 The holidays are over, my last couple of holiday travelers are coming back this weekend. It has been a wonderfully busy holiday season and I have been a little lax in doing things like Facebook and blog posts. I will be the first one to admit that the passing of my pup effected me more than I expected and it has taken me almost a month to feel excited about these activities again, but here we are! I have some exciting plans for this year! In addition to more regular, informative blogs and Facebook posts I am going to be featuring different pet business including veterinarians, groomers and trainers. I have one vet clinic interview in the works and there is some great information there! It should be up next week so stay tuned. If there is a business you would like to learn about or have your business featured, send me an email! I am also finishing up our lending library, full of great animal books. It should also be available in its entirety next week. I have been working on offering a new service (it is still hush hush) but if it works out it will be great fun. Is there anything else you would like to see from Sidehill Sitters this year? Add Comment We are very excited to announce that starting in January we will begin providing regular highlights of local pet businesses. Whenever possible we will interview someone from the business to get a better feel for the company. There are so many fantastic pet related business in Fort Collins and Loveland that we would really like to highlight each of their strengths so that our fantastic clients can choose which business best works for you! We are looking to highlight veterinarians, groomers, pet supply shops, trainers and anyone else that has a pet related business. If you own such a business and would like to be highlighted here, or if there is a business you would like to suggest please email us! We are very excited about this new endeavor and hope it will be helpful for all of you looking to find a new vet, get your dog groomed or buy organic dog treats!  If you are thinking about traveling for the holidays this year, now is the time to plan for your pets! Here are a few things to remember:
Do you have any tips for other pet owners? Feel free to add your ideas! Just a quick reminder of our snow policies for everyone! - If possible please leave a snow shovel out for easy access. - If you are going out of town we typically only shovel enough to get into your home. If you need your sidewalks shoveled please let us know and we will add on extra time to your visits to take care of it. You will be billed for the extra time after your return. - We will do our best to keep the schedule for our regular visits. If you are in an area that is hard to access in the snow please provide us with contact information for a neighbor that we can call in an emergency. - Dog walks will be done as scheduled but in extreme weather we will have more inside playtime instead of a full walk. We take into consideration the safety of your pet and your sitter. I will be working to come up with a great list of games to play inside with your dogs since it looks like the cold months will continue! Stay tuned! Liana As many of you already know, my dog has been battling bone cancer for around 6 months now. I am sorry to say that earlier this week we received the news that his cancer has spread to his chest and is progressing very rapidly. It is hard to predict an exact time frame, but they are giving him a few months, on the outside. I know the next few months are some of the busiest, but due to this news I will be limiting my overnight stays to short trips (me being gone overnight makes my pup sad). He currently feels fine (no one told him he was sick!), but as his health begins to deteriorate I will limit the regular visits I do in order to spend more time with him. That being said, as most of you know, my sitters have been fantastic in stepping up and will be happy to fill in for me whenever needed. Your pets will receive the same great care, so you do not need to have any concerns, I just wanted to keep you updated as to the situation. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding and if you have any concerns please let me know. -Liana Sidehill Sitters For those that prefer Twitter, we now have an account set up! Hop on over and follow us today! http://www.twitter.com/Sidehillsitters We are expanding to Loveland, have a new service and our fall eZine. Read about it all in our fall newsletter! Do you have a dog that smiles? Many dogs do a little smile where they pull their lips back but a choice few dogs actually give a full smile when they are extra happy with you. When it is unexpected, a toothy smile from a dog can be slightly alarming, especially to those people unfamiliar with dogs, but I think a smile from a dog is the best! We used to have a wonderful Dalmatian that was ambivalent about new people. Unless you were feeding her she had no use for you and would quietly go lay on her bed until something caught her interest. However, once you had earned her friendship she would be beside herself with enthusiasm when you arrived. She would dash around, lick your hands and grin. There is nothing quite like having this crazy dog leap onto the back of the couch with a full mouth grin when you came in the door. We always told people they had earned her friendship and were now part of the club. To those with the smiling dogs: enjoy every grin!  No doubt about it: I love my job. Today I visited 5 cats, 4 dogs, a parrot and a rabbit. They are all fantastic and fun to be around! In what other job do you get such diversity? In what other job job does everyone leap to their feet and meet you at the door, no matter how many times you come in and out? (Actually the parrot chatters and the rabbit stands up in her cage, her front feet on the bars, begging for an apple slice.) Most of my time today has been spent with a great pair of Border Collies, all the more rewarding because they were nervous of me at first. Now they are excited to see me when I arrive and are sleeping next to me as I write this. Nothing is more rewarding than working with the animals, no matter what else is going on in life. I have been a little lax lately with my online work. The blog and Facebook are a couple of the first things to go when I get busy. Lately I have been spending half a day at CSU every few weeks for Xander's chemo or blood work, keeping me nice and busy. People have been asking me how he is doing and I could not help but record him the last time we were in for chemo. This has become his routine after he comes back out to the lobby, I think he is just happy to be alive! As you can see, Xander is doing great. His chemo slows him down for a few days but his last chest x-rays were clear and he is enjoying life. I will take any time I can get! As a side note, I put together this blog post with a Great Dane hanging her head over my computer. She just wanted to see what I was doing and give me a challenge! | Liana - owner of
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