Stephanie's Rover Tales

05/27/2024

Never forget 🇺🇸

02/28/2024

Hello Pet Sitters! I am located in Pinehurst, NC and am looking for a pet sitter who can do overnight house sitting for my pack of 2 or 4 dogs (depending on the capabilities of the sitter, I may have them sit for 4 or just 2). Dates - April 11 - 14, 2024.

Here’s my beloved “motley crew” 🐶💚🐾

12/22/2023

🎅🐶💚🐾🎄

When preparing meals for the holiday season, remember to prioritize your furry friends! 🐶 🐱 Keep their paws away from these tempting treats! 👇

12/20/2023

During the hustle & bustle of this holiday season please be mindful of your pets & their safety 🎄🐶💚🐾🎅

12/20/2023

This Holiday season please be mindful of how your pets are coping with all the hustle and bustle 🎄🎅🐶💚🐾

12/06/2023

Did you ever wonder how your dogs’ nose knows?! 🤓🐶💚🐾

I NOSE WHAT TIME IT IS!

Dogs just seem to know when it’s time for food, time for a walk or even what time we’re expected to come home, sometimes down to the exact minute!

Yes, they may simply know this from daily routines that create predictable patterns or certain cues that predict certain events, but there is far more to this ability to tell time than the obvious reasons.

One theory is that time has a particular smell. Different times of the day smell differently. Morning smells differently to afternoon or evening.

As air heats up over the course of the day, air currents change and move around, carrying molecules of different odours with it.

These changes become predictable and a dog’s incredible sense of smell enables these odours to become their “clock”.

One example is when you leave the house to go to work, leaving a strong scent behind you. As time passes, your scent becomes weaker.

Dogs predict that when your scent becomes weakened to a certain level, it’s time for you to come home.

The level of your scent predicts the time. As dogs can detect both strong and weak scents and all of the levels in between, it means that they are actually interpreting events across an interval of time.

Another way dogs may tell time is through circadian rhythms. Just like us, dogs have fluctuations in systems like hormone levels, neural activity or body temperature and these rhythms may help them to understand the approximate time of day - just like when our stomach starts growling when it’s nearly time for dinner or we feel tired when it's time for bed.

Dogs are not the only species that can interpret time. Animals that migrate or hibernate follow seasonal cues from nature in the form of daylight and temperature to know when the time is right.

Having hundreds of millions more scent receptors than us, a dog’s amazing ability to smell is likely the reason that dogs just "nose" what time it is.

12/05/2023

5 Toxic Holiday Plants to Keep Away from Your Pet’s 🎄🐶🎅🐈❤️🐾

10/31/2023

I love this time of year - the fall foliage is alive with vibrant colors!

Enjoyed a walk through Southern Pines to Weymouth Woods with my pet sitting puppy client - Maggie - the 6 month old Goldendoodle 🐶🍁💚🍂🐾

10/22/2023

I welcomed Benjamin the Lab / Hound mix and Solomon the DSH kitty into my Rover pet sitting pack yesterday beginning with an 11 day overnight pet sitting gig while their momma is away 🐶💚🐾

10/20/2023

High 🙌s from Diesel during my pet sitting drop in visit today - whatta good boy!
🐶💚🐾

10/13/2023

I have my sweet old boy Niko in mind when I read this article -

good stuff if you have a senior 🐶💚🐾

10/12/2023

If you have a reactive dog, this is worth the read! 🐶💚🐾

DISTANCE ASSISTANCE
It’s not easy having a reactive dog. As much as we may feel frustrated, restricted, angry or even ashamed or embarrassed, our reactive dogs are also experiencing a range of negative emotions when they react to something that triggers them.

This reaction is usually caused by anxiety, fear, feeling threatened or frustrated.

These emotions cause high levels of stress and stress prevents both us and our dogs from being able to process information, think clearly or learn a different, more acceptable way of reacting to whatever triggers us.

This is why creating enough distance is so important.

I’m really scared of snakes and even struggle to look at them. The only thing I want to do is run away and create as much distance as possible.

If someone was restraining me, forcing me to sit down and look at the snake while trying to feed me my favourite chocolate (or any type of chocolate!), telling me there was nothing to worry about or trying to educate me about the specific species, it would do nothing to alleviate my fear and would only increase my stress levels.

Doing this at a sufficient distance, where I felt safe would be far more effective and my stress levels would be much lower. I may even eat the entire slab of chocolate!

In time, with patience and practice, I may even be able to get much closer to the snake without having a negative reaction.

The same principle applies to reactive dogs. Creating sufficient distance where they can see the trigger but still feel safe, comfortable and don’t react is the best way of helping them to cope with their feelings.

Some dogs (and people) may never be able to decrease that distance and that’s also okay.

Accept your dog for the unique individual they are, work on the things you can change and accept the things you can’t.

10/11/2023

12 weeks of 3 walks a week and a 16 day overnight pet sitting stay with Klaus all comes to an end today!

It was a pleasure to help his momma care for him while his dad was deployed overseas these last few months….

Klaus’ dad comes home this Saturday 🇺🇸❤️

I will miss this good goofy boy! 🐶💚🐾

10/03/2023

Love my pet sitting drop in visits with these cuties - Harvey the Lab, Mason the German Shepherd, and Sophie the Great Dane 🐶💚🐾

09/22/2023

Sweet Gertie! Love my drop in visits with this precocious puppy! 🐶💚🐾

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

09/20/2023

Here’s your reminder to EAT THE CAKE! 🐶💚🐾

09/20/2023

Jeff Schreiber

I love this idea 🎃🎃🎃
Credit: Crafty Nest

09/18/2023

Love my Rover dog walks with Klaus 🐶💚🐾

Need a pet sitter, dog walker or drop in visits?

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

09/14/2023

I welcomed Gertie to my pet sitting pack today with a puppy drop in visit! 🐶💚🐾

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

09/12/2023

Happy “👅 Out Tuesday” from Maggie!

I have the pleasure of daily drop in visits with Maggie, an almost 5 month old Goldendoodle puppy 🐶💚🐾

Need a pet sitter?

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

09/06/2023

Overnight pet sitting with these two young at heart senior boys - Harvey (Lab) & Mason (GSD) 🐶💚🐾

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

09/03/2023

Finishing a 16 day Rover journey overnight house sitting gig with Klaus - I will miss him - he will be happy to see his family - such a good boy! 🐶💚🐾

Need a pet sitter in the Pinehurst area?

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

09/01/2023

Pet sitting the Porties - Sizzle, Tater & Teddy 🐶💚🐾

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

08/24/2023

Some POOCHES don’t like SMOOCHES….and that’s OK 🐶💚🐾

08/23/2023

Klaus is a good boy!
🐶💚🐾

Rover.com overnight, pet sitting

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

08/20/2023

Churu is LIFE!

Pet sitting drop in visits with Chip 😺💚🐾

https://inabafoods.com/

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

08/20/2023

BALL IS LIFE!

Pet sitting drop in visits with Naji & Tala 🐶💚🐾

https://www.rover.com/sit/stephm07813

08/16/2023

Grateful for the kind words from some of my happy pet sitting clients 🐶💚🐾

08/14/2023

HAPPY MONDAY! House sitting with this guy - Sammie - the handsome Chihuahua! 🐶💚🐾