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Melissa S.

Itasca, IL

5.0 out of 5 stars
•5 reviews
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Back Yard With All the Room to Run!

Pet care experience

My husband and I are double income and no kids. I work from home and also in freelance as a promotional model/brand ambassador (schedule varies depending on assignment) and my husband works a typical M-F 8-5 schedule. My husband is home during the weekends (except for any social activities in the afternoon or evening or normal errand running around), and I am typically home 1-2 days during the week. I try to take dogs in on the days when I now I am going to be home and not working so they can get the most time playing, socializing and getting lots of love from me and not having to be home alone. Our 3800 sqft home is just what your furry baby needs to be comfortable! Our house is appropriately "lived in" and while not a total complete mess, it is not 100% "neat freak" level tidy all the time. With two working people, and a large house, its hard to keep up with at times without maid service. The photos posted show the normal level of clutter we have at our house. If your dog gets into things a lot, has a habit of "counter surfing", opening cabinets and getting into garbage, or just in general getting into things that might be laying around, we probably wouldn't be the best placement for your dog while we do not do "special" to keep things "dog proofed" to keep things out of nose reach on tables, counters, etc. but do practice reasonable precaution to keep certain things out of reach (like household cleaners, etc) and while our dog has none of those issues, please alert us if your dog does and we will be extra careful to keep food away from temptation so they don't have an upset tummy! But there is usually at least a pair of shoes or slippers out around somewhere. Our home is 100% wood flooring and zero carpeting throughout with the exception of a couple floor rugs. While we prefer completely housebroken dogs, if you have a puppy still going through housebreaking or an older incontinent dog, don't worry! These things happen! Any accidents are easily cleaned and the home is kept odor free. Panorama photos of our backyard and deck as well as the downstairs (which is an open floor plan) are on the profile. Your pup will be primarily kept downstairs (and as you can see there is plenty of room to stretch their legs out!) and hanging out with our dog. But a little visit to the bedroom upstairs and snuggling in our king sized bed once in awhile is likely! We have one dog, Stella, 2 cats, Schubert and Pamina, and one parrot, Pogo. My spouse and I are both experienced animal caretakers. Our dog is a little over a year old and a very playful when appropriate but then ok to just chill when necessary. She is submissive with people and wonderful with children. She gets along with almost any other dog as long as they are not super dominant with her. She has basic obedience skills and we are planning on working on getting her involved in agility. She is only a very tiny bit food territorial so feedings will need to be done separately and any fetch play will have to be monitored. She has gotten over her toy territorial issues and now enjoys playing tug of war with guest dogs with her rope toys and plush toys until they get pooped out and tear them apart. Our two cats are used to her and have been around other dogs their whole lives and are tolerant to other dogs as long as they are not very hyper or extremely "prey driven" (such as most hunting dogs). Our large deck and very large fenced in backyard (fenced in area is approx. 1/4 an acre) is perfect for any dog who wants to run around and explore and ample space for a good game of fetch! I am experienced with administering most medications and we can offer complimentary basic dog washing if your pup should get dirty while playing out in the yard so they don't come home dirty! Our house is 2 stories plus an additional attic space so if you have a special needs dog where climbing stairs is a challenge, we may need to keep them downstairs. Our own dog is crate trained and we crate her when we leave the house. Overnight boarders will most likely need to be crated at bedtime of if we need to leave the house for a few hours to run errands or work, especially if they are younger dogs, if they are not used to living with cats or they are questionable if they will get into trouble unsupervised for any length of time. Most of the time when guest dogs are here, one or both of us will be here with them, but as we have 2 cats, we will need to be able to crate guest dogs when we leave the house (unless they are already used to living with cats) or while we are sleeping so the cats feel safe to have free run of the house without being chased or bothered. We have an extra crate that is suitable for up to a 40-50lb medium sized dog, or you can bring yours. We have a kiddie gates to keep them from going upstairs unsupervised, or if you have an older dog with issues getting up and down stairs or a blind dog who needs to be kept to the first floor. The only other steps are just a few steps either out of our back hallway or a few steps off the back patio. We can give your dog lots of love and attention and my spouse and I have a low key home. If you have older, frail or special needs dog, a shy/timid dog who needs gentle treatment, because of the energy and play level of our dog, if your dog is elderly and easily overwhelmed by dogs that like to rough house and wrestle, it might be better to board them somewhere with a less active host dog. We are not the household for you if your dog needs a lot of exercise or frequent walks. Our work schedule doesn't allow for being able to take dogs on several walks a day. However, our back yard is quite large enough to do a lot of fetch, running around, playing frisbee, etc to give any dog adequate exercise and chance to do their "business". We do have a koi pond (doesn't have any fish, but the occasional ducks do come by to visit in the spring/summer). If your dog is very water driven and will jump into a pond or lake whenever they are given the opportunity, please keep in mind we don't keep our pond quartered off and don't want to have to supervise a dog to keep them away from trying to jump in and swim in the pond. If this sounds like your dog, if they are well trained to stay away from off limits areas, that does help. At some point, we are looking to convert the pond into a dog pool feature for our backyard, when money becomes available. But for now, they need to know to stay out of it. In the summer, we keep a small kiddie pool in the yard for them to lay in and cool off if they choose. We love all dogs but very small "toy" breeds might not be the best fit for them here as Stella is very strong, loves to play and rough house and might accidentally hurt them. I'm a hobby photographer and love taking photos and video of guest dogs when they are here. I put all images and video of your dog into a Dropbox for you and you can add whatever photos you want into your own collection! Give us a chance to show you why our home is the best choice!

Reviews

Anthony V.
Dog Boarding • Jul 18, 2016
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Very nice and friendly. Great communication. Highly recommended. No problems whatsoever. Will use Melissa again.

Sharon M.
Dog Boarding • Jun 21, 2016
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Our dog had a great stay with Melissa! She sent photos and video of him playing with her dog, Stella. He had plenty of room outside to burn off his energy and a baby pool to cool off in. He was happy when I picked him up and we will definitely send him back again when he needs a place to stay.

Dan E.
Doggy Day Care • Apr 12, 2016
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My dog Hurley is timid but she seemed to have gotten comfortable with Melissa rather quickly. Melissa sent me some pictures of Hurley which I greatly appreciate. If I'm ever in the area I'll definitely bring Hurley back to Melissa.

Seana B.
Dog Boarding • Mar 24, 2016
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Oakley had a GREAT time this weekend. The resident dog, Stella, kept her moving and running so she was pooped when we picked her up, which we love. Melissa set up a Dropbox folder and filled it with pictures and videos of Oakley running so we were able to see she was having the time of her life. We will definitely bring her back next time we need a sitter!

About Melissa S.

Communication

1 repeat pet parents

Skills

12 years of experience
Oral medication administration

Home

Lives in a house
Has a fenced yard
Non-smoking household
Has caged pets
Has 1 dog, has cats
No children present
Dogs allowed on bed
Dogs allowed on furniture

Services

Boarding
in the sitter's home
$30per night
Doggy Day Care
in the sitter's home
$20per day

Melissa can host

0 to 15 lbs
16 to 40 lbs
41 to 100 lbs
Available
Not available
SMTWTFS
Boarding Cancellation Policy:

About Melissa S.

Communication

1 repeat pet parents

Skills

12 years of experience
Oral medication administration

Home

Lives in a house
Has a fenced yard
Non-smoking household
Has caged pets
Has 1 dog, has cats
No children present
Dogs allowed on bed
Dogs allowed on furniture

Location

Itasca, IL

Melissa S.'s Neighborhood

Pets

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Melissa S.

Itasca, IL

5.0 out of 5 stars
•5 reviews