Our First Time, House Sitting That Is

View from front window. Eugene is between treeline and mountains

Just on the outskirts of Eugene, Oregon lies a lovely farm-style house on 20 acres. The view from upstairs is gorgeous both day and night.

Alan and Maureen live there with Panda, their spunky six month old lab/husky mix puppy, 3 chickens, and six horses that they pasture for other folks.

Panda with her favorite stuffed toy

Shauna feeding the horses apples

This was our very first house sit. Alan and Maureen were headed out of town and wanted someone to care for the works. We responded to their ad requesting 'House-sitter and Puppy playmate needed on 20 beautiful acres'.

Homestead with our dog, Spike

Don and I just joined housecarers.com; check out our profile at AllWhoWander (thanks Shirley 😉). We were looking for a way to travel inexpensively to interesting places. It works perfectly. We get a free place to stay while exploring the area and they get someone to keep their home safe and pets happy.

Interestingly enough, Maureen and Alan are also house sitters and this was their first time on the other end of the deal. They usually go to Mexico and stay for free in exchange for house sitting.

Some things I have learned from our first time:

1. Even if you have confirmed a few days in advance, home owners are anxious that no one will show up. Call several hours before your expected arrival to put their mind at ease.
   
2. Words like 'has a lot of energy' is code for Holy Cow! Reading between the lines is imperative to help with your interview questions.
   
3. Create a common list of questions to ask the home owners before arriving. Record the answers, email them in advance and ask them to confirm and/or expand on their answers. Get contact numbers at this time as well. This will help speed up the process when you arrive. They are busy packing and thinking about their trip.

Accomplishments:
Every house sit we wanted to accomplish a task, either in the house, grounds, pets, or even something on a personal level. This time around we were able to help curb Panda's penchant for biting (even if it is gentle) and chewing on people. When we arrived, this rambunctious puppy chewed on my arm so much I still have bruises. It wasn't that I allowed it after the first few hours, but that she was so quick grabbing my arm.

Don and Panda on their morning walk

The owners were adamant we watch a training video to mimic the style of training they were following, so we used the same demonstrated technique. By the end of the week, she had mostly curbed this habit. As we neared the end of our sit, Panda still challenged us on occasion but a firm No brought it to an end.

In the future, I will also be posting about our adventures with Purring Penelope the Pleasure Way. She is our trusty van conversion RV we picked up in August this year.



Next stop - Portland, Oregon to pet sit 2 Boston Terriers of which one is a five month old puppy, 1 toy poodle puppy, and 2 kittens, all in one household.

To all you house sitters out there, keep safe and enjoy life.