Caring, clean, responsible & reliable couple loves to care for your pets & home (currently in NYC)

About this sitter

👋 Hi! We’re Rodney and Deborah, a married couple who work remotely, travel slowly, and love making new four-legged friends. We’re experienced pet carers and homeowners, as well as former short-term rental hosts with 160+ five-star Airbnb reviews.

We’re looking for a mutually caring arrangement with homeowners who value clear communication and peace of mind. Your pets will be adored, and we’ll look after them, your home and plants with the same meticulous care we would give our own.

📍 We’re currently house sitting in NYC and are open to locations across the United States. Sits of two months or longer would suit us especially well right now. We’re comfortable in city condos and suburban homes alike and look for a clean, secure, comfortable place with reliable internet where we can work.

👨🏾‍🔧 Rodney, 39, is a Michigan native and mechanical engineer. He graduated from university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has worked in oil and gas and government contracting. He has also lived in several cities across Texas and California.

👩🏾‍💻 Deborah, 34, grew up in Germany and is originally from Saarbrücken. She has lived in Mainz, Berlin, Munich, and Paris, where she graduated in Economics and Business Administration. Her professional background is in business development.

✈️ Travel brought us together in Cartagena, Colombia in 2017. Rodney was celebrating his birthday, while Deborah was traveling after completing her 200-hour yoga teacher certification. We married in Houston in 2020, then spent years completing real estate projects and welcoming guests into our short-term rentals.

🏡 Today, housesitting lets us settle into a neighborhood and enjoy everyday life there, with pets helping any place feel like home. We love long walks, hikes, nature, yoga, and meditation. Our evenings often involve cooking, reading, or watching a movie or documentary. We also enjoy museums, good food, musicals, and ballet. We don’t smoke, vape, drink alcohol, use drugs, or party.

🚘 We’re both licensed drivers. In places that are difficult to manage without a car, we appreciate discussing use of a vehicle when available and would care for it responsibly. Rodney is an excellent driver in any condition or terrain, lifelong car enthusiast with experience driving manual-transmission classics and his former Ford F-150. Over the years he has owned 17 cars of which nine were classic cars he restored. He has an International Driving Permit and has driven many rental cars both stateside and internationally.

🤝 What makes a great sit for everyone

💛 We love the sharing economy and believe the best sits are built on mutual respect, care, trust, and goodwill. Your pets will be adored and diligently cared for. We’ll notice their moods, follow their routines, and keep an eye out for anything unusual. We’re also happy to care for plants, collect mail and packages, and follow your household routines. We clean throughout our stay and will leave your home as clean as we found it—quite possibly cleaner! In return, we appreciate being welcomed with the same kindness you’d show a guest or friend.

📝 The more we know about your pets, the better we can care for them. Tell us about their meals, favorite toys, walks, bathroom and sleep routines, grooming, medical history, indoor accidents, how long they can comfortably be alone, and their delightful quirks. We also appreciate an honest heads-up about barking, anxiety, leash pulling, jumping, scratching, aggression, biting, or reactivity toward people or other animals. We’re comfortable with many personalities and needs, but general aggression, biting, and excessive barking wouldn’t be a good fit for us.

💻 Because we work from home, we’re happiest with pets who can relax between walks, playtime, cuddles, and bathroom breaks. A pet snoozing on our lap while we work is always welcome!

🐶 Starting the sit with pets clean and freshly groomed, including trimmed nails, helps everyone get off on the right paw. We’re happy to maintain their usual hygiene, wipe paws after walks, and brush coats as needed.

🧼 A comfortable welcome helps us settle in and focus on your pets. We appreciate a freshly and thoroughly cleaned home: clean sheets; sanitary bathrooms and kitchen; clean dishes and appliances; dusted surfaces; and vacuumed and mopped floors. Some closet or dresser space, bathroom counter space, and room in the fridge and freezer are especially helpful on longer sits.

🔧 We appreciate working heat and AC, water, power, and smoke detectors, with any repair needs discussed before the sit. Please also make sure the home has no major active infestations of cockroaches, bedbugs, ants, flies, fleas, moths, larvae, or worms. We’d hate to bring an unwanted six-legged guest to our next home!

🏠 A few practical details help us plan well. We appreciate photos of your home and information about its approximate location, layout, sleeping arrangements, workspace, internet, laundry, and any unusual noise, such as major construction. We’d use the kitchen, laundry, and living spaces as guests in your home. If a car would make daily life easier, we’d be glad to discuss whether one is available.

☃️ For winter sits, it helps to know how snow and ice are handled, whether dog walks involve salted paths, and whether driveway shoveling is expected or handled otherwise.

📸 We respect your privacy and appreciate the same in return. We don’t accept indoor cameras or recording devices. We understand the value of exterior cameras at a standalone house; we simply ask that they be disclosed in your listing and used for security, without monitoring our day-to-day movements. A standard AirTag on a pet is fine, while a GPS tracker used to record and monitor our exact walking routes feels too intrusive for us. Trust makes the experience better for everyone.

👨‍👩‍👧 On longer sits, if there’s suitable space, we’d appreciate being able to have a short visit from a parent or good friend. We would inform you of any visitor in advance!

🤝 Clear expectations from the listing onward, a way to reach each other if something important comes up, and kindness on both sides set everyone up for a wonderful sit. If that sounds like your approach too, we’d love to meet you and your pets!

Why they want to house sit

🐾 We genuinely love sharing everyday life with animals. Getting to know each pet as an individual—their routines, favorite things, funny habits, and the moment they decide we’re their people—is one of our favorite parts of housesitting. We’re equally happy taking an energetic dog on a long walk or spending a quiet evening with a furry companion curled up beside us.

The well-being of the pets is always our top priority and we truly enjoy building a trusting relationship with both pets and their owners.❤️

Their experience

🐶 Before we met, Rodney’s best friend was his Jack Russell Terrier, Spike. He also had a turtle named Wolverine and fish; Deborah had two much-loved rabbits, Frechdachs and Moppel. We’ve long been the designated pet sitters for friends and have since cared for many more animals through housesitting.

🐕 Our dog experience spans puppies to seniors and breeds of all sizes, including Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Poodles and Doodles, Pit Bulls, Pomeranians, Maltipoos, and mixed breeds. We’ve also cared for social and shy cats, multi-cat households, indoor and outdoor cats, and pets needing litter care. Beyond dogs and cats, we have experience with rabbits, birds, chickens, fish, and turtles.

💊 We’ve managed special diets, pills and other routine medications, dog diapers, anxiety, reactivity, and leash pulling. We’re comfortable following household rules, continuing established commands, and reinforcing training you’re already doing. Some pets want long walks and lots of play; others need patience, reassurance, or a little space. We follow your instructions and adapt to the animal in front of us.

🧽 We pay attention to the little daily things too: fresh water, clean food bowls, wiped paws, clean eyes, brushed coats, tidy litter areas, and anything unusual that may need your attention.

📷 Once you’re away, we’re self-sufficient and follow your preferred update rhythm, whether that means daily photos and notes or an occasional check-in.

What can they bring to the assignment

🏡 Before this chapter of slow travel, we spent more than nine years purchasing, constructing, renovating, maintaining, and operating residential properties in Houston. Rodney brings around 20 years of experience in general contracting and real estate across residential and commercial projects. His work has included helping restore storm-damaged homes with Habitat for Humanity and BuildAid by David Weekley after Hurricane Harvey. We’re comfortable caring for a home and recognizing when something needs attention.

🛏️ As professional short-term rental hosts, we personally welcomed more than 200 groups, averaging 8–12 guests each, into our properties. Our Airbnb profile has 160+ five-star reviews from our years as hosts and travelers, with guests regularly praising our cleanliness, responsiveness, and attention to detail: airbnb.com/users/show/2818478

🪴 We’re plant people too. We have our own collection back in Michigan, and Deborah is used to looking after her father’s indoor and outdoor jungle. We’re happy to follow your instructions for houseplants and gardens, as well as mail, packages, trash, and other household routines.

🗝️ Having welcomed so many people into our own homes, we know how much trust it takes to hand someone the keys. We’ll respect your home and privacy, stay alert to anything that needs care, and help you enjoy your time away with confidence.