Pet Sitting 101

A personal insight to the beginning of The A.R.K Pet Sitting.

February 2001/Article by Paul Dunn/Yakima Herald-VOICES OF SELAH-PET SITTING 101

Tammi Liston received a 40th birthday present most of us can only dream of. Her husband told her to quit her job to follow her dream. The dream, Liston style, involves a lot of feeding, watering , petting, pampering and pooper scooping-it comes with the territory. Liston owns and operates "A.R.K Pet Sitting Service" in Selah. The vivacious woman with the hearty laugh seems to be a natural. "For years I thumbed through the book of a 1001 careers," she says. "I came to the conclusion that I needed to work at something I loved. I love animals." Thus, given the encouragement from her husband of two years, Jeff, Liston quit her job at The Bon (Marche) and hit the tail-wagging trail at full gallop. Her love for animals, an obsession since childhood, is deeply rooted, but her love for blood is not. "When I was a little girl I wanted to grow and be a veterinarian," she says, "but I couldn't be because I can't stand to see animals in pain." So she compromised...she rarely deals with injured animals, but she rarely deals with much money, either. She didn't expect to. "All of this kind of fell into place," she says. "This is definitely a job I can have fun with, not make a lot of money at." After about a year in the business-in which she travels to customers' homes to care for their animals-she's garnered 25 clients. She rarely goes a week without a client, and over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays worked nearly five weeks without a day off. And she's had as many as six clients in one day, but she's not burnt out and not complaining. She seems, in fact, to be digging every minute of it. Liston's careful not to over schedule, though-both for her own sanity and for the welfare of the animals. If the animals are going to suffer because I can't spend enough time with them, I won't take the extra client. I'm also a bit anal-retentive," she says with a laugh. "I have to make sure everything is just right (at a client's house) before I leave." Liston's devotion to her job is only heightened by her clients' own devotion to their pets. "It's amazing how much people really love their animals," she's discovered. And how much some of Liston's clients love her. Says Shirley Yeaman, 690, for whose dog Liston's sat four times: "I think she's super-just super. She's very trustworthy and she even leaves notes about what she's done. I can't say enough good things about her and feel very blessed to have found her." Others feel the same. Sharon Cox, 58, has two dogs. five chickens, two horses, wild birds and a cat. Liston's sat for her three times." I think that she loves animals, and that gives me great joy to know that," Cox says. "I love my animals dearly and its wonderful to leave my animals in the care of someone who loves them as much as I do." There seems to be a theme developing here..."I think she's wonderful." says Joan Crosier. 63, for whose three dogs and three cats Liston's sat four times. "Her personality with the animals is so good they wag their tails, bark and sort of whine when they see her. They do have mixed emotions. though." she adds. "When they see her, they know we're leaving. but they also know they'll spend time with Tammi. There's a loving relationship between them." Seems like Liston's spreading around a lot of love these day-after all. she also loves her own brood. That menagerie includes three dogs, five ferrets, two cats and some. Just watching her kiss those cute, bratwurst-like looking things with hair (ferrets) attests to her zeal for the beastly set. And the image of the dogs. cats and ferrets all playing together is a sight to behold-though discipline is sometimes required. Albeit inherent in her job, Liston admits some failings at home. "Potential I'm kind of a wussy when it comes to disciplining my own animals sometimes." she says. But disciplining her family's nothing compared to that required of her most unusual client. That household has a rat. a hamster. a rabbit. three birds, five dogs and 13 cats." They have the run of her house." she says. But so far, it's not the animals best known for running that have given her the greatest challenge-a parrot claims that distinction. "I've had to hold onto him before to get him back into his cage," she recalls. "He's one of those mean, hissey things and he likes to nip. He's probably taken some hair off the cats that live there." Potential hair loss aside. thought, the credentials for becoming a good pet sitter are pretty simple-and instinctive. Liston, whose business is bonded and insured. augmented her natural ability though a veterinary assistant correspondence course., but the fact remains-you need heart. "You really have to love animals," Liston says, "and to be intuitive as to their needs. It also takes good organizational skills to keep things straight. If I ever forgot an animal, I'd be devastated. I write my appointments in three different spots." Sometimes those appointments require Liston to be up and about by 4 a.m. "I don't go to a customer's house that early. but I need to be awake enough to drive when I do go," she says. "I just love to drive." And she just loves to sell-the only commodity she can sell-herself. But it's taken some time for her to feel comfortable at the game. "When I first meet new clients I really try to understand their needs." she says. "but occasionally I don't know where they're coming from. It's gotten easier for me. though. in the last year." She's hoping that the near future holds even more good fortune. She's love to hire an assistant and build a "pet hotel" on her property in Selah. But beware prospective employees-Liston's kind of picky when it comes to her business. "I'd be pretty particular about the person who would help me," she says. After all, she needs the right mix to keep the A.R.K. afloat.