Joanne

Hi! I'm Jo!

About me

I am from England and I have been in Sydney since May this year, to join my partner, Ethan, after spending over a year apart, thanks to the Covid pandemic. I am a qualified secondary English teacher and I am currently working full-time. Along with this, I worked in Early years for quite some time and this led me to regularly babysit for some families, back in England. Most of these families had pets and I loved taking responsibility for them just as much as the children I looked after too.

Despite the current lockdown (I'm very much used to them by now!), I am certain I made the best choice coming over here, however, there is definitely a furry-shaped hole in my heart, as we haven't (yet!) been able to get a pet, as we want to make sure we're committed to one place before doing so.

I have been around animals my whole life and I've been lucky enough to have had 2 cats, a dog and a hamster as part of my family growing up. I very sadly had to leave my cat, Alfie (black and white cat in the pictures) behind, with my mum, whilst I'm in Australia.

I was also lucky enough to have joint responsibility for a gorgeous gelding named Comanche and I adored going out with him every Saturday and Thursday, riding around the English countryside. My responsibilities of all the pets above, included general care (feeding, walking/exercising, grooming and loving), as well as having responsibility to take Alfie and Scampi (beagle X patterdale terrier) to the vets and to administer medicine, prescribed by the vets (including flea and worming). As he got older, Scampi needed to have daily medication for his arthiritis and I was also partially responsible for adminstering that. Obviously, Comanche needed completely different care. I would muck out his stable, feed him, turn him out/ bring him in, groom him, tack him up, ride him and also clean his tack. Whilst the actual activities were completely different, for each of the animals I worked with I dedicated the same amount of love and care to them - I took my responsibilities seriously.

What can I offer?

Note: I am currently available weekends.

All bookings

- Meet and greet to take place in a public space. Due to current covid regulations, it will have to be within 5km of our houses and only one other person with the pet please.

- Regular photo updates - I love taking photos and videos, especially of animals! You can choose to have regular updates, where I send messages throughout the session, or an end of session update, where I send you everything with the general update at the end. Note: I will only share pictures on my personal social media with the express permission from you.

- For any medications, please let me know how your pet will take them and any tips/tricks to make the process go as smoothly as possible.

- Fresh water and regular toilet breaks available regularly.

- You must provide an emergency contact number to use and let me know in advance if there are any times that you will not be contactable (e.g. in a meeting). You must also provide your vets number and address, in case of emergency.

- All behaviour issues disclosed, even ones that may seem arbitrary. I need to know your animal well to be able to provide the best care.

Dog Walking

- Walks from 30 mins - 3 hours, weather dependant (I am happy to walk in the rain - I'm English! Just not if it's too hot or cold for the dog.)

- Pick ups and drop offs available. I have access to a car.

- If the weather is too hot or cold, exercising will take place in an area that we have prearranged.

- No off the lead play, until I have spent enough time with the dog to be confident they will return to me and only if it is requested by you.

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You must provide all walking equipment, including poop bags, walking equipment, towels and any treats you would expect the dog to have on the walk.

Home Visits

- From 30 mins. Includes a minimum 30 minute walk for any dogs, weather dependent (see dog walking for more specifics).

- Feeding animals

- Cleaning up any litter trays/ mess made by the animals inside and outside.

- Basic grooming (if required), including bathing after walks.

- Spending time with time with the animals - I've got a lot of love to give and love playing!

- I am happy to take the garbage out and collect mail for you, however I am there to look after the pet/s so they will be my priority.

House Sitting - weekends and school holidays only

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24 hour service.

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Feeding, cleaning and general care for the animals, including a minimum of 1 hour of exercise for your dog.

- Basic grooming (if required), including bathing after walks.

- General housekeeping, specified by you.

- Only using areas specified by you. Please ensure your pets are unable to access any areas you do not want me going in.

- Allowing my partner to spend time with me there - I have come all the way to Australia to be together, I don't want to spend our free time separated once again.

Currently, there is no doggy daycare or boarding available.

A final note:

Whilst I am happy to work with most animals, I would appreciate transparency around their behaviour. Scampi, my childhood dog (who sadly passed away last year), used to howl, pull on his lead and was definitely over-friendly and non-discriminatory as to who would receive his love... human or dog! He was a little difficult to handle, but I managed to find strategies to help him out on walks, such as ensuring he would sit before crossing a road or calling 'bye!' to get him to come back to me if he was off his lead (seriously, it worked everytime!). If your pet has any quirks like this, it would be incredibly useful to know. Also, I have to admit I am a massive arachnophobe (my family regularly question my decision to move to Australia, a place renowned for big spiders!) so I will not be able to assist with care to any of your 8-legged pets!