Pet Sitter in Thornhill, Ontario

I have been an animal lover all my life. In the last couple of years I decided that I would like to try working in the Pet Care Industry. Although I have been taking care of friends and families pets for years, I didn't think it would be enough to get my foot in the door experience-wise. Volunteering for a few days at a Grooming Shop and a Doggie Daycare motivated me take a couple of Pet courses which included Pet First Aid(which I need to update and will be shortly) so that I had a better chance of landing a job in the Pet Industry. After receiving my Pet First Aid certificate I began my journey searching for that Pet vocation! I came across a listing for a 'Dog Lover/Driver position'. My background is in driving and I love driving and I love dogs, how nice a job would that be?! I couldn't send my resume in fast enough and thankfully I got an interview, a couple of days late rI received the wonderful news that I got the job! That was January 2014. January 22, 2014 was my first day of work at my new, most excellent job and November 5, 2015 was my last day(had to leave due to family illness). The best and most enjoyable job I ever had! I learned so much from my short time there and am so grateful for the opportunity I was given and all the awesome times that I experienced there. I worked 3-5 days a week, Monday to Friday usually 10-12 hours a day. Here is a list of what one day in the life of a 'Dog Lover/Driver' consisted of: 7am begin pickup of dogs at customer's homes in the downtown Toronto and surrounding area, load dog's and their food in the Dodge Caravan and 'chauffeur' them to a Ranch and Spa 140km East of Toronto 9:30-10:... arrive at Ranch in the Cobourg area, usher dogs from the van into the welcoming yard and let them `get the lead out` after a 2-3 hour drive 10:45 sort the dogs and escort them to their assigned sleeping quarters(Big Barn, Little Barn, House) bring the dog`s food to the house, document everything that arrived with the dog(medication, blanket, toy, etc) prepare the dog`s meal for that night and add medications if called for seal the food and store it 11:30-2:... walks begin, usually 30-45 minutes, 2-4x a day, packs of 8-12 dogs, if the dogs were good off leash(most of them) we would head out to the trails and enjoy nature, for the dogs that needed leashes we would go to a fenced-in area where they had plenty of space to run and play 2:00 start preparing dogs for their homecoming, bath, dry, brush(take tangles and burrs out of fur), clean eyes and whatever else needed doing, load dogs into van as comfortably as possible and begin the drive back to Toronto 4:30 pm first drop off of customer`s puppies, had anywhere from 1-10 dogs to drop off and they were expected home within a specified time period 6:00-7:00 last dog dropped off, parked van, reported anything that needed to be reported and the day ended I also spent many days at the Daycare Hotel. There, I performed much of the same tasks that I did at the Ranch but I got to spend much more time hanging out with the dog`s. Seldom was i able to stretch out my hand and not come in contact with one of my many dog pals! `It was a very good year`!!! Since leaving my `Dog Lover/Driver' position I have been taking care of 3 dogs, Monday to Friday, 7am to 7 pm. This position will be ending soon so I am ready to begin my next phase in Pet Care 101.