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December 23, 2024
GALESVILLE – Pet owners know it’s not always easy finding someone to care for their furry friends if they want to go on vacation or get away.
Farmers run into this very same dilemma, but instead of cats, dogs and the occasional lizard, their furry friends include cows, pigs, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, etc.
That’s where Green Acre Saints Farm & Pet Sitters (GASFPS) comes in – which offers at-home care services for feathered, scaled and furry pets, with paws, claws or hooves and indoor and outdoor animals.
Not only does GASFPS provide basic every day animal care services for both domestic and farm animals, but Owner Denise Green said she also offers services not many other pet sitting services do, such as:
- Drop-in services – Local drop-in services, usually within 30 miles of the Coulee region, are designed for someone who may need to have someone pop in one or two times throughout the day or night to let the dog out, take it for a walk, clean the cat’s litter box, feed the pet or whatever else the client needs.
- Traveling/overnight services – Green travels primarily within the upper Midwest providing pet-sitting services, including overnight stays. She said some of her current clients are in Door County, western Minnesota and Northeast Wisconsin town of Weyauwega. Green said she’ll go anywhere there’s someone who needs her services, no matter the distance.
Though she knew there was a need, Green said she’s been surprised by the demand for her services – both near and far.
“I didn’t realize how much of a need there was until I put something out on social media,” she said. “The response was overwhelming. The different needs also surprised me.”
Green said the reasons for hiring a service like Green Acre Saints Farm & Pet Sitters offers can be as varied as the kind of pets she’s caring for.
Those different needs and situations, she said, have helped formulate the many and varied services Green Acre offers.
Here’s how all the services breakdown:
Farm-sitting services
Because farming is typically a 24/7/365 business, Green said getting away is usually next to impossible.
That’s why, she said, GASFPS offers farm-sitting services – which includes caring not only for any dogs or cats the farm owner may have but a wide variety of other animals, including horses, cows, pigs – both indoor and outdoor – turkeys, goats, alpacas, etc.
GASFPS’ farm-sitting services, Green said, include feeding all the animals, mucking stalls, making sure fence lines are secure – those types of things.
Living on a small farm herself, which her retired husband and three adult sons help care for when she’s away, Green said, she understands the care necessary for farm animals and the property itself.
“I don’t milk cows, but that’s really the only thing I don’t do on a farm,” she said.
Medically-fragile/medication-dependent animals
Green said some people have animals who are medically fragile or physically challenged – perhaps the pet is blind, deaf, diabetic, arthritic, etc.
Medical challenges, she said, can cause even more angst for owners who would like to get away.
“So it’s important for me to make sure I’m aware of the needs of any animals I’m sitting for – whether that’s dealing with dogs and cats, or goats, turkeys, cows, horses, pigs, sheep, whatever,” she said. “I take lots of notes during the meet & greet and learn exactly what the needs are, then plan accordingly.”
Green said she hasn’t thought of an animal yet that she would be unwilling or unable to sit for.
“I’ve cared for chinchillas, ferrets, indoor pigs, outdoor pigs, goats and alpacas,” she said. “There’s nothing that intimidates me to where I’d say no.”
Transportation nanny (local and cross-country/international)
For those who have animals that need to get to the veterinarian, groomer or day care and can’t do it, Green said she offers transport.
Maybe, she said, owners are getting married and want their dog(s), or whatever pet, included in the ceremony or wedding photos, but it’s not feasible to have the animal(s) there the whole time. Green said she’ll make sure any pet arrives on time, is occupied until needed and then taken back home afterward.
Round-trip transportation services, she said, are $35 an hour.
Though not all trips, Green said, are local.
One situation, she said, is if someone bought a puppy or adopted a dog from another state.
Breeders or responsible rescues will sometimes arrange for transportation, but if not, owners need to find a way.
Whether you want to fly the pet home or have it driven home, Green said GASFPS can assist.
Driving the pet to its new home is self-explanatory, but when airlines are involved, Green said there are different levels of a la carte service she can provide.
She said pets can be put on the plane by someone at one end and she can pick it up when it lands at its final destination.
Or she can go to the originating city, and fly with that pet to the final destination, in the cabin when possible.
With this service, Green said she ensures the pet is on the plane, shepherds it through connecting flights and gets it safely home.
If it’s an international flight, she said she will do the same, flying to the city where the pet will board the plane, then ensuring all connecting flights are handled properly and nothing is missed.
Green said breeders will sometimes get a new breeding dog from overseas, so this kind of service is helpful for them.
“They’ve said they could really use this kind of service,” she said. “So they have certainly spurred the need for this kind of service.”
Rates for this service, Green said, vary.
Whelping doula/litter care
For those with dogs expecting a litter of puppies but have no idea where to begin, Green said she can offer her own 10-plus years of experience as a St. Bernard breeder.
Services can include support from that first vet visit to the day the pups are born and beyond, helping with the days and weeks of whelping and initial puppy training.
Rates for that kind of service, Green said, also vary.
A few more details
The rate for domestic pet care, Green said, is $125 a day, which covers three pets – for example, three dogs or cats, or a combination of them; or birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, etc.
If there are more than three pets, she said the rate is adjusted accordingly.
Green said the daily rate also includes basic home care, such as watering plants, bringing in the mail, doing dishes, putting out trash, etc.
With farm sitting, she said it’s difficult to give a rate until she sits down with clients and learns precisely what they want done and for how long, etc.
Green said GASFPS is a registered LLC and is insured and bonded – which she said is important when looking for someone to care for your pets in your home.
She said she started GASFPS a little more than two years ago to pursue her passion of surrounding herself with animals that she can love and care for.
Up until then, Green said she worked as a paraprofessional in the school system working with at-risk high school kids, a job she did for 15 years.
“I loved it, but after a lot of soul-searching, I believed it was time to follow my passion – animals,” she said.
Though only starting GASFPS recently, Green said she has been a St. Bernard breeder for many years, selling puppies to people in 14 states.
People who had gotten a dog from her, she said, would sometimes ask if “Grandma Denise” could come and stay with their dog while they were away.
This connection, she said, did help boost GASFPS in the beginning.
Green said it’s always great to see the pups she bred as adults.
“Just because they’ve left my home doesn’t mean they’ve left my heart,” she said.
Green said she has no regrets about the career change and cherishes the relationships she’s building with clients and their pets.
“It’s about building those relationships and the owners knowing that the person taking care of their pets is going to take care of them the way that they do when they’re home,” she said. “It’s about building relationships with clients first, that then transfers to the animals.”
Some of her clients, Green said, haven’t been able to take a vacation in years because of their animals at home – and are sometimes worried, especially the first time they’re away.
“While they’re gone, I make sure I’m sending them pictures and little anecdotes two or three times a day – just letting them know how things are going,” she said. “That’s a huge sense of relief for somebody who’s never been able to leave before. You just don’t feel like anybody’s going to be able to take care of your animals as well as you are. So, when they see a picture of their dog laying on its back with four feet up in the air, they know that they can relax because things are going great.”
For more on Green Acre Saints Farm & Pet Sitters, visit greenacresaints.com.
