Saturday, November 10, 2012

Easy-to-Make Fall Treats For Your Dog

Have you ever thought about making your own dog treats?
You can save money and offer healthy snack fare for your
fur babies! 

And real pumpkin (which is on clearance sale at the groceries
after Halloween) is so easy to cook and puree.  Dogs love pumpkin!

Cut a whole pumpkin into two halves.  Scoop out the seeds and
stringy stuff.  You can clean and rinse the seeds for roasting
separately. Put the two halves of pumpkin cut side down on
a cookie sheet which has been lined with heavy duty foil.
Bake at 375 F. for about one hour. Time varies with the size
of the pumpkin.  Remove from oven, cool a little while,
and the skin of the pumpkin will come right off.  Puree the
pumpkin "meat" in a blender or mash through a colander.

Easy-to-Make Fall Treats For Your Dog

Sunday, November 4, 2012

What can go wrong with Pet Sitting in Jackson, MS?

Many of you have asked me, "How long have you been doing this?"  I've been pet sitting since 2005, so a little over 7 years now.  I started the Priority Pets business in June of 2010, so I've been promoting my own business since then.  I've taken care of dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds, fish, and there was one house with a snake (they promised I would not have to look at it, let alone feed it).

And some of you even want to know, "Have you ever had problems while pet sitting?"  Sure, and those learning experiences help us come up with our policies and procedures.  Here are some examples:

I locked myself out of a client's home one night.  My car keys, the client's house key, everything I had taken inside the home...were all inside on the kitchen counter.  I solved the dilemma by carding a back door.  If this had not worked, I would have had to pay a locksmith to open the door.  This led to our policy of requiring two keys from everyone. 

Two of my staff members broke a key in a door on two separate occasions.  The guys have big hands, what can I say?  Another very good reason for me to require two keys for every location.

A key did not work on a client's home just 3 days after I had tested the key in the door myself.  I usually always will test the keys in the doors at your "Meet the Pet" visit.  Either the house shifted (all the Yazoo clay in our area causes lots of this) or the lock just plain wore out.  In any case, I now have a great locksmith contact who can take care of me if this ever happens again. 

A homeowner left me a garage door opener for entering their home.  I asked for a key in addition to the opener.   Good thing I did, because the electricity was off on the very first visit to their home while they were out of town on vacation.  Garage door openers require electricity to work.

Another client who prefers the garage door opener had a bad battery in the g. d. o.  The spare key saved the day again.  Folks appreciate the fact that I've had these experiences and that I will do everything possible to be prepared for the unexpected emergencies that may come up.

What other emergencies have come up while you were away from your home?  Comment below!