Karen, the ‘walking woman’

Posted on 3 July, 2019

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Retired nurse Karen, 69 from Cornwall has been a homesitter for Homesitters Ltd® for 18 months now since she came across the company online in her quest to look after a horse. Karen loves being around horses having owned her own horse in the past and is a keen horse rider.

After a career in nursing which varied from working in doctor’s surgeries and casualty units to being a nurse on Saga cruise ships, it was a small step for Karen to go from caring for people to caring for animals and people’s homes.

An animal lover, Karen has owned many pet dogs in the past, all of them were rescue animals and most were large breeds such as Labradors and a Great Dane.

When she retired her son urged her to get a dog and a permanent job such as working in a supermarket to earn more money, but Karen decided that home and pet sitting might be the answer instead.

Following an interview at Homesitters’® head office which was so thorough she likened it to joining the secret service, Karen started doing regular assignments.

She said, “I enjoy the flexibility of home and pet sitting, I can work when I choose rather than committing to a permanent job and it provides a nice supplement to my pension. It gives me my animal fix without the responsibility of owning a dog. It is also a flexible role which makes it much easier to take holidays and to visit my grandchildren.

“When I am home sitting I am completely focused on looking after the animals and the home in my care, but when I’m not on assignment my time is my own. I like being able to dip in and out.”

One of Karen’s first assignments was looking after a Great Dane who weighed more than she did! However, having owned a Great Dane this was no problem. Karen loves larger breeds of dog and admits to being surprised when looking after smaller dogs that she has enjoyed them as much saying that every dog has its own character and that there is something to love about every dog.

She regularly looks after a Miniature Schnauzer who screams with excitement when she sees somethings he likes – startling those around her. Karen says, “She always screams with excitement when I arrive to look after her, I think it’s because she knows I love long walks – she sees me and thinks ‘it’s the walking woman’!”

Karen also looked after a three month old black Labrador puppy for a young family while they went on holiday. They arrived home to find that he was house trained and walked nicely on the lead which gave her a great sense of achievement and pride in her job.

She would heartily recommend home and pet sitting to fellow animal lovers, while she is still waiting to fulfil her ambition of looking after a horse she is thoroughly enjoying the role saying, “If you genuinely love animals you can’t help but get something lovely out of it.”

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