I have done dog walking in Arnprior and Avonmore Ontario but have since moved into the city (Ottawa). I am 19 years old, I graduated high school in 2020 with honors, I currently live near the experimental farm and I have a 17 month old German Shepherd puppy named Hopper. In the future I intend to either become a dog trainer or got to school to be a vet tech. I am currently looking to care for dogs and cats and do some dog walking. I'm happy to work with reactive dogs (you can refer to the experience section to read more about that). I grew up around dogs, cats, and horses and have lots of experience around all three. I have always loved dog training and started out working with my family dog when I was quite young. I taught him agility, tricks, and basic obedience. After covid first hit (when I was still completing high school) I started working with other family members dogs. That's when I started to gain more experience with different breeds and ages. I had a really cool experience to be able to work with puppies from the time they were only a week or two old up until they all went to their forever homes. I have paid work experience dog walking outside of my family as well. One of my favorite pass times is working with my german shepherd. We have worked hard on his basic obedience, impulse control, dog reactivity, tricks, and we've started some more complex obedience. He has two trick titles and we're working on our third. I would love to get to know more about your pets and their needs! I can't wait to hear from you!
I have experience walking dogs, caring for dogs, cats, and horses while their family was away, and some experience with training dogs. I have worked with dogs from as young as two weeks (assisted with caring for a new litter of puppies) all the way up to working with more senior dogs. I am very aware that dogs need more than just physical exercise to remain happy and healthy. They need lots of love and mental stimulation as well. I would be happy to provide all of those things. I also have experience working with reactive dogs. As someone who owns a reactive large breed dog, I understand that they need a lot of patience and that they aren't trying to make things difficult for the handler, they're just struggling a lot. I would be very happy to walk/care for reactive dogs as long as I was shown how to handle their reactions, what you do to redirect, and what tools you use (flat collar, martingale collar, gentle leader, prong, muzzle, etc.). I am also willing to meet up a couple times in a neutral area to get to know your dog and let them get used to me (especially if they are people reactive). I am 100% willing to keep up whatever training you've been doing (if any) so that your dog doesn't pick up on bad habits. I am also happy to work on basic obedience during walks and when I am caring for your furry friends (loose leash walking, sit, down, stay etc.) even if you haven't been working on it. I intend to work with animals in the future either as a trainer or vet tech so all the experience I can get is great!
I have experience caring for inside and outside cats as well as cats that have more complex needs (feeding special foods to different cats, keeping careful watch to make sure they aren't developing any symptoms if they ae sick, etc.). I would also be fine with administering medications to cats as long as I was shown the technique you use.
