There are so many great things that I love about my job as a professional dog walker and in-home pet sitter. But today, I wanted to share with you a story of one of the greatest joys I get as a pet sitter.

I'm going to tell you a little bit about Hoss. Hoss is a young Pixie-Bob who hid under his dad's bed for the first few visits and was too scared to greet me. He was very shy and nervous around me. However, he absolutely cannot resist playing with his favorite toy, a red feather attached to a string on a wand. For the first few visits, I was able to lure Hoss out with this toy and he would anxiously play with it, but still seemed on edge. I hadn't won his trust yet.

A few months passed after my first set of pet sitting visits with Hoss when I was asked to check in on Hoss and his older sister, Sophie, again. Here's my next chance! This time, Hoss seemed more at ease. He was still darting and running everytime he passed me, but he was out of hiding. He was curious about me. He watched what I was doing while keeping his distance, but he was showing interest. I was making progress.

Then yesterday, I visited Hoss and he came out from under the bed, walked right over to me, and I got to pet him for the first time! Then, he purred for me! I was so happy and loved that he was letting me do this with him! Then, I sat on his dad's chair and magic happened. Hoss jumped on my lap, purred, and laid down on me. He proceeded to give me lots of kisses and some love bites. But most importantly, he trusted me enough to share himself with me. It was one of my happiest moments in this job.

I know to some of you this may sound ridiculous that I get this happy about a cat laying in my lap and purring. And that's okay, maybe it is. But when you get to know these beautiful animals like I do, you need to celebrate even the smallest victories, but particularly you need to celebrate a pet taking a risk and opening themselves up to you. I absolutely love that Hoss learned to trust me and it just goes to show that kindness, patience, and a quiet calm demeanor can work wonders in this field!

I've had many people during Meet & Greets tell me that their cat will never come around, or people have previously pet sit for them and never seen what their pet even looks like, yet during my Meet & Greet, not only does the cat come out, but it purrs and lets me pet them. I have shocked some owners with how well their pets have responded to me. In other cases, like Hoss, it takes a few visits for them to warm up and learn to trust me. But gaining the trust of the most skeptic animals is such a victory and makes all of the effort worth while!

Hoss certainly isn't the first pet to open up to me in this way, but this recent occurrence prompted me to share this story with you! I hope you've enjoyed it!

Have any stories of winning the heart of a pet? Let me hear about it in the comments!

Thanks and Have a Waggly Tail Day!