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11-08-2004, 10:47 PM | #1 |
YT 6000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 6,238
| [News] Petsitting Becomes a Booming Business A faint murmur seemed to be coming from the shoe boxes arranged on 11-year-old Leslie Dyer's bed. Dyer's mother could sense it as she cleaned her daughter's room one day: The boxes were somehow communicating with each other. Suddenly, as if startled by the unfamiliar sound of things being put away, one box stopped murmuring — and began to hop. For Mom, that was the end of the line. So, she did what any sane parent might do ... she tossed the shuddering boxes out the window onto the lawn. There, the bullfrog, garter snakes, baby bird and spiders that had lived in the boxes hopped, slithered, flew and scurried away. "I came home and my mom told me, 'Your zoo is outside, go tend to them,'" Dyer, now 52, recalls. "I was bad at that, bringing home little critters." These days, she brings a little home-sweet-home to other people's critters. She and her husband, Charles Gregory, own and operate "Critters 'n' Caves," a Greenville pet-sitting service. The couple began the business in October 2000, about the time the two were married. Dyer — now with the last name Jacobs — was born in Nova Scotia and raised in Ontario, Canada. She and Charles — a North Carolina resident since 1974 — met on the Internet, fostered a relationship and were soon married and settled in Charles' house in Greenville. Greenville's barking, meowing, chirping and squeaking residents actually have two local pet-sitting businesses from which to choose. The other, "Canine Concierge," has been operating for about two years, though without much fanfare or advertising. Concierge owner Mary Beth Hughes, a pharmaceutical sales representative for New Jersey-based Schering-Plough, didn't really expect to formally announce the business until early 2005, though initial demand for the service prompted her to hire an employee early on. "The service hasn't really been up and running, but I've been doing it on the side for two years," Hughes said. "My phone initially kind of rang off the hook for about a week." Hughes — a 20-year Greenville resident who has a dog and two cats — initiated the pet-sitting business after years of relying on her neighbors to take care of her pets while she was away. Hughes travels two to three times per week for her job, she says. "I actually needed a pet sitter all the time, and realized I couldn't find anyone to do it," Hughes says. "It just occurred to me that there was a need for it here." Leslie Gregory saw the opportunity from a different angle. She hadn't noticed an urgent need for a pet-sitting service in town, but she needed the animals, and she figured at least some of them needed her. "It (caring for animals) was something I knew about, and I love meeting new animals and learning more about them every day," says Gregory, who is a permanent United States resident, though not yet a citizen. Both pet-sitting businesses serve about four regular clients and a smattering of others throughout the year, though things can get particularly crazy during holidays and summer vacations. "The schedule can be hectic sometimes with four to five clients in one day," Gregory says. "That's the hardest part of the job." Daunting, too, Gregory says, are big, male dogs with attitudes. For them, Gregory offers what she calls her "Alpha Look." The "look"— a piercing stare — works virtually every time, Gregory says. "It's almost like clicking off the security alarm system for the dog, while I'm in the house," Gregory explains. "They realize I'm the master and they don't have to be afraid." The big, macho boys aren't the only dogs with attitudes, though, Gregory says. One of her charges, a Yorkshire terrier, illustrates the point. "He's just a pint-sized little guy, but he has the heart of a lion," Gregory says. Though dogs and cats comprise the bulk of their clientele, pet-sitters periodically come face-to-face with less conventional creatures. Take the sugar glider, for example. The tree-dwelling Australian marsupial might make a fine pet, but, as Hughes found out when she cared for one, the furry, weasel-like animals require a lot of tender loving care. "I had to take this one home to care for it," Hughes recalls. "It needed a lot of human interaction. I had to carry it around with me all the time." Gregory, whose most unusual client thus far was a parrot named "Kiwi," spells success R-E-S-P-E-C-T. "You've really got to love animals and tend them," she observes. "Let them know that you love and respect them." That's enough to make "Shorty," "Tootsie," "Max," and "Sidney" wag their tails with joy. Well, maybe not Sidney. He's purring, instead. For rates and other information, call Critters 'n' Caves at 355-5669, or Canine Concierge at 917-7169. Reflector.com Link Last edited by fasteddie; 11-08-2004 at 10:49 PM. |
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