Anna

I offer dog walking and drop in visit services in Birmingham within 1 mile from my current home in Harborne MoorPool. If you are further away please write, I will see if I can accomodate you.  

I am a watercolor artis and moved to live in the UK with my husband, a sales representative for an engineering company, in October 2022. My ig handle is annabutenkoart. At home in Russia we have 3 dogs and 2 cats who are now waiting to be relocated too.  

My motivation to be a pet sitter is that I love pets, I have had them since my childhood. Since all my pets are currently in Russia and their bringing to the UK takes some time, I want to help other people in Birmingham with their pets. 

All my current pets in Russia are rescues from streets. The dogs are 8, 7 and 5 years old. The cats are 18 and 15 years old. Before that I had a lab Lola who died in 2019 aged 14.  

The last adopted dog, Jean, (I found him already a grown up dog wandering at a train station) had behavioral problems, he pulled the lead and could not stay alone at home. I had to hire a dog consultant to work with me and the dog to resolve Jean's issues together. Now he is an absolutely wonderful and perfectly adjusted companion dog.  

I met Dobi, my second dog, first time in a street nearby my house as a gentle puppy scratching herself from flees. I gave her medicine against flees, but did not take home hoping that someone else would take her in. Unfortunately stray dogs are still a big problem in Russia and you can meet them in streets often. Second time I met her when she was already a grown up dog, and I recognized her because of her unique colors. I did not have a leash with me and told her, will you come live with me? Amazingly, she just followed me to my place as if she understood me. She is a very gentle and quiet dog who loves to stay hidden in her cozy dark corner of a room. 

The third dog Motya was discovered by my husband as a tiny still blind puppy together with his little brother near the local farmacy where they were abandoned. We nurtured them and found them homes, but Motya was not lucky. His family returned him to us two years later because they moved houses and decided he was too big for their new smaller house. I decided to keep him with us seeing how heartbroken he was being abandoned by his first family. He turned out to be a very happy and children friendly dog since he grew up around children. 

To be a better pet owner, I took a TTouch introductory course in Moscow from a certified TTouch practitioner Veronica Kulikova. Now I can apply basic touches when needed and appropriate to calm a dog down and let her be more relaxed. I intend to continue my TTouch education in the UK since there are great practitioners here. From the TTouch introductory course I learned to respect a dog’s boundaries and understand their subtle communication signs. 

I also volunteered at a local Russian shelter taking dogs for walks. 

I can administer oral and injected medications and have had plenty experience with taking pets to vets, doing various recovery procedures at home. Since I am a pet owner of already more than 4 decades, I have experience of having to euthanize my pets (in palliative cases when they were in pain), with others I accompanied them during their natural passing. I love older dogs and have a lot of respect for their age and processes slowing down.

When I don't paint outside I work on my digital projects at home, so I am usually flexible with my time. I have a car.