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At Blue Ridge Golf Course, 27 holes and time away

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Barletta lauds opening of office to aid victims of illegal immigration

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; For Karen Sims, changing professions meant a lifestyle change as well.</p><p>Sims left the medical profession to become a full-time pet sitter/walker in 2014. She said she&#8217;s so busy that she sometimes doesn&#8217;t have weekends free.</p><p>&#8220;I get up at 6 a.m. and come home around 9 p.m.,&#8221; Sims said during a break on a recent Wednesday.</p><p>Though she said she&#8217;s &#8220;always going,&#8221; she tries to take a Sunday off to spend time with her family while not disappointing her client base.</p><p>&#8220;I hate to say no,&#8221; Sims said, noting there are times when she has to shift her schedule to include everyone who asks for her services. &#8220;I try to find a balance between personal and private life.&#8221;</p><p>Sims, who held different jobs in the medical field, including as an X-ray technician, said social media is a &#8220;plus&#8221; when it comes to growing her client base. She also relies on word-of-mouth referrals.</p><p>Although Sims runs a one-woman business, <a href="https://www.rover.com/" target="_blank">Rover.com</a> and <a href="https://www.care.com/" target="_blank">Care.com</a> are online services that match dog walkers with potential clients.</p><p>Rover.com was founded in 2011 by Greg Gottesman in Seattle and has grown steadily. According to a company spokeswoman, Rover.com was founded after the owner&#8217;s &#8220;negative experience&#8221; with a traditional kennel.</p><p>Gottesman was on vacation when his dog, Ruby Tuesday, was injured at a high-end boarding kennel in Seattle, according to an email from Leah Almeling, Rover.com&#8217;s public relations manager. &#8220;When his 9-year-old daughter said she would have paid to take care of someone else&#8217;s dog, Gottesman saw a business.&#8221;</p><p>Many of Rover.com&#8217;s clients are in metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia and New York City, but the company says 92 percent of the nation&#8217;s population lives within a short drive of a pet sitter or dog walker on Rover.com.</p><p>&#8220;We have more than 100,000 pet sitters and dog walkers across the country,&#8221; Almeling said.</p><p>Angelo Greco, of Kingston, grew her business in 2016 though Rover.com.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always loved dogs; I&#8217;ve owned a dog my whole life,&#8221; Greco, 34, said, noting she used to watch or walk dogs for her friends and neighbors but wanted a &#8220;side hustle&#8221; in the economy and found Rover.com a perfect fit.</p><p>Greco charges $20 per walk for a 30-minute dog walk and $20 for a 30-minute check-in on a dog while the owners are away. </p><p>For Sims, a typical 15-minute walk would cost a pet owner $13, and a 30-minute visit, which Sims said is the &#8220;most popular,&#8221; is $15. Sims has other options, including an hourlong visit or a &#8220;field trip&#8221; &#8212; where the pooch can explore the great outdoors within a 10-mile radius of its home, to such places as Frances Slocum State Park in Kingston Township, or Seven Tubs Nature Area in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Almeling said Rover.com walkers set their own prices, but a typical walk averages $15 to $20. Walkers keep 80 percent of their price, while the other 20 percent &#8220;covers benefits for sitters, including insurance, the costs of processing payments, and ongoing promotion of sitters on Rover.com.&#8221;</p><p>Sims and some Rover.com walkers are fully insured. On Rover.com, icons accompany the potential sitter&#8217;s name and details, indicating they are background checked and have completed a Rover.com class on pets and are insured.</p><p>Potential walkers could have all or no symbols.</p><p>The insurance Sims offers is liability, including if something happens to the dog or something breaks while sitters are in the pet owner&#8217;s home.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re responsible for people&#8217;s precious pets,&#8221; Greco said, noting dog walking and/or sitting isn&#8217;t an easy job &#8212; it requires time and care.</p><p>Care.com spokeswoman Natasha Gavilanez said she didn&#8217;t have figures on the number of pet owners and walkers involved with her company, which is based in Boston.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kingston resident Karen Sims walks a client&#8217;s dogs, Lulu and Penny, in Swoyersville. Sims left her job in the medical profession to become a full-time pet sitter/walker three years ago. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL043017dogWalker1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kingston resident Karen Sims walks a client&#8217;s dogs, Lulu and Penny, in Swoyersville. Sims left her job in the medical profession to become a full-time pet sitter/walker three years ago. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

At SPCA, Luzerne County residents focus on their pet projects