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Mount Ommaney was yet another of those handy little Tetris pieces of a housesit that slotted fairly neatly into a gap in my housesitting schedule for the fractured mess that is my 2017.

Well, 2017’s not so much a fractured mess, but more like how a favoured author of mine describes the geography and topography of Norway: a landscape that resembles a dropped plate.

So, if memory serves, this opportunity in Mount Ommaney came courtesy of my association with a new housesitting website, and after I applied, it came extremely quickly.

Having gone on numerous cruises previously, my clients were breaking with tradition and jetting off to a region of Bali somewhat removed from the touristy hubbub of Kuta and Legian beaches.

My fluffy client was a middle-aged Maltese Shih-Tzu with some definite ideas about what was what in his domain. Any perceived intruder in the unit complex was given fair warning that their presence was noted, and that applied to pedestrians, cars, and especially other animals. Our walks were fairly solitary affairs and we definitely did not visit any dog parks for the duration.

Despite a back condition that meant our walks never strayed too far from home territory, he was definitely up for a bit of frenetic charging around the unit and back courtyard. When I got him in the mood for a bit of chase, he turned from a sedentary fluff ball into a white blur across the floor tiles.

Good fun.

On their return from the tropics, my clients were glad to find their pack member happy and healthy, and they sent me this reference:

We recently had Bill house sit and care for our rather spoilt ten year old Maltese – Shih-tzu cross for a week in mid August whilst we were overseas.  

We originally made contact with Bill after placing an ad on one of the house sitting web sites. Bill was one of the first replies we received and we were immediately impressed with the quality of his reply.

Previously we’d always favoured female sittters, but on this occasion we couldn’t help but be impressed with the quality of Bill’s reply and his website only served to reinforce the information he’d given us.

I phoned Bill and after a chat agreed to use him subject to a face to face meeting going well for both parties! I picked Bill up at the bus stop (I offered) and we were immediately put at ease by his relaxed no nonsense approach and confirmed that he would sit for us for the week.

Bill duly arrived and spent the week doing all those things that we expected. On our return the house was clean and tidy and the dog was happy and well cared for. On the morning of our return he also left as soon as we arrived, something not all sitters do but is very welcome if timing permits. When you’ve spent the night on a long haul flight it’s really nice to be able to get your feet back on the ground at home as soon as practical!

We were very happy with Bill’s efforts and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to others. He was completely reliable, always on time, and generally simply a nice easy going guy!

Des & Jeanette, Mount Ommaney