Pet Sitting & Dog Walking
Our Story
Who We are
Hi, let us introduce ourselves. We are a professional couple who enjoy life, enjoy excellent health and enjoy each other’s company (having worked and lived together for just over 30 years). We love our daily walks and bicycle rides.
Having had dogs all our lives, we now use our experience to help others by offering services including dog walking and house sitting.
Our Background
Back in the late 90’s, whilst living in Tasmania, our lives were enriched by two beagles, litter sisters, Molly and Maggie, later to become known as the Busy Beagles from under Down Under. We competed in Agility, Obedience and Tracking and spent many a weekend travelling around Tasmania competing. We were also part of a demo team where “the girls” showed off their tricks. To date, Maggie is still the highest trained beagle in the Australian National Kennel Council.
Maggie also did the starring role of a beagle “digging for a home loan” by doing several television advertisements for Mortgage Choice back in 2000. Our training methods were all done with positive reinforcement. Our proudest moment was in 2006 when Maggie (T.Ch. Bardinet Ace of Base CDX ET ADX JDX) was awarded the Award of Merit with the National Beagle Council which is the highest honour to be given to a Beagle in Australia, based on their achievements.
As “the girls” got closer to retirement in 2003, we moved to Victoria and commenced “Best Friend Holiday Retreat”. A dream we had that finally became a reality, a dog friendly holiday park catering for people wanting to holiday with their dogs. It is still the only one of its kind in Australia and has won many, many awards. In that same year, we also adopted 2 more beagles, Coco and Chanelle. Then in 2004, Oscar the border collie came to our holiday park for a holiday and ended up staying and made our family of dogs to 5.
Slowly over the years, as they reached their old age our much loved pet family passed away and when we sold and left Best Friend Holiday Retreat in November 2017, we moved back to our home state of Western Australia with Chanelle who was 14 years old. Sadly Chanelle passed away in May 2018, just a couple of weeks short of her 15th birthday.
For the first time in our lives we were “dog free” and it was a huge adjustment to not sharing our lives with our fur babies. We then made the decision to travel overseas and registered with an overseas website for house sitters. Our decision was to travel the UK and parts of Europe house sitting for people with pets.
With reviews of our previous business on Google and Trip Advisor, we were able to give people the peace of mind of our experience, trustworthiness and loyalty. We ended up travelling for an amazing 12 months house sitting and befriending many people, together with their pets. We truly had the best of both worlds, getting to travel and loving people’s pets as our own.
We look forward to continuing our plan of looking after other people’s dogs. Not only can we help others but the experience satisfies the craving of love we have to give and the joy that our furry friends fill our lives with.
Owner
Our goals
Why Choose Us
First Class Care
After returning from a year of house sitting and dog sitting overseas we are very much looking forward to continuing to house and dog sit back here in Australia and would welcome the opportunity to look after your home and give your pets the love and care that they so deserve. We are flexible and you can rest assured that whilst we are looking after your home and animals, they will be well cared for as if they are our own. Our dogs have always been "our children" and we are very much aware of the close bond that you have with your pets.
Plenty of Play
Your dogs will be walked and exercised exclusively, playing their favourite games and will be given our full attention. Walks will be an adventure to different locations to inspire their senses and mentality.
Our Experience
We fully understand your trepidation at allowing someone access to your home and delegating responsibility for your pets, but rest assured that we only have the deepest respect for your concerns. We have had extensive experience with animals over the years (for example, between 2003 and 2017 we had over 2,000 dogs a year come through our holiday park business) and you can be assured that whilst under our care, your animals and home will be well cared for. As far as looking after your home is concerned, after running a caravan park for 14 years, you become a jack of all trades. We have had hands on experience in maintaining seven cabins and ten acres of gardens. We have been mostly self-employed all our lives with a strong emphasis on finance and management and have the experience and ability to look after many small business needs.
Top-Notch Experts
The Best Friends Team
Coralie
Coralie has a background in book keeping and secretarial work and is also trained in Aged Care, having previously worked as a Lifestyle Officer, working with people with Dementia.
Ralph
Ralph was born in Northern Ireland, but has lived in Australia since his family migrated in the late sixties. Mostly since then he has been a CPA (Accountant) in his own practice but has also worked on his 140 acre farm. Over the years he has served on various committees in an honorary capacity including as a local government councillor.
Happy Pets, Happy Owners, Dog Walking, House sitting
Book a Free Meet and Greet
A “Meet and Greet” is an essential first step. This starts the process for us to achieve a loving and trusting relationship with your pets. We would love to meet you and your much loved furry family to discuss your needs and requirements. Give us a call today to arrange a meet and greet or send us an email by clicking on the link below.
