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| Animals have always been a big part of our lives. (2006 photo) |
Loving Caretakers with 30 Years of Professional Home, Estate, and Pet Care Experience
Hello, we're Ron and Jen, international house and pet sitters. We provide home and pet care during your absence in exchange for accommodation in your home. We are open to mutually beneficial assignments worldwide. Our USA-issued passports are current. We're proud to say that we've received 5 out of 5 stars in every rating category from 100% of our past referrers on TrustedHousesitters.com.
Who Are We? (the shorter version):
Jen is a pet care expert, animal behavior consultant, and positive-reinforcement dog trainer. Ron is a master plumbing and house remodeling contractor. Both of us have green thumbs. Between us, we have your home and pet-care needs covered!
We are in our fifties, married for over thirty years, with decades of homeownership, estate, and pet care experience. We are as squeaky clean as they come: clear police and driving records; outstanding credit scores; no drugs, smoking, or other addictions; in excellent health, and we keep a very tidy home.
We are enthusiastic about lifestyle design, healthy living, the environment, nature, wildlife, and learning about other cultures through travel. We enjoy house and pet-sitting exchanges worldwide, returning to our Colorado, USA home in between.
Learn much more about us further down this page!
Why Do We Offer This Exchange?
We enjoy traveling and exploring lifestyles in different types of communities. Having time to settle in, develop a routine, and make new friends appeals to us. Enjoying the comforts of a home, having time for long walks around the area, and enjoying our hobbies and one another, all while providing love for pets -- and receiving it -- is the most ideal of travel lifestyles we can imagine.
Furthermore, we are committed to providing Melia, our precociously bright and inquisitive 12-year-old daughter, with an education in culture and diversity through world-schooling and experiential learning. We are grateful for the opportunity to explore together, exemplifying that the world is our classroom.
FYI: We adopted Melia from China when she was a baby. Parents must jump through extraordinary hoops to prove they are entirely free from wrongdoing to adopt internationally. We were fingerprinted and checked for criminal history, our references were verified, and licensed social workers came to our home and business to observe and interview us. We mention this to offer you additional reassurance of our good character.
We'd love to care for your home, pets, and garden while we explore your community.
More About Jen
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| Jen sharing the Caribbean Sea with a lovable dolphin. (2000 photo) |
Jen has enjoyed a lifetime of animal experiences as a professional dog trainer, animal behavior consultant, veterinary assistant, pet groomer, caretaker, breeder, and show competitor. Jen served as a pet-sitter for over 20 years, caring for a wide variety of animals (look at the long list of pet species in the left sidebar). Jen has also been an educator, writer, and entrepreneur. She is detail-oriented, organized, a creative thinker, and has a "can do" attitude. Jen loves animals (duh, right?), gardening, photography, art, marimba, writing, reading, nature hikes, and beach walks.
Jen's Detail Of Skills:
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| Jen schooling pony "Gilligan" for Combined Driving Events. (2005 photo) |
- Home and Pet Sitting (20+ years) -- Operated a local home and pet sitting business, entailing the training and management of a staff of up to a dozen other sitters.
- Dog Training (30 years) -- Positive reinforcement-based behavior modification. Obedience class instructor. Problem-behavior consultant. Therapy and service dog trainer. Puppy raiser for Guide Dogs For The Blind. Successfully competed in agility, obedience, herding, Schutzhund, frisbee, weight-pulling, flyball, nose work, and rally.
- Horse Training (9 years) -- Ground manners, carriage driving, clicker training, desensitization, parades. Successfully competed in combined driving events.
- Business Management (35 years) -- Program development, marketing, employee management, and training.
- Writing, Computers, Bookkeeping (30 years) -- QuickBooks, copy editing, basic web design, author.
- Homeowner (30 years) -- Extensively remodeled several homes. Designed and built our custom home and barn on a seven-acre hobby farm.
- Gardening (30 years) -- Perennials, shrubs, trees, and lawn care. Planted her first organic garden in 1989.
More About Ron
Ron, a licensed master plumbing contractor by trade, is an efficient self-starter with an exceptional work ethic. He is mechanically minded and extremely handy. Ron has a very likable, easygoing personality. Ron enjoys swimming, rowing, hiking, basketball, hockey, and golf.
Ron's Detail Of Skills:
- Master Plumbing Contractor (30 years) -- Repairs, remodeling, new construction projects, gas piping, radiant in-floor heating systems, ponds, and swimming pools.
- Home Contractor -- Managed multiple remodeling projects plus the construction of our own custom home.
- Landscaping and Maintenance (30 years) -- Landscaped our 7-acre farm from scratch.
- Homeowner (30 years) -- Extensively remodeled several homes. Designed and built our custom home and barn on our seven-acre hobby farm.
- Machine Operator (30 years) -- Lawn and garden maintenance machinery, power tools, trucks, trailers, and boats.
- Business Management (29 years) -- Owner and operator of a plumbing and heating company.
More About Melia
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| Animals recognize and appreciate that Melia is a quiet, gentle child. (2011 photo) |
Melia, our 12-year-old daughter, is a precociously smart "world-schooler" (home-schools while we house-sit). Melia has always been intellectual rather than physical and very well-mannered and mature for her age. There's no need to worry about her being rowdy in your home -- she's not that kind of kid. Like us, Melia is clean, tidy, gentle, and organized. Melia is well-versed in interacting compassionately, appropriately, and safely with animals. Melia enjoys reading, math, board games, origami, art, marimba, knitting, museums, science, and nature walks. (P.S. Melia doesn't require a bedroom of her own -- we can bring her a small portable air mattress.)
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| Jen has been training animals for decades. This photo represents a portion of her show ribbon collection. 95% of the time, Jen and her well-trained animals have been awarded 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place! Jen (and daughter Melia) are eager to teach YOUR pets something new! (Photo taken in 2012) |
We'll Send You Video Updates of Your Pets
Below are a few examples of the video updates we send to pet owners to show what their pets are doing and learning:
Max, a German Shepherd Mix living on Vancouver Island, enjoyed our training sessions so much that he's smiling -- and consequently sneezing -- through most of his video update.
The Doodle siblings enjoyed learning new tricks together during our Bay Area California stay.
Melia was delighted to train Koetje, a diabetic 13 year old Pug, a few new tricks during a 2012 pet-sitting exchange in Amsterdam.
Active Stella loves playing a rainy day "find it" game.
