Pet Sitters for Pet Chickens!

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PSI member Anthony Garza, owner of Paws on Durham, in Durham, N.C.-source: PSI

It's unusual, really unusual, for me to run a press release as it arrived rather than do my own legwork. As in never.  Here is the exception, from Pet Sitters International®. It caught my eye and I wanted to get the information out to you as soon as possible. I think there is only on other time I've blogged about pet chickens. This, to me,  is very striking news:

As backyard chickens rise in popularity, more chicken owners are faced with the question of who will care for their pets when work or vacation take them away from home. According to Pet Sitters International’s 2016 State of the Industry Survey, more professional pet sitters are providing the pet-care solution.

Pet Sitters International (PSI), the world’s leading educational association for professional pet sitters, conducts its State of the Industry Survey every two years. It is the most comprehensive survey of its kind for the professional pet-sitting industry.

You can view the full press release online: More pet sitters now offering care for chickens, Pet Sitters International survey finds.

For those of you with pet chickens, or have friends who have pet chickens, I hope you've found this as interesting, as reassuring, as I did.

You can find Pet Sitters International at:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petsittersinternational
On Twitter:        https://twitter.com/petsittersintl

Take Your Dog to Work Day!

Photo of Fuzzy by Gary Rohde

June 20, 2014 is the official Take Your Dog to Work Day this year.  This annual event was created in 1999 by Pet Sitters International and they have a website devoted their special day (http://www.takeyourdog.com/index.php). Why not?! If your dog is well-behaved and your company is on board with it, it can be a really wonderful event.

If you're planning to take your dog to work, be sure that he or she is current on all vaccinations and has excellent manners. This includes reliably house trained, walking nicely on a leash, sitting and lying down when told, sitting nicely for treats and is quiet. If you dog is a barker, he or she should know how to be quiet. Sometimes this means putting the bark on cue if the dog is an inveterate barker. And he or she should get along well with other pets because yours will not be the only dog there on Take You Dog to Work Day.

Photo of Sandy by Jim Stagg

Knowing how to behavior properly and be quiet in the work atmosphere will earn you and your dog bonus points. No one wants to listen to a barking dog. 

Be sure to walk your dog before going into the building so he has a chance to eliminate first. Even if you have walked your dog at home before leaving, give him another chance to eliminate before entering the workplace.  

Take along bottled water and a water bowl as well as a food dish and food.  He should have the opportunity to have a snack while there or a meal if he's fed more than twice a day.  Bring along a few treats and a toy or two, but not a noisy toy! Bottled water is essential because water changes from place to place and water from anywhere but your home could cause an upset digestive system.

You may want to take her around to meet people and she should definitely have a chance to sniff and get acquainted with the place as well as the people.  Don't forget to take her out for a walk at lunch time so she has another opportunity to eliminate.  Reward her for doing the right thing in the right place and don't forget to clean it up!

One of the nicest thing about having dogs in the workplace is that dogs help lower blood pressure, help people relax and be more productive.

Karma photographed by Veronique Schejtman

It's hard to imagine anything nicer than having the opportunity to have your dog with you when you work. And for dog lovers who don't have a pet at home it's a nice opportunity for them to interact with calm, well-mannered pets, which can only make their workday much nicer.

A BIG Thank You to Pet Sitters International for creating this very special day.

Have fun with your dogs and please let me know how you and your dogs spent the day and what the highlight was for you!