From pet parents to pet sitters: Debbie and Albert's pet sitting story

The saying goes that “Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever." While that’s a famous dog quote we firmly believe to be true, here in our pet-loving community, we also know it often works the other way around, too. 

Life for TrustedHousesitters members, Albert and Debbie, surely changed the day they met a sweet, timid little rescue pup named Sassy. After losing their two Labs the previous year, Sassy was able to fill the hole in Albert and Debbie’s hearts with the kind of love only a dog can give. In their story, they share how sweet furbaby Sassy filled their lives with a joy and happiness that extended to all their many sitters over the years, and how — after Sassy sadly crossed the rainbow bridge in November of last year — they felt ready to begin their own pet sitting story, opening their arms (and hearts) to any furbabies who needed them...

"Our Sassy girl" - by Albert and Debbie

“Who rescued who? We ask ourselves this all the time. 

We had just moved cross country and didn’t ever think we would adopt another pet, after having lost two Labs within the previous year. But we soon found our house was just that — a house, not a home, without the unconditional love of a little furbaby.

Fast forward to finding our baby girl, Sassy. She was a year and a half old when we “found” her. She was skinny, wiry, timid, and really didn’t have that love look in her eyes. We almost passed on her, but something told us that she needed us as much as we needed her...“

“Taking her home, we found she was scared to cross the threshold into our home and hid for days in the corner. She wouldn’t eat and wouldn’t let us love on her. We couldn’t leave her in the house alone as she would tear up doors, blinds, etc, so we found we needed to leave her outside when we were gone… which led to her jumping the fence every time! 

We thought about taking her to the shelter as she was a true handful for both of us, but neither of us had the heart to do it. Over time (and with lots of patience), Sassy came to trust us and discovered her favorite place was in bed with us at night… something my husband swore would never happen!”

“This time seemed to really bond us all together and over time, she became the sweetest, most loving pet we had ever had. Everyone loved Sassy as she would snuggle with you at any given time, whether in bed or on the sofa.  

We could never take her to a kennel when we traveled so for quite a while, we had someone coming to our home to check on her three times a day, but as she aged, I had a hard time knowing she was alone for hours at a time. Hence, we decided to join TrustedHousesitters.”

“Over the course of about 2 and a half years, we had at least twenty sitters come to our home (many of which were repeat sitters). Every time, they would tell us how Sassy was one of the sweetest dogs they had ever met (and they were right).”

“We lost our baby girl quite suddenly this last November from blood cancer. Fortunately, she did not suffer long but we struggled with the decision to let her go, and still cry when we think about her. 

I didn’t ever think we would grieve this much over a little dog, but we still struggle. I contacted most of the TrustedHousesitters who had come to our home and let them know about our loss. The outpouring of love and support from these folks only strengthened our belief that this is probably one of the most important organizations for anyone who loves their babies or wants to share their love with those pets for short periods of time. One had even sent us a stuffed toy of Sassy, custom-made from a photo of her, as a remembrance. 

Sassy girl, we love and miss you every day.”

Inspired by the love and support from Sassy’s sitters and with a never-ending, pet-shaped hole to fill in their hearts, Albert and Debbie have now started their own pet sitting journey together, and are looking forward to going on their first ever house sit this April. 

“We are so excited! We have now decided it is time for us to switch over to being sitters, and we just confirmed our first sit for a couple of cute little furballs this April. So excited to get started on this side and have really needed some cuddles and loves from sweet babies needing sitters. We also plan on retiring in the next year and a half, so this gets us started for future plans around the world!”