People Really, Really Love Their Pets
Becoming a pet sitter/dog walker has been a sweet, eye opening experience
Last year I embarked on a new career — in addition to being a writer and freelance journalist, I started working for a dog-walking-slash-pet-sitting service and it has truly been both eye-opening, and a delight.
At our house, we provide our pets with all the basics, but I had no idea how many expensive gadgets are out there to make life easier for you and your pets. Many people have pet fountains now — we do as well — though ours is a mid-priced plastic fountain. But I’ve learned there are fancy futuristic stainless steel fountains with multiple filters and LCD lights for modern homes, and elegant ceramic fountains for those whose decors are more traditional. Fountains start at about $25, but you can spend as much as $100 and up for the nicest ones.
At one house, the dogs have their own pen they can escape into to eat and drink because a toddler lives there and the owners don’t want her getting into the dogs’ food or water. The dogs wear sensors on their collars, and when they get near the pen, a dog door automatically slides up with a mechanical whirring sound. There are futuristic food bowls that only open for the correct pet wearing the correct sensor — this is usually to keep one or more pets from eating…
