Devoted Pet Sitting and Dog Training

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United States
Sacramento, CA
Devoted Pet Sitting and Dog Training

Dog Trainer - Behavior Issues, Rehabilitation, Basic Obedience and Manners. Pet/House Sitter - Overnight serving Northern CA & Daily Visits (if local).
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I believe I was born to work with animals. From as far back as I can remember I have loved animals of any kind, caring for them, working with them and just being around them. My big loves are dogs and horses, both of which I have had professional work experience with. My professional animal care jobs were fantastic and hard work, which I appreciated, because it taught me so many things about mysel

f and what I wanted to do with my life. After decades of experience in outstanding animal care, stellar dog training, canine rehabilitation, canine health grooming and developing many other animal care skills, I want to share my dog knowledge and my pet care experience with anyone in need of my services. So whether you have a misbehaving puppy or a dog with issues I am ready to help you and your canine companion achieve your goals or if you are need of pet care please allow me to care for your furry family members, for they will be cared for like my own. I hope you will consider me to help you with your dog training and pet care needs. Thank you,

Sarah Herrick

04/22/2024

Indy and Enzo are hanging out with Luigi and Annabel and it’s already warm enough for the big dogs to show the puppy how to swim💖🐾✨

02/12/2024

Luigi has a new baby sister and they both speak gremlin apparently…

08/04/2023

But Dash wants everyone to know he loves the “tunny” the most!

08/04/2023

And so does his big brother Oliver!

08/04/2023

Shelby loooooves the tunny (toy bunny)!

08/04/2023

They are so adorable and competitive😍

08/04/2023

Introducing new clients Rooster and Mud! Prepare to be charmed and in love💗🐾✨

04/26/2023

It is fitting that my first sitting work without my pups is Dash. He’s such a good boy, Skyy would be proud. We have been walking a lot and enjoying the spring blooms. Please enjoy the personal Dash tour of flowers from our neighborhood🐾❤️🌺

04/15/2023

My sweet Angel has followed my Skyy boy out of this world and it is definitely the end of a special period of my life. My dogs had their own fan club, so to speak, and I think, had they been able to drive themselves, they would have been happily welcomed for visits and adventures by many others without me.

My sweet girl started having health issues that were very confusing to myself and to the multiple veterinarians we saw. From mysterious infections, to proteinuria, a limp tail, and then sudden, permanent blindness, I was told over and over that these symptoms were likely not connected. That never made sense to me, and only 5 months after Skyy’s passing and many tests later, we finally discovered the reason for Angel’s confusing physical symptoms. The crushing results were she had brain cancer that had spread to her lower spine and was eroding her vertebrae, as well as an enlarged and failing heart.

By the time I finally received the results, this news was only confirming the cancer I, and a few others suspected. As awful as this news was it was also a relief to finally understand what was wrong.

It was very hard watching her go blind and become so confused and fearful she didn’t enjoy walks or adventures anymore but one of the great blessings of this time was she was still comfortable at home with us and still a shameless cookie monster. There was never a point where she didn’t recognize my voice. I was able to love her, play with her, snuggle with her and she brought so much laughter with her silly shenanigans. It is a time I will cherish.

That last day was very short as she woke up very early, before the sun was up, in what must have been tremendous pain. We took that horrid drive to the vet and she went peacefully in my arms just like my sweet boy.

Angel was the most appropriately named dog, and I have heard that for years but it was the most apparent hearing over and over from the vets that she was the best patient they had ever seen. She never showed fear or panicked with the staff but calmly and quietly let the vets run their tests, take her blood, check her blood pressure, x-ray and ultrasound her whole body, etc, etc…

She was such a special girl and it’s hard to accept that she would get such a terrible illness after how hard her life had been, at least at the start. I first met her as a 1-year-old and she was so different then. She wouldn’t make eye contact or behave the way you would expect a dog to behave. She wanted to bury herself or hide somewhere, she was so afraid of everything. She had the worst fear issues I have ever seen in a dog. They were so bad that she was returned multiple times by her adopters, and I believe that was a big part of why she had issues connecting with people.

But she, from the beginning, loved dogs, and she would instantly befriend any dog she met. I remember the first time she met one of my largest client dogs, Turner, an enormous German Shorthaired Pointer. He could be grumpy with some dogs but she had zero fear and just ran up to him and started playing with him (and flirting) which he loved.

She was such an incredibly gentle and sweet pup, so obedient and well mannered, smart and so silly when she was comfortable and felt safe. Most people never got to see that side of her because throughout her life, despite how well she rehabilitated from the fear issues, she always struggled with reacting to sudden noises and certain strangers. But her “fan club” got to see her shenanigans and how much she grew and how happy she was. That is such a comfort to me, to know how happy she was with Skyy, and Hoot, in my home and visiting all her friends in their homes while we cared for them.

I want to childishly lament how unfair it is that they are gone but I really can’t. I am so grateful to God for blessing me with such wonderful, special animals and that I was allowed to have them as long as I did.

To all who knew and loved her, she loved you too. Thank you for the many adventures, snuggles, gifts, treats, care, and love. Thank you for welcoming us into your homes and lives.

There will never be another Angel or Skyy💔

12/13/2022

Adventures and snuggles💛

11/03/2022

Yes we’ve multiplied yet again and have been joined by Milo and Kitty who were happy to jump right in to our adventures!🐕🌳💗

11/02/2022

This tree/plant is pretty cool🌳

11/01/2022

We got to have a big hiking adventure along the river followed by some patio time at Peet’s coffee❤️

Clearly not from today though because it’s raining!! Wahoooo!!

10/30/2022

We love walking along the river trails💛

10/30/2022

After a short break we have multiplied yet again! First Luigi, and then Oliver joined us for adventures and shenanigans🐕🐕🐕😋✨

10/28/2022

Angel and I had a wonderful time with these 3 hooligans who thankfully provided some much needed distraction❤️
Until next time pups✨

10/26/2022

Beautiful views with a beautiful crew💖

10/21/2022

Hiking adventures🐕🐕🐕🐕

10/09/2022

Uh oh…Dasher has joined us and now the hooligans have gone wild!😋😍✨

10/06/2022

Angel and I are blessed with the company of Indy and Enzo and we are adventuring for the first time without our Skyy boy. Angel was so happy to reunite with her fellows💗

09/22/2022

My Skyy boy has gone from this life and as the day I have been dreading finally arrived I’ve been predictably going over the past and it led me to yet again be in awe of our mighty God for how He blesses us and how His plans are so superior to anything we could ever come up with. I still can’t believe that I ended up with such a special and precious gift or how it happened. So, if those who read this will tolerate my long windedness, I will share how my Skyy boy came home with me before he was actually “my Skyy boy”.

My dear friend Wendy had asked me, several times, while I was visiting her to take her new 18-month-old whippet boy home with me for some training, but I kept declining because I already had two of her other whippets, her Ziggy and my Hootie (formerly hers as well but I declared no take backs). She had sent them both home with me after a personal tragedy that I was struggling with because I declared that “I wasn’t ever going to have a dog again” and she found that to be unacceptable.

Despite my declining repeatedly to take this third whippet home for some confidence building, Wendy calmly walked him out as I was leaving her home and put him in my truck. She correctly believed that living with my two young nephews for a time would cure him of his insecurities and his noise sensitivity, which of course, it did. But there was a problem, when it came time to take him back to Wendy, I expressed to her that Haily and I had fallen madly in love with him so losing him was going to be awful. That’s when I discovered Wendy had most likely planned for that all along as she quickly told me I could keep him and return Ziggy to her. My Skyy boy flourished so well that he went on to raise my baby nieces, and he became the ultimate hiking & traveling companion, confidently going on many adventures with many friends and he was my shadow.

He was the first male animal I’ve ever owned. I had always avoided males, especially dogs because I didn’t want to deal with the unsavory aspects of what male dogs can sometimes do, lifting their leg and other such things, but I realize now that I was really missing out. He was the most gentlemanly dog, so sweet and so gentle. I am of course, extremely biased in how I see Skyy but there are several people who would echo these sentiments and he is the only dog I have ever had that prompted multiple people in my life to offer to buy him, watch him for free, offer to take him if I ever needed to rehome him (not a thing) or asked me to bequeath him to them should I die prematurely.

The thing about Skyy was, his attitude was contagious, he was a seriously happy, loving dog who didn’t have a mean bone in his body (unless you were a squirrel or a rabbit). His only faults were that he was a squirrel serial killer and that when he saw the squirrel, or the rabbit, he sounded like he was being brutally tortured to death which was a teeny bit embarrassing when walking him in public. He also had an equally embarrassing and very unmanly supersonic whine when he got excited about arriving somewhere he wanted to be or if there was something he really wanted and needed to communicate that to his humans. But outside of these few superficial faults, he was practically perfect. One of my favorite things regarding my Skyy boy was watching him greet “his people” whether it was human or canine he acted as if it was Christmas morning when he saw those he knew and would run around joyously (and vocally) celebrating. It was especially adorable to watch him greet any sighthound he saw, even if it was a stranger to him.

I have so many memories I will cherish…of watching him snuggle with my nieces, of him playing with my nephews and all the flirty shenanigans with our Haily. Memories of him running all over the trails during our hiking adventures, chasing the rabbit the way he was made to, and chasing a herd of deer the way he was not supposed to and of Skyy and Hoot both trying to chase a skunk only to end up barking at it as it sprayed them both thoroughly. I will never forget his precious, sweet face, his “squirrel ears”, his sleeping with his nose smushed into the carpet (how?!) or how soft he was.

I could go on talking about that amazing dog for a long time so I will curb myself and spare you all any more of my over sharing. For me, he was the greatest dog, the standard, and I’ve had some great dogs to compare him to. My heart is broken but he was worth every ache. There will never be another one like him and I find myself petulantly wanting to declare “no more dogs”. I thank God for blessing me with such a gift and that I got to have him for so many wonderful years. I want to thank everyone of you who knew him, loved him, spoiled him, cared for him, and graced us with your friendship and so many wonderful adventures over the years. Skyy loved you so much and you blessed us both.

09/17/2022

We are back with Indy and Enzo and they have wasted no time in re-engaging in their hooligan shenanigans!🐶

09/07/2022

I am hoping this will be the last loss to post about for a good long while but with my own seniors I know that’s not how that works.

This has been a hard year for loss in my large whippet work family. This loss though, has been the hardest for me to take because I’ve known Folly since she was a puppy and I knew her mother and her grandmother. I remember being there when Guin picked her out and I was so happy for them both because I knew they were perfect for each other.

Folly was such a sweet, loving dog and she always greeted me with such enthusiasm and genuine happiness that I had to reciprocate no matter what my mood or situation.

My Skyy boy’s heart firmly belonged to my Haily, but Folly was the only other girl that he was smitten with. He tried so hard to flirt with, and impress her, to no avail.

Because of the madness of these last few years I hadn’t seen Folly for quite some time and was gut punched to hear that she had passed in her sleep. Leave it to Folly though, to leave this earth in such a quiet, unassuming way.

I know my sadness is not comparable to the grief felt by her people. Thank you Guin and Heather for sharing her with us, for all the wonderful memories and for giving her the best life❤️

09/06/2022

A tribute to the queen of whippets

She was a red brindled beauty,
a veritable canine fashion connoisseur.

She was delighted to chase the rabbit,
but it was chasing the ball that she really loved.

She was so sweet and always ready for adventure, despite being the perfect city dog, and she had no hesitation about rolling, running, frolicking or getting dirty with her friends at the beach or engaging in similar shenanigans elsewhere.

She was so well loved, not just by her people, but by the many who knew her, and she will be greatly missed.

Thank you Jen for all the time I got to spend with her, and for sharing her with the rest of us.

We will miss you Gracie Mae, queen of whippets❤️

09/03/2022

How you sleep when the pet sitter makes you walk 3 miles a day @ 6am because it’s one hundred and molten lava degrees everyday, which you are reminded of every time she takes you out to potty…

09/02/2022

Sadly another of my whippet family has left us. I have so many fun stories about the naughty shenanigans of Mia aka “the goose”. Most of them involve cat food, but I have even more wonderful memories about her amazing personality and how often she could make me laugh. She was such a sweetheart and a delight to adventure with. My pups and I already miss her woo woo’s❤️

Thank you Kim and Rick for the blessing of your trusting me to care for her and for all the amazing memories you’ve given me by inviting us to adventure with you all ✨

xoxo

Address

Sacramento, CA
95828

Telephone

(530) 844-2824

Website

http://devotd2pets.com/

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