SECRET LIFE OF A PET SITTER

On a winter afternoon when I was returning her dogs after a long hike on the Bruce Trail one of my clients said “ Yours is the best of jobs…” She caught me by surprise and left me thinking… for a couple of days my fingers had felt as if they would freeze right off, driving was hazardous at its best and the trails were like sheets of ice.

Then my mind played a tape of a typical day in my life . The challenges were very real but I also remembered:

  • the smiles on some dogs faces when they greet me ( did you know that some of them show their teeth when happy?)
  • the licks of joy
  • the prancing in circles when I come in to pick them up
  • the whining when they are anxious to get out on the trail
  • the hugs that the dogs give each other when they join others in the back of the van
  • the sad look on their faces when I leave
  • the beauty of dogs running
  • the cats that rub against my leg and purr so loud that I cannot hear my cell phone ringing
  • the beautiful changing scenery on our trails and the smells of the season I have had a lot of different occupations in my life and I have found that I have so much in common with animals that I can truly say “Yes, indeed, this is one of the best jobs.”

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

John Muir