Member Spotlight: Janet and Stretch
We had a conversation with one of our members, Janet, and talked about being a dog parent in the Bay Area, the story of how she and her husband met their dog, Stretch, and their experience with Louie’s Club so far.
First of all, are you originally from the San Francisco Bay Area?
Yes, I was born and raised in San Francisco. Rod is originally from San Francisco as well but grew up in San Mateo. We have now been living in Sunnyvale for the over 25 years.
Tell us more about your experience with dogs.
I’ve had 3 dogs before Stretch and we’ve had Stretch for 2 years now. We adopted him from the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, which is where Rod and I have been volunteering as dog socializers for the past 5 years. It’s fun and rewarding to work with the dogs over there and help them get used to lots of people, learn basic commands, and introduce them to families — all so they can get a furever home faster.
So when you are with Stretch, what do you like to do for fun?
I have to say, Stretch is the smartest of our dogs. He is always willing to please and he picks up tricks very quickly. So it can be a challenge to keep his brain occupied, otherwise he’ll go poking around the house and maybe getting into things he shouldn’t be eating.
That’s why we signed him up with Furry Friends Pet Assisted Therapy. He visits seniors at assisted living, vets at the VA Hospital, rehabilitation homes, as well as students in high school and college who are stressed during exams. It’s a win-win for everyone because he comes home so tired and happy after an hour of free massages and he hopefully has brightened someone else’s life in the meantime.
We take him to training with Our Pack, your (Louie’s Club) meetups and Dogs Scouts of America as well. We try to keep him socialized and playing with other dogs so both his body and mind get exercised, and we like meeting other dog parents and their dogs too!
What do you usually do when you travel or when you can’t take Stretch with you?
Well, before Louie’s Club, I used to have a lot of friends and relatives that were happy to take care of Stretch and our previous dogs. But between people moving and some of my relatives getting older, my network shrunk. We’ve set up some dog exchanges with other HSSV volunteers in the past.
How has your experience been with Louie’s Club?
Its been great! One member just did her second hosting with me. Another member took Stretch for a few hours one evening since she wanted some practice with dog sitting, and Stretch is a good dog for a 1st-timer.
Those are the only meeting up connections I’ve made so far; I’ve had a couple requests to host, but I haven’t been able to accommodate yet, due to timing, unfortunately.
But everyone I have communicated with on the site has been very prompt and nice, and we have made plans to sync up some other times for our dogs to meet.
So how was Stretch’s first experience staying with a host?
It worked out really well. Turns out the host’s family lives five minutes away from us. The first time, we just went over and met at their house. Shortly after that, they took Stretch for a few hours one evening.
After that first test run, they hosted him for two nights while I was traveling and later on after Thanksgiving. I think they had a good time with him. She mentioned that her son really likes that Stretch loves to do tricks, and that it’s a good experience for when they want to get their own dog.
What do you look for when connecting with other members?
First, how far away the other member is. I like to look for someone close by and luckily there’s a large network to choose from on Louie’s Club.
I also look to see if they have a dog or not. For people without dogs, I don’t have to worry about Stretch maybe not getting along with the other dogs. For someone with a dog, I’ll look at what their dog is like. We do fostering of dogs with HSSV as well, and so we know what kinds of dogs Stretch gets along best with: more calm and mellow dogs, mostly. So I look for a dog that can match his age and temperament, for a good social experience for both dogs.
Finally, what advice would you give a new member?
Try it out! You need to know your dog and his/her needs. Everybody I have met so far has been really nice. Also, I would suggest they check out the advice on the site about meeting new members — doing a few meet ups beforehand, etc; those pages were very helpful.
Just be willing to meet lots of different people and lots of different dogs. You might make some new friends yourself, besides your dogs making friends with other dogs!
We enjoyed getting to know Jan and her family and are so happy that she’s having a great experience with the dog sitting community.
If you have any questions or would like to be featured on Member Spotlight, shoot us an email at info@louiesclub.com.
