Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalya Warner.
Natalya, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Ever since I was a little girl, I had a deep and strong connection with animals. My affinity for animals started when I was only around five years old, my father would take me to the local garden/park a few times a month.
Out there we spent hours exploring and walking around, watching curious squirrels hopping from tree to tree, birds and all kind of flowers. We collected colorful leaves in the Fall, pine-cones and acorns, but the best place of all was the local pond.
The “magic pond” is what I called it. Why “magic”, you would ask? This pond had a vast variety of water creatures. Dad let me observe every creature who lived there. I could watch fast water spiders who were able to run on top of the water, random fish swimming by, big water snails, beautiful dragon flies, and finally, leeches. It was so cool to pick up leeches from the water and put them on my arm and watch them move around and even try to bite my hand, it was not painful at all. I was mesmerized how beautiful and unique all these animals were.
These interactions taught me early in life to not be fearful of any animals, even spiders or snakes and at the same time be extremely gentle and respectful towards all of them. I remember my father always told me they are little creatures who try to survive and live their lives to their fullest abilities and I had to be loving towards all of them and never ever hurt them in any way. Every visit to our “magic pond” made me appreciate nature and animals more and more. Seeing my genuine love for all creatures encouraged my parents to let me have pets and I always took great care of them despite my young age. Growing up I had hamsters, a turtle, cats and dogs. I learned how to be responsible, caring and how to love with all my heart and soul. I am so grateful and appreciative that my mom and dad supported and nurtured my love of animals.
My choice of College Degree was very clear, I knew I wanted to work, care and interact with animals and help them in every way, so naturally pursuing a Veterinary Degree was the obvious choice. It took me 5 intense years to graduate with a DVM in my native country. However, the final year in University, was the toughest year of my life. When internship began it was challenging. In the process of practicing I realized that I can’t watch animals suffer and see them in pain. At first, I thought it was just a temporary thing, while I was getting used to it all, but my rejection of seeing the pain of innocent animals grew stronger and I understood that this career might not be for me after all.
I moved to the US shortly after my graduation and I tried to build career here by starting to work as a veterinary technician. By that time, it was obvious to me, that I would never ever be able to practice as a veterinarian. It was too emotional and sad to see many dogs and cats each day being sick and suffering and not be able to help them in so many cases.
In 2006 my neighbors ask me to watch their Labrador and cute Tabby cat while they were on vacation and I was happy to take care of them. It was such a rewarding and peaceful experience. Suddenly, I realized that I could do it for a living every day. My clientele grew quickly, mainly through word of mouth and in 2010 True Friends Pet Care was born.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For the most part our journey has been smooth.
Juggling between being a business owner and Pet Sitter wasn’t easy. I never saw myself having my own business, so it has been challenging to manage the time between furry clients and all aspect of the business, just like in any growing company.
People think of Pet Sitting as something light and temporary and it’s just some job for extra money on the side, but they don’t realize how much responsibility pet sitters have going to someone else’s house, closely following every direction and caring for live animals who are just like human children, close and beloved family members. There are lots of details and specifics that need to be remembered and followed.
Second, finding reliable, dependable pet sitters/staff members who share the same view of animal care is a little challenging. Lots of people love animals, but the ones who can connect with pets on a deeper, almost intuitive level and at the same time be highly responsible, reliable, dedicated and very organized is rare.
Also, when we care for furry babies, we get attached to them and care for them as if they are our own, so when the clients must relocate to different states or when their pets get old, sick and must leave us, it is so heartbreaking to lose them and say goodbye.
True Friends Pet Care-Dog Walking & Pet Sitting – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
True Friends Pet Care dog walking & pet sitting company is proud to provide personalized, nurturing and loving pet care services in Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Oak Park, Agoura Hills, Simi Valley and surrounding area since 2010.
Our Services are heart based, we care greatly about what we do. We care for animals that are a part of families and it’s a huge responsibility! For us it’s all about the relationship and trust that we build with our clients. We have close to a thousand loyal customers and in 8 years we’ve never cancelled any pet sits and never rejected a pet sitting request from our clients! Our pet sitters pay great attention to the needs of our customers. With only a few, carefully selected and dedicated staff members we pride ourselves on offering caring and customized pet sitting services tailored to each pet.
Our mission is to improve the lives of people and pets! We love it when our human clients enjoy their relaxing vacations and they never have to worry about their pets and home while they are in our care. They know that when their fur babies are with us, they get undivided, loving attention, they are safe, healthy, happy and each instruction and request will be followed to the letter,
True Friends Pet Care stands out from the competition by going above and beyond the of call of duty. We treat each client as if they are the only client we have. When we care for animals, we stay in touch with each pet parent 24-7. The well-being of each fur baby in our care is our number one priority! The human clients receive daily, detailed updates with pictures of our activities together. For extra comfort we are fully Licensed, Bonded and Insured. Our clients are like our family and we treat them as such. We want them to feel at ease when they are away.
Throughout the years many of our wonderful clients have moved to other states, but to this day we stay in contact with many of them because they are close friends who put a great trust in us with their homes and with their fur babies and we are forever grateful. We are always there for them when they need us. And sadly, when it’s time to say goodbye to our senior pet clients we make sure we support and comfort their family in tough times.
One of our long-time clients once said “In short, a lot of people can simply put food in a bowl, pick up poop, bring in the mail, and such. But it takes a special person to do all that plus provide loving attention, consistency in training habits, administer medicine when needed, and in general be the source of comfort for your pets when you can’t be there”.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career was when one of our clients dog named Eddie got very sick and the local vet said there was nothing that could be done. I supported my client and encouraged him to take the dog to the specialty hospital where they were able to his life. It took several weeks of hospitalization, but Eddie completely healed and continues to live a happy and healthy life.
Pricing:
- Pet Sits start at $22 per visit
- Dog Walks start at $20 per walk
- Cat Sits start at $20 per visit
Contact Info:
- Address: Thousand Oaks blvd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
- Website: http://truefriendspetcare.com
- Phone: 805-298-7272
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truefriendspetcare
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrueFriendsPetSitting
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrueFriendsPets
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/true-friends-pet-care-thousand-oaks-5?osq=dog+walker
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
