Get to Know Oh, Fur Pet’s Sake’s Holly

At Oh, Fur Pet's Sake, we're not just passionate about pampering your furry friends – we're also a bunch of animal enthusiasts ourselves! To help you get to know the faces behind the leashes, we've put together a fun questionnaire for our amazing team members to complete. So, without further ado, let's dive into the personalities behind our pet sitting prowess!

Who was your first pet, and what did you learn from them?

Growing up, we weren't a big pet household. I annoyed everyone by making it known that I desperately wanted a dog. When other girls in the 1970s hung heartthrob posters from Tigerbeat magazine in their bedrooms, my posters were of Benji and Snoopy. Despite those persuasive efforts, my first pet wasn't a dog. It didn't even have fur. I convinced my mom to help me order Sea Monkeys from the back of a magazine. If you're not a child of the 70s, let me explain. They were marketed as fun-loving, water-dwelling, almost mystical families all living together in robust aquarium communities. You could, the ads promised, watch them throw neighborhood parties, play games, and even teach them to perform tricks as they swam around their plastic enclosure. In actuality, they are brine shrimp. Ugly, little translucent things smaller than a grain of rice. My batch yielded less than five and their life expectancy proved less than 24 hours. What did I learn from all of that? I learned that I wanted a dog more than ever. 

Do you have any pets of your own? If so, tell us about them!

Let me preface this by blaming the deep-running Sea Monkey trauma of my childhood. Nearly 50 years removed from that letdown, I'm apparently still trying to fill the void because I currently have more dogs than I ever had brine shrimp. And I have more cats than I have dogs. We have a Great Pyrenees, a Shitzu, and everything in between. Our cats are primarily rescues and strays with a couple of Exotic Shorthairs mixed in. 

What type of pet is your favorite, and why? Rabbit? Bird? Lizard? Dog? Cat?

That's an impossible question to answer! I'll always love Siberian Huskies. If I could afford to feed them all, I'd have 10 French Bulldogs. You haven't lived until you've shared (given) your pillow to an Exotic Shorthair cat. But nothing is as fun as meeting a new type of pet. I've learned so much about hermit crabs, bearded dragons, tarantulas, and all makes and models of birds. And honestly whatever pet I'm with at the moment is my favorite. 

What do you enjoy most about being a pet sitter?

As someone with multiple pets, I know how it feels never to leave home—or when you do, to worry about them constantly until you get back. A trip to the Cities sounds like a great idea until you feel guilty for leaving everyone alone at home. I know what it's like to always leave social gatherings first, apologizing for having to get home to your pets. (This can also be the best extraction excuse for us introverts.) We solve all of these dilemmas for our clients. When our customers say, "I haven't been able to leave home and not worry in years," it makes the hard work of running a small business seem like nothing.

How do you ensure the pets in your care feel comfortable and loved while their owners are away?

After hanging out with hundreds of pets, you develop a knack for quickly picking up on their personalities. Some are instant best friends, and others hold a healthy dose of stranger danger for some time. It's critical to meet them where they are and let them decide what's appropriate and comfortable. If that means reading The Cat in the Hat to them while they're under a bed, that's what I do. As hard as it is to ignore a shy pet, that's usually what they need until they trust you. We also work hard to maintain a primary sitter and a backup for each household. The relationships we build over time with pets are vital, and we want to provide them with consistency and familiarity as much as possible. 

What has surprised you most about pet sitting?

An unyielding love for and connection with animals is obviously what draws people to this profession. Everyone here at Oh, Fur Pet's Sake is a fanatical animal lover. So it's unsurprising that this job fills our souls with that innate connection on which we all thrive. But I'm entirely surprised at the friendships we make with the pet parents. We become an honorary family member because we're there for all of life's events like weddings, moves, new babies, unexpected emergencies, injuries, illnesses, and deaths. We're there as a care partner during all those pivotal moments, along with the routine work days. Through caring for pets, I've made very close friends. I never anticipated that aspect, and it's another wonderful aspect of this work. 

What sets Oh, Fur Pet's Sake apart from other pet sitting services?

We pour our everything into what we do. We call it "service to perfection every time ." We aim to knock people's socks off with our commitment to their pets and their homes. Through our experience, reliability, trustworthiness, and genuine compassion, we elevate pet care to a level nobody expects. Gone are the days when you called the neighbor kid and asked them to check in on your pets. We want professional, mature people caring for our pets and coming into our homes. I'm proud to say that once people discover us and what we offer, we have a customer for life. 

What's one piece of advice you'd give to pet owners considering a pet sitter?

Please don't trust anyone who isn't licensed, bonded, and insured. Don't trust a random stranger from social media you know nothing about. The neighbor kid down the street isn't experienced enough to make critical choices in times of emergency. Bottom line: Be careful. These are your furry family members who are relying on you. We can all tell stories about people entrusting the wrong person and then turning to us when they're panicking and concerned. Stick with professionals you know you can trust to do the right thing. 

What would you tell someone considering a job as a pet sitter?

It's hard work. It's not all puppy paws and kitten kisses. But for those of us who feel that deep affinity with animals, this is one of the most rewarding careers you'll ever find. And it's guaranteed more fun than a barrel of Sea Monkeys.