Call or text for free initial meet and greet: 469-551-3680
ME
Hi, I'm Elaine - and animals are my life's true passion.
I retired early from a successful career as an immigration lawyer in Dallas recently. Now I pursue another passion - pets. I am active and energetic and love being outdoors. I'm an avid runner (10 marathons), cyclist and hiker, with a community of great athlete friends. I have no problems walking or running with dogs around the neighborhood or crawling on the floor to bond with cats!
Experience
Aside from having my own cats for the last 20 years (including a geriatric 17+ year old cat, Avi) and growing up in Ireland with dogs as family pets, I have enjoyed fostering over 100 animals (cats and dogs) so far. I frequently volunteer with dogs and cats at Dallas Animal Services shelter and take care of my brother's labradoodle (Arlo) and my sisters' dogs (Lexi, Bailey, Roo and Koda). From new-borns to geriatrics, shy cats to playful pups, healthy pets to medicine-reliant/disabled pets, and everything in between (including fish, frogs, doves and chickens) - you name it, I've looked after it.
I have been a homeowner for 25 years, with all the maintenance, repair, and general upkeep involved. A less experienced sitter might not know about shifting East Dallas foundations, or where to find the mains water valve, but I do! I have also traveled as a house-sitter with Trusted HouseSitters since 2021. To date, I've done 15 house sits - all with 5-star reviews.
**************
Modern life is busy, and it can feel difficult to manage it all. But together we can do it! I'd love to help you take care of your pets, plants, and homes, so please do get in touch.
Pet Services
Home visits
Scoop litter-box
Clean pet messes
Administer medications
Feed on schedule
Brush pets
Play with pets
Dog walking/running
Update clients with photos/videos
Other services as requested
Home Services
Security check
Collect mail & deliveries
Water plants (indoor & outdoor)
Vacuum pet hair
Take out trash
Other services as requested
Conscientious and detail-oriented, I create a checklist of tasks to complete at each visit. You want a spreadsheet of your pet and home quirks? Got it! Daily updates with photos/videos? Got that also!
As a volunteer with foster children and as a member of other sitter sites, I have had multiple background checks completed over the years.
In addition to feeding, watering, loving on, and playing with pets (and yes, cleaning up their messes), I am very experienced in administering medicine to pets. I've given insulin, deworming liquid, transdermal meds, eye drops, sub-cutaneous fluids, etc.
20+ years of home ownership and yard care means that your home and yard will be maintained perfectly while you travel. I'm clean and tidy, and only slightly obsessed with vacuuming!
I have been a foster for animal rescue groups for years.. I have fostered over 100 cats and kittens by now, from bottle babies to terrified adults. I foster dogs also, though my resident cat doesn't always approve....
Check out my foster kitten social media presence:
sample reviews
"I cannot say enough good things about Elaine and the care she provided for our cat recently. We have a formerly-feral kitty who is very shy of strangers, and this trip was the first time we have had anyone besides a family member take care of her. We were afraid she would spend the duration of our trip hiding under the bed! But Elaine is every bit as wonderful as her reviews indicate. She came over to meet our kitty a couple of days before we left and was able to pet her then.
While we were away, Elaine came twice a day and sent us pics of Kitty in her lap, Kitty getting brushed, Kitty having treats — we were astounded! Elaine was also able to give Kitty her inhaler, something our cat doesn’t enjoy much. Our trip coincided with some terrible weather and our flights kept cancelling, which meant we got home two days later than expected. I’m so thankful that Elaine had the flexibility to keep caring for Kitty; she was very generous and gracious about the numerous changes. We plan on booking Elaine in the future for all of our trips. 5 ⭐️!!! One cat, May 2024
****
"Elaine is fantastic! Our sweet kitty had a health scare while she was watching him, and she went above and beyond to help us - including making additional stops at our house to check on him and sitting with him to encourage him to eat! She came up with incredibly helpful solutions to help fix the problem and was more than willing to take him to the vet if needed (thankfully it was not!). I would absolutely recommend her to anyone in need of an animal sitter!!" One cat, May 2024
****
"Elaine with Lassie Sits has taken care of my kitty babies twice now…all I can say is WOW! She is amazing! She is meticulous with the details, goes above and beyond to get to know your animals and I’m pretty sure she’s a cat whisperer! My kitties are feral and she has won them over (something I’m still trying to do each and every day). She will do additional house sitting duties (bringing in packages, getting mail, watering plants), all for a outstanding price! In addition, she volunteers with local rescues and DAS to give back to the community! I cannot recommend anyone better to take care of your fur babies! She will love your babies as much as you do!" Sixteen (!) cats, Dallas. December 2023 (repeat client)
****
"Elaine was an incredible caregiver of our home, our dogs, a cat, and she even checked in on my elderly mother who lives in the garage apartment. Elaine is organized and thorough, created checklists, and everything was so smooth. It gave us so much peace of mind to have her caring for our pets and our home while we were away. Highly recommend! " Three large dogs, one cat, Dallas. August 2023 (repeat client)
****
"Elaine is an excellent dog sitter and went above and beyond with my elderly dog who I couldn’t board at a regular dog boarding facility. She was great at coming to my home and giving him food & meds, checking in on him at various times during the day and evening and taking him out. I highly recommend her dog sitting service!" Senior dog, Dallas, July 2023.
****
"Elaine was the best sitter for my little kitten. She went above and beyond to care for her. Always sent updates and pictures!" Young cat, Dallas, July 2023.
****
"I couldn’t have asked for a better pet sitter than Elaine. She was punctual, extremely easy to communicate with and took great care with both our home and our pets and even took the time to come by and meet the kitties before we left. I’ve never used a pet sitting service and was blown away by the peace of mind she gave us while away for six days. We got to truly enjoy our vacation knowing she was taking such great care of our herd. Plus our kitties loved her. I’m pretty sure they were almost dissapointed when we walked in the door instead of Elaine. We are definitely fans. Wonderful experience all the way around." Four senior cats, Dallas, April 2023.
***
"Elaine did a great job taking care of house and kitty. Upon return kitty was happy and house was cleaner than I left it. Thank you Elaine." House and cat, Philadelphia, April 2023
***
"Elaine was great with our pets & took great care of our house when we were gone for four nights. We have a cat that needs eye drops everyday & Elaine took care of that for us. The house was exactly how we left it, clean & tidy. She sorted the mail & also watered my large collection of indoor trees/plants. We will be calling Elaine again in the future! " House, dog and cat, March 2023 (repeat client)
***
"Elaine was perfect! We have two diabetic cats and they are definitely more needy than most cats to take care of. Elaine had no problem giving insulin and kept us posted daily on how well the cats ate. She even discovered new tricks to get them to eat more! Eating is very important when you have diabetic cats. I will definitely use Elaine again in the future and have no hesitation on recommending her to others." February 2023 (repeat client)
***
"Our cat, Harley, is a beloved part of our family and we are sincerely and joyfully fanatic about the love and care he receives so we're very particular about who we would leave him with . This is the first time we've left him with a pet sitter and Elaine took wonderful care of him with lots of playtime and cuddles as well as making sure his meals were on schedule and his litter was clean. We came home to a happy cat! She even brought him a fantastic toy that he loves. I would highly recommend. " February and March 2023 (repeat client)
***
"Elaine took amazing care of Coco and Kiki and our apartment. We received daily updates inclusive of pictures in which it was clear our girls were very happy with Elaine. Elaine was an excellent communicator throughout the entire process and left our apartment extremely tidy. We can't recommend Elaine enough and hope we get a chance to have her sit for us again." House and cat sit, Brooklyn, 2022
***
"Elaine was a great house sitter. She was very attentive to the needs of our fluffy cat. Communication was quick and easy. She left the apartment neater than I did. What a treat! I would gladly have her come back." House and cat sit, 2021.
***
"Elaine is an ideal [sitter] and I highly recommend her to this community. We had the pleasure of meeting her in person before the sit and it was clear she was well prepared...she asked excellent questions and as a long-time pet and homeowner herself, has a great knowledge/understanding of what it takes to do an outstanding job. I had a great level of comfort leaving our home and our precious pup in her care.
During the visit Elaine was a great communicator and kept us abreast on how our dog Ida Mae was adjusting to her new temporary “mom". Our dog is nervous during thunderstorms and early in the visit some weather blew in. Elaine made sure to communicate how she was doing and assured us the instructions on how to minimize her symptoms were being acted on. She sent regular photos of their snuggles and multiple kind comments about their bonding. It made our vacation so much more enjoyable to know both our home and pet were trusted to Elaine.
Upon our return Elaine made sure we were on target with our arrival time before leaving the house. When we returned, our pup was calm and relaxed, nothing like she would have been if we had boarded her. She would howl and cling to us for days before we used this platform. In additional our house was sparkling clean, linens and towels washed, and bed made without us even requesting.
Personally, she is a very intelligent, funny, kind woman ... We are so grateful for Elaine and if she applies for a stay with you should make her your first choice! You won’t regret it! " House and dog sit, Dallas, 2021
***
Serving: Lakewood, Forest Hills, Casa Linda, East Dallas, M-Streets, Deep Ellum, Uptown, Park Cities
Visit hours: 8.00 a.m. - 7.00 p.m.