier than expected so he and his owners have gone to live with his grandparents where Alfred will have his much needed attention 24/7. This does mean that Alfred wont be needing me for a few months but I cant wait to see him again when the time comes!

Mina...

One pet sit that I have been looking forward to since I begun my journey in February was the lovely Mina. Mina is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier crossbreed and was my first booking when I started Fur Your Convenience! Mina's owners were recommended my services by a mutual friend and I am so glad they took a chance with me! Mina's owners were getting married in Italy at the end of September and then continuing their newly married life in Italy on a beautiful honeymoon. Normally, the owners parents and family look after Mina when they go away, but with everyone at the wedding this wasn't possible. I absolutely loved my week with Mina and because of her bad habits when off lead, I was asked to take Mina to a secure field nearby to let her have some safe off lead play most days whilst she was in my care. Mina absolutely loved her off lead play and bombed around for almost the entire hour we hired the field for! We practiced some scent work and had the best time bouncing and bounding around the field most mornings and evenings. It was so much more fun than walking around the neighbourhood on lead! I really hope to see more of Mina and her amazing personality again in the future!

Holly, Lexie and Archie...

Another amazing meet and greet I had the pleasure of conducting this month was with the beautiful cats Holly, Lexie and Archie. Their owners wanted to go away for just over a week at the end of September and wanted a pet sitter to come in and ensure they had enough food each day and their litter trays were cleaned out. Whilst Lexie was a little wary of me being in her house, she was quickly won over with food. Archie gave some of the most amazing cuddles and the little kitten Holly loved the additional socialisation of having a 'new human' in her house.

Fable...

My final meet and greet in September was with the absolutely hilarious Fable the parrot. His owner is a fellow pet sitter who had recently taken on Fable but had already agreed to pet sit for 5 dachshunds and didn't think it would be the best situation for Fable to deal with. She refers to him as a 'feral chicken' and isn't completely wrong! Fable isn't used to human interaction so part of my drop ins not only included feeding, cleaning his bathing bowl, topping up his water and clearing up some of his mess but it also included making him chamomile tea to keep him calm and relaxed and talking to him for 30-60 minutes to get him used to the noise of humans. I must've sounded crazy reading my book aloud to him and having discussions with him about the weather and my pet sits that week but he certainly seemed to enjoy it and definitely became calmer on each of my visits. I can't wait to see him again!

Nova the Robo-dog...

Whilst September was a lot quieter than August on the pet sitting front, it was a lot busier at home! As most of you will know already, my lovely little Nova had the all clear for her right total hip replacement last month and so this month was filled with weekly hydrotherapy sessions and physiotherapy activities to build the muscle back up in her hips. Her hydrotherapist is extremely impressed with her recovery and has commented that had you not known her hip had been replaced you would have no idea! Her range of movement has improved since before her operation and she's clearly getting ready for her second operation once the frost and ice is behind us! Roll on next Spring!

Master of Science incoming...

I also decided a little last minute to enrol onto a Masters course at the University of Debry to study Conservation Biology. Anyone that knows me well will know how obsessed I am with trying to save every animal I come across and ensure their environment and ecosystem remains stable and enriching for them regardless of poor human influences. By studying this Level 7 Masters course I hope to become a Conservation Educator in the future to share my knowledge and motivate others to want to save the species on the planet and promote biodiversity. By doing this course, my availability has become much more restricted as I am attending university three days each week at the moment. I have promised to honour all current bookings and will try my best to accommodate any new bookings around my studies.

September has been a very busy month in a completely different way to August filled with some fantastic meet and greets and lovely new faces as well as a huge change in going back to university for a year. Lets see what October is going to bring!

Alix

Fur Your Convenience