Each dog is unique, and each one has something to teach us. When I was in high school, we had an Alabay dog called Rochelle. She was calm and lazy, but had a good heart and never bit or barked at us. Despite her 70-kilo frame and menacing face, she was afraid of anything bigger than a Chihuahua. Now my wife and I have a cute little Labradoodle named Perzik, who is the bravest dog I know, zooming around, making friends with furry giants and chasing the most stubborn cats away. 

I have a lot of experience with my two dogs, but it's still not much. This is why my motivation to become a dog sitter is to get to know other peoples' dogs, learn from them, and use this to bring up my own puppy. And I believe that the best way to learn is to play and explore.

I've had a lot of cats throughout my childhood too, and we have two cats that we left with our parents - boy Marsik and girl Nuytka. Both rescues and both very affectionate, just angels. A couple years ago we took care of two sweet kittens for three weeks, they were a blast. Last summer I house sat two older cats for a month. It was definitely different than dogs - you have to take care of them from a distance, not to be too intrusive, but give them affection when they ask for it. It was really nice to chill out with them on the couch or play in the backyard.

A little bit about my dog: at 11 months, he has a fixed routine, listens to us wery well at home (not so well outside :), knows a lot of tricks - from "come" and "paw" to "roll around", "play dead" and "middle". We are learning to not pull the leash and not to be distracted outside. It's a slow process, but we are having a lot of progress already. He is not very motivated by food, which is challenging, so we had to learn a few tricks ourselves, just to keep his attention on us. He loves playing with other dogs, and is always very friendly to humans and dogs alike.