Case Study - Rex Henshall

Posted on 1 June, 2016

Rex Henshall, a retired gentleman from near Orpington, in Greater London has been home sitting for over 18 years through national home and pet sitting company, Homesitters Ltd.

He has completed more assignments than anyone else at Homesitters, with almost 400 under his belt!

He started working with Homesitters after retiring. He saw an advert in a magazine at his local library for Homesitters and thought this would suit him very well.

Rex wanted to do something unusual with his time and he loves animals, especially dogs. During his life, he has owned mice, budgerigars, chickens, a tortoise, two Boxer dogs, a Collie / German Shepherd cross, and a Siamese cat. He has a vast amount of experience with animals, which he felt made him an ideal candidate to become a homesitter.

After applying for the role, Rex was invited for a two hour interview at Homesitters Limited’s head office and following this, he was taken on by the company. Rex has been enjoying home sitting ever since, taking on up to 25 assignments a year.

He says “My main motivation is the animals, in particular dogs. I love bonding with them and get great joy when the dogs of a repeat client instantly recognise me when I come back and often try to jump in my car when I leave.”

“I also enjoy going somewhere I haven’t been before and getting to know the clients. I’ve met some wonderful people, many of whom I swap Christmas cards with every year and I have done several sits for them over the years.”

Rex has done some quite unusual assignments including looking after some African Snails. Whilst he didn’t have experience of looking after such pets, the clients talked him through their routine at the initial meeting and were very happy to leave them in his safe hands.

Rex has since done three assignments for this client, also looking after their pet rabbits.

He also took on an assignment which involved looking after 15 rabbits and each day they had to be let out individually for a run in the garden and also another sit involving a talking Parrot.

Other unusual assignments have been looking after an eight stone Burmese Mountain dog and couple of Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, a fairly rare gun dog breed from the USA.

Rex’s experience of looking after dogs comes in very handy with larger dogs as they can be very strong when out walking – and he highlights that he loves looking after larger dogs the most, especially German Shepherds.

Homesitters Ltd are always on hand during the assignments and will also call regularly during the assignment. Rex highlights that he and any other homesitter who is on a home and/or pet sit alone are expected to call the office before 8.30am every day to say everything is OK.

Rex says “I’ve been very lucky with most of the homesits I’ve done and have looked after some lovely pets and homes, even the home of a Lord and Lady. I particularly love remote places where I can go for long walks with the dogs. I have done a few farm sits in the past and find these immensely enjoyable.

He adds, “Many of my clients have become friends and I’ve met some really interesting people and animals over the years. It’s a hugely rewarding role and I look forward to taking on many more assignments.”

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