Giant dogs to miniture ponies

We had a variety of sizes to look after in August. We had a new sit in North Devon, near Ilfracombe. We had an Irish wolf hound, two golden retrievers and a puppy spaniel. The farm we were sitting at had fantastic views of the coast and on a clear day we could see across to Wales. There were some lovely walks to do with these dogs, through woodland and fields, the dogs were able to run for miles. The weather was quite hot on most days, and with their thick coats, the dogs got very warm. They did have a convenient bath available to them in the shape of strategically placed water troughs set in the hedges along the route.

The dogs had great fun cooling off in muddy puddles and then washing off the mud in the trough.

In contrast, we looked after two ponies near Bristol one of which was a miniature shetland, so cute, with ears like a bear. They were both very sweet ponies, and great companions to one another.

The miniature shetland was like a big dog, and the wolf hound was like a small pony, all very strange.

August was a busy month. We looked after a menagerie of animals and a campsite for two weeks. The animals were great, we had an assortment of dogs, a cat, a herd of sheep, two ponies, several chickens and two ducks.


The campsite, Hidden Spring, is in a lovely spot in East Sussex. It is set in a vineyard and orchard. Our task was to look after the animals, and the campers. There were a number of static pitches one was a teepee, a geodome and two yurts, there was also a showman's caravan. These needed to be serviced by ourselves. After a few days we got the hang of where people had to pitch their tents and the general running of the place.

We had a small farm shop to run and we enjoyed meeting and greeting the new arrivals. Guests usually arrived as Della was in the shower block doing the daily clean! Tracy got to be a dab hand at being a wine seller in the shop.

The hours were long and the work very physical, so after two days we were very tired, but the weather was great so we were able to grab a lunch break sat in the back garden, After a few days we got into a routine with the animals and the campers. We had a day off on the Sunday and were able to have a walk around the local area. East Sussex is a lovely county with plenty of rural spots. We found a little pub a short walk from the campsite.

We had a band of little helpers following us around as we cleaned each of the static tents, these were children staying on the campsite. The families were good company and they were great at alerting us to when a sheep got stuck in the fencing or when one of the dogs was touting for sausages when it was tea time with the campers.

Easter 2011

For Easter we were near Cannes, France where where we looked after our old friends a Rhodesian Ridge back, a Spoodle and a Burmese cat.

We always look forward to sitting for this family of lovely pets, they know us very well now, so we all settle into our routine very quickly.

When we try to use our computer, Bruno has other ideas. He likes all the attention to come his way.

We made our way back from the South of France in our car, and caught the ferry from Calais one more time, back to Blighty.

After a short visit with family and friends back in Bristol, and watching the Royal Wedding on the telly, we headed off to our next sit in Edenbridge,Kent, where we looked after two lovely cats.


Edenbridge is a small, historic town, surrounded by miles of woodland walks and countryside. Hever Castle is to one side of the town and Chartwell House, the home of Sir Winston Churchill is in the other direction. There was plenty to keep us occupied in this area.

For the rest of May we were back in South West France, near Cahors, for a short sit and then back to the UK to Goring-by-Sea, Sussex, for our first visit to sit for Jemima, Myrtle and Minnie. Jemima,is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and her sisters are Persian cats. We had bracing walks along the sea front, walking into Worthing, and taking the train to Brighton

where we caught up with a Kiwi friend who was visiting the area.



We found a superb vegetarian restaurant in Brighton called
Food for Friends which we hope to revisit in the not too distant.