This blog provides inspiration, education, and information to help create and maintain successful connections between pet sitters and their clients for the good of their pets. It also provides information about pet care and the field of pet sitting that will benefit pet sitters, owners, vets, and all pet lovers.
Lots of great posts to read so please check it out! Thank you!
Dear pet owners, pet sitters, and pet lovers around the world,
Welcome to my blog Preciouspets! This is my "About" page. To read my blog posts please click on the menu tab above labeled "My Blog".
This site is a place where people can come to learn, become inspired, absorb wisdom from a seasoned professional pet sitter, and explore and appreciate the unique bonds that can be established between pets, their humans, and their pet sitters. I post once a week!
This is the place to be if you want to know how to choose the right pet sitter for your pets, or if you want to learn what it means to be an excellent pet sitter. Come to this site to get tips that will benefit pet sitters, their clients, and all pet lovers. Even if you don't need a pet sitter right now, or if you are only beginning to think about starting a pet sitting business, please visit regularly.
I believe that the information, wisdom, inspiration, stories, and photos this blog provides are beneficial to all. Once you get to the "My Blog" page, I invite you to sign up - when you do, you will be automatically notified when I post a new blog entry.
This blog goes to the heart of pet ownership and pet sitting which is the mutual love of pets and how to best care for them. What I hope will be evident in all posts, above and beyond any information they contain, is a passion for pets and a focus on pet owners and pet sitters working together for the well-being of pets and the importance of a positive and cooperative relationship between owners and pet sitters.
So, first things first ~ you probably want to know a little about me and why I think I'm qualified to provide such a blog.
My name is Linda, and except for a summer living and working on Long Island and a few years living in San Diego, I've resided in the fair state of Connecticut in the good ol' USA.
Like you, I've been an animal lover my entire life. The earliest memory I have of interacting with the animal kingdom is from when I was about three or four years old. It was springtime and I was standing underneath a small apple tree in my backyard. I noticed a small brown bird on the ground and bent down to pick it up, but it hopped away. I tried again but the little bird hopped further away. Finally, after a few tries, I gently picked it up and held it in the palm of my hands. And there we were - a tiny bird and a tiny human, just looking at each other. We were both still and quiet and I remember that we gazed into each other's eyes. I remember feeling a mix of joy and peace and time seemed to stop. After a minute or so, the little bird took flight and I looked up to watch it fly towards the sky. My heart soared with him and to this day the feelings of joy fill my soul whenever I remember that day.
Fast forward to the start of this blog in January 2020, and I could look back on being a professional pet sitter for just a month shy of sixteen years. I closed the business, which was called, Precious Pets Pet Sitting, at the end of 2017 because of certain changes in my life that made me realize it was time to say goodbye to this wonderful field and move on to new things. To this day I remain in contact with many of my former clients. Still having a heart for pets and pet sitting, I decided to create this blog to share my wisdom and information with anyone who might be interested.
In the end, and in my estimation, a professional pet sitting business done right isn't just about making an income (although that is an important and valid part of any business). It is also about doing something you love and positively impacting the lives of others because in the end, aren't we all here on this earth to learn to love and help one another? This is not an easy task because we are all works in progress!
During my years as a professional pet sitter, I was a member of NAPPS - the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. NAPPS gave me great experiences, new opportunities, education, a network, and connections that helped me move my business ahead. It helped to give me credibility as a professional pet sitter because it helped to show that I was serious about the services I provided for people and their pets.
For six years I was privileged to be on the NAPPS Board of Directors. As part of a committee, I helped them revamp their national pet sitting certification program - a program that I had previously taken in order to improve my credentials as a professional in the field.
For a few years, I also conducted networking and ice breaker sessions for their national conventions. I worked hard to learn about the various aspects of pet care, pet behavior, business, and customer service. I took the Red Cross pet first aid class and attended every seminar and read every book I could along the way. The skills I developed in my other career track and college background were transferable and came in handy for running a pet sitting business.
Throughout my professional pet sitting years, I met many interesting people and pets and developed my business primarily as a "lifestyle" business, which I think is something more people are doing these days. I received two awards during the time on was on the NAPPS Board. My favorite award was the one for "embodying the spirit of NAPPS". To me, that award said I had "heart" and so receiving it gave me joy.
Another opportunity that came my way during my time as a professional pet sitter was being a guest on a radio station. It was a lot of fun and increased my local exposure as a pet sitting professional. See the complete story in this post: https://www.preciouspetsct.com/post/how-i-landed-a-radio-gig-as-a-pet-sitter-without-any-radio-experience .
I've also taught "How to Start Your Own Pet Sitting Business" classes for New London Continuing Education and Middletown Adult Education here in Connecticut. Teaching these classes has helped me share the knowledge and wisdom I've gained over the years with those considering going into the field of pet sitting.
This blog began in January of 2020. A new post will be added weekly. Please sign up to get regular posts once a week in your e-mail. Thank you!
To read my blog posts please click on the tab at the top right of this page labeled "My Blog".
Blessings,
Linda
P.S. - I also have an Etsy shop with items that are unrelated to pet sitting. If you'd like to check it out, the link is: https://www.etsy.com/shop/lindamaysplace/. There isn't much on it right now, but in time there will be!
Copyright beginning January 1, 2020 - All blog posts from this date forward are the intellectual property
and cannot be reprinted in any form without the permission of the author, Linda Norton.
To contact author please e-mail: lindamay@snet.net
