A native to the Northwest, I lived in Portland and in Clark County my entire life. After 23 years in business administration and management, I retired from the corporate world to own and manage an alpaca livestock farm. 16 years later I phased out of the livestock industry, tested the waters on several other career paths, and then took my natural care for animals and developed pet sitting as a full time business. Throughout my life, animals were a huge part of everyday living.
My background in animals is varied. I raised St. Bernards in the 70’s, had several Rottweilers through the years along with domestic cats and Gouldian finches. I owned and operated a USDA licensed facility in the 80’s, raising small wildcats, Servals and Caracals. During that time I was actively involved with WA State wildlife regulations.
How did the pet sitting business come to be?
Since the 70’s, along with loving my own variety of animals, I have taken care of pets for family and friends, and later managed Alpacas as a business. This included working with livestock guardian dogs. I loved the experiences, the opportunity to meet so many different people, and the animals I came in contact with. With this background, continuing to care for animals was an obvious career path to stay on. Following my heart’s desire, I developed my pet sitting business and appropriately named it Leave It To Shoo!
Where did the pet sitting business name “Leave It To Shoo! …While You’re Away” come from?
The name “Shoo” is actually a nickname. In the early 70’s, a girlfriend’s 2 yr old daughter could not pronounce Sharon, and called me “Shoo” instead. It was carried forward by my family and friends through the years. I used this nickname in two previous business’s, so it was natural to use it again.
When selecting a business name, I wanted it to have a message and to make a positive statement. Of all places, sharing time at Burgerville with a friend and business associate, we noticed an advertisement on the table, a short message that said “Leave it to Burgerville.” We both looked up, laughed, and said “Leave It To Shoo!” The “While You’re Away” was the tag line needed to complete my message.