USMC Veteran Animal Lover - Sitting, Walking PLUS - Park Ridge, IL

Verified Member since Jul 2024 Verified checkmark

Hello! I'm thrilled to reintroduce myself as your trusted pet care professional in Park Ridge, IL, with over two decades of diverse experience. I specialize in providing full-service animal care, ranging from midday bathroom breaks to emergency vet transportation. My expertise extends to building outdoor animal shelters suitable for year-round or seasonal living. I hold a business license and am fully insured, ensuring your pet’s safety and your peace of mind. With experience across a wide range of animals including birds, cats, dogs, and even reptiles, I am well-equipped to cater to your pet's unique needs.

Having taught classes on how to properly introduce families to animals, I prioritize creating positive interactions and fostering harmonious relationships. Whether you have cats, dogs, guinea pigs, or even snakes, my comprehensive care services are designed to enhance your pet's well-being and happiness. My flexible cancellation policy ensures that your pet care needs can be adjusted to fit your busy schedule, and I’m more than willing to accommodate last-minute "cat-astrophes" with my mobile services.

After a brief hiatus during COVID, I am delighted to be back and eager to welcome new clients. As I build my schedule, I operate on a first-come, first-served basis, so there’s no better time to ensure your pet receives the dedicated care they deserve. Ready to get started? Book me through Petworks today and experience the difference in personalized pet care!

  • Insured
  • Online Sessions

How do you serve precious pets?

  • In Home Pet Sitting
  • Pet Meds Administration
  • Dog Walking
  • Pet Boarding
  • Pet Daycare
  • Pet Taxi

What part of the animal kingdom do you serve?

  • Birds
  • Cats
  • Chickens
  • Dogs
  • Ducks
  • Ferrets
  • Fish
  • Gerbils
  • Guinea Pigs
  • Hamsters
  • Lizards
  • Mice
  • Parrots
  • Rabbits
  • Snakes
  • Turtles

What licensing do you have?

  • Business License

On a scale of snail to elephant, what size animals do you work with?

  • 20-39 lbs
  • 40-79 lbs
  • under 20 lbs

Cat-astrophes happen! What is your cancellation policy?

  • Flexible

Which part of the country do you serve pets?

Des Plaines, Niles, Glenview, Skokie, Morton Grove, Rosemont, Norridge, Harwood Heights, Elmwood Park, Lincolnwood, Chicago Illinois

What year did you begin serving pets?

1988 when I was old enough to walk around the block alone

How did you hone your craft?

I honed my craft by helping friends and family members introduce animals into homes with children or a lack of space. Repeated consistent, weekly and then monthly, skills and discipline training. Being on farms growing up gave me a lot of time and animals to practice.

What tip would you give pet parents for working with animals that you've learned as a pro?

Don't EVER teach your kids to put there out with their fingers strait and especially never spread out. Some people teach children closed fingers and palm up and let them smell your hand. I find that it's far safer to use the "fist method". If you approach an animal with a closed fist, it will prevent a finger from being pulled away on or scratched while young animal might think it's just playing. Usually a child gets hurt pulling away as they get scared, this reduces the chance of an accidental injury. This works for adults with animals you might find threatening or aggressive. Approach them to smell your hand using your fist vs a spread out hand , so again the animal doesn't misconstrue your hand for a claw or paw to play with. Once comfortable with closed fist around that animal, you can move to the "L'' method of approach but I'd have to show you that. Sorry. A little too hard to explain in text. Most important, no loud voices around new animals, stay calm and lower your body or self to their level in the beginning until they can trust your big feet from stepping on them and or they just get comfortable to their surroundings.

What is one thing you want pet parents to know about you? It can be whatev-fur you'd like!

I pride myself on being a great communicator. If I am responsible for your pet, you will have someone in myself that will ALWAYS check in as scheduled or as called in an emergency. Pets are our family members but we all have lives outside our pets but the pet should not suffer because we get busy. That's my mindset.

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steven diduch

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BASED IN: Park Ridge, IL
SERVICE AREA: Within 100 miles, including Des Plaines, Niles, Glenview, Skokie, Morton Grove, Rosemont, Norridge, Harwood Heights, Elmwood Park, Lincolnwood, Chicago Illinois

How do you serve precious pets?

  • In Home Pet Sitting
  • Pet Meds Administration
  • Dog Walking
  • Pet Boarding
  • Pet Daycare
  • Pet Taxi

What part of the animal kingdom do you serve?

  • Birds
  • Cats
  • Chickens
  • Dogs
  • Ducks
  • Ferrets
  • Fish
  • Gerbils
  • Guinea Pigs
  • Hamsters
  • Lizards
  • Mice
  • Parrots
  • Rabbits
  • Snakes
  • Turtles

What licensing do you have?

  • Business License

On a scale of snail to elephant, what size animals do you work with?

  • 20-39 lbs
  • 40-79 lbs
  • under 20 lbs

Cat-astrophes happen! What is your cancellation policy?

  • Flexible

Which part of the country do you serve pets?

Des Plaines, Niles, Glenview, Skokie, Morton Grove, Rosemont, Norridge, Harwood Heights, Elmwood Park, Lincolnwood, Chicago Illinois

What year did you begin serving pets?

1988 when I was old enough to walk around the block alone

How did you hone your craft?

I honed my craft by helping friends and family members introduce animals into homes with children or a lack of space. Repeated consistent, weekly and then monthly, skills and discipline training. Being on farms growing up gave me a lot of time and animals to practice.

What tip would you give pet parents for working with animals that you've learned as a pro?

Don't EVER teach your kids to put there out with their fingers strait and especially never spread out. Some people teach children closed fingers and palm up and let them smell your hand. I find that it's far safer to use the "fist method". If you approach an animal with a closed fist, it will prevent a finger from being pulled away on or scratched while young animal might think it's just playing. Usually a child gets hurt pulling away as they get scared, this reduces the chance of an accidental injury. This works for adults with animals you might find threatening or aggressive. Approach them to smell your hand using your fist vs a spread out hand , so again the animal doesn't misconstrue your hand for a claw or paw to play with. Once comfortable with closed fist around that animal, you can move to the "L'' method of approach but I'd have to show you that. Sorry. A little too hard to explain in text. Most important, no loud voices around new animals, stay calm and lower your body or self to their level in the beginning until they can trust your big feet from stepping on them and or they just get comfortable to their surroundings.

What is one thing you want pet parents to know about you? It can be whatev-fur you'd like!

I pride myself on being a great communicator. If I am responsible for your pet, you will have someone in myself that will ALWAYS check in as scheduled or as called in an emergency. Pets are our family members but we all have lives outside our pets but the pet should not suffer because we get busy. That's my mindset.

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