About Us My name is Penny Reeves and I’d firstly like to thank you for visiting the Furry Friends Holiday Helper Website. I started this business in December 2003, offering pet sitting as an alternative to opening or buying a boarding kennel. Even though there are a lot of very good boarding kennels, I know that my cats and dogs have never been happy when they’ve been sent off to boarding kennels and catteries. As a result, I very rarely go on holidays as I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my time away knowing that my pets aren’t happy. In my opinion, having your pets looked after in their own home is a far better alternative and being with animals is what I like best, which is why I started Furry Friends Holiday Helper. You can rest assured, your pets will be well looked after when left in my care. Not only will your pets be loved but cared for in the best possible way, I have completed an animal first aid as well as a dog behaviour course and have been studying and practicing positive reinforcement training for the past two years and am still learning. I can not only look after your pets in the best possible way but can help with advise on enriching your pets environment, basic training issues and will know when you pet is not well and have the knowledge to take the correct action. I don't just love pets I have a good understanding of them as well, that's the important difference between Furry Friends Holiday Helper and others. I have owned and loved animals all my life and have a great respect for them. I have always had cats and dogs of course and also owned horses for many years. I’ve also had rabbits, birds, fish, chooks, ducks, cows and my daughter Michelle had two great ferrets. I do have to admit that I would have to say no to looking after spiders or snakes. I’d like to introduce you to some of my pets as well as some of their friends. This is Bandit, he is a Keeshond and was born on 1 Janurary 2000. He is very playful, not to mention cheeky and a lot of fun. Bandit and I belonged to the Eastern Suburbs Obedience Dog Club for around 2 years. During this time we took part in many dog trials and Bandit successfully passed 2 novice trials. We unfortunately had to give up the trials because Bandit decided it was really funny to wait until I got to the other side of the ring after I’d put him on a sit/stay and pretty much as soon as I turned around to look at him give a cheeky yap get up and run up and down the line of other dogs who were also on their sit/stay, getting as many to join in with him as possible. As you can imagine, I was very unpopular with the other owners so after the second of these performances we gave up trialing. With the help of the instructors at the dog club, lots of advice from lots of people and many hours of training, alas, Bandit could not be broken of this habit and so could never go back to trialing again. A shame really as he got excellent scores in all other tasks and he loved getting in there and showing off. Since my trial mishaps with Bandit I have finally found, after many years of searching, a very nice lady who teaches Clicker Training which is a positive reinforcement method of training for any animal. I have been learning all about Clicker Training and practicing it on Bandit for a few years now and the results are fantastic. Not only do you gain a thorough understanding of how animals think but you gain a much greater bond with your pets. Bandit can do so many things now it's unbeleivable and he just loves his training sessions, as far as he's concerned they are play and bonding sessions, great fun for both of us. Bandit is an expert twirler and dancer as has learned recently to climb trees, at least trees that have a sideways lean. He loves jumping over swings and see-saws in playgrounds. He loves playing with any other animals, he’s used to all sorts, we’ve had rabbits, ferrets, birds and of course cats in the time we’ve had Bandit. The rabbit, ferrets and bird were already long standing family members when Bandit arrived. Top of page This is Toby, he is my daughter Michelle’s cat but stayed with me when she left home. He is a very serious boy indeed, fun and games are a waste of energy as far as Toby is concerned. Toby is the oldest of our cats and loves head and face scritches and curling up on my knees and falling asleep. Toby has a very cute dance he does at dinner time, on the other hand if he isn’t happy with you he has a deadly tail whack. He is a very big boy but has a very little meow, very cute. Top of page This is Natasha, I got her from the Pearcedale Animal Aid on Boxing Day 2002 and she was 3 years old at the time. Natasha was brought into the shelter as a pregnant stray and I don’t believe she has ever had a home, or if she has it hadn’t been for a long time before she was taken to the shelter. She is very street wise and can break into anywhere food is stored. She has learned to unlock the cat door from both inside and outside, she can open the plastic drum I keep the pellets in. She can open the pantry door and feels it her duty to steal food and keep it stored under the kitchen cupboards for a rainy day. After all, one never knows when you might fall on bad times again. When I first got Natasha she was very insecure and shy which didn’t bother me, her time at the shelter was extended until after Christmas and Boxing Day was her last day so I couldn’t leave her. Happily she has turned out to be a very friendly and happy cat but still a bit nervy when outside which doesn’t matter much seeing as she is inside 90% of the time and only outside when I’m there. I could tell you many stories about my little beauty queen but we would be here all day so I wont but she is a lovely girl so if you ever want to rescue a cat from a shelter don’t think it’s a bad idea getting an adult cat Natasha is a good advertisement, plenty of people will take kittens but not many will adopt adults, so give it a go, you will be well rewarded. Top of page This is Sebastian, I got him from the Pearcedale Animal Aid at the same time as Natasha, Boxing Day 2002 and he was 9 months old at the time. I was actually only going to get one cat that day as a Christmas present from Michelle and was walking around the enclosure with Sebastian who I had already chosen and then came across Natasha who was running and hiding from everyone, so of course I had to take her as well. Sebastian is very smart and cheeky, he spends a lot of his day playing with the other cats as well as Bandit. He’s a bit of a roughhead and when he’s annoyed Natasha to the point of her yelling at him to go away he then goes and plays with Bandit or Toby, whoever’s up for it, usually Bandit. He’s not much for cuddles but does like to have a sleep on my lap occasionally. I’ll just tell you one cute story about Sebastian, not long after he came to live with me Toby had an abscess removed from his tail and came home from the vets wearing an Elizabethan collar to stop him pulling the stitches out. Toby was having great difficulty getting around with this collar as he is used to rubbing up against everything as he walks past it and of course the collar was catching on the furniture and bringing him to an abrupt halt. After observing the trouble Toby was in for a while, Sebastian must have come to the conclusion that Toby couldn’t see and from that time until I took the collar off, which was only the next day, Sebastian walked right next to Toby with his side keeping in constant contact with Tobys, leading him through the middle of doorways and keeping him away from the furniture. Top of page Friends of the family Firstly I'd like you to meet Jimmy, his human housemate has said a few words about him. Captain Jimmy Pants is a gregarious six year old staffie. He is in many ways a typical bloke, enjoying all types of ball sports, and displaying quiet pride in his marksmanship (as many a "yellowed" shrub can pay testament to). Jimmy's interests include wagging his tail, chasing local birds, and sleeping in the garden bed by the back door. But he also has a romantic side, enjoying long walks on the beach and quiet nights cuddled up on top of a warm heater duct. As the man about the house (and a Captain), when Jimmy's housemate Jess goes on holidays, he prefers to "hold the fort" back at home. He does this by enlisting the help of FFHH, who support him in his daily activities such as bringing in the mail, escorting him on his rounds of the local parks, and making sure he is well fed and has someone to chat with each day. Top of page Ready for lift off. This is Lance Corporal Bob, a real action dog, accompanied by his commanding officer who will tell the story. Our Dog Handlers have been quite busy recently with several patrols with the Infantry to locate weapons and caches. They have also brushed up on the winching. That is from helicopters to allow insertion and extraction from areas where helo's can't land. The dogs hate it but they are used to it all the same. We have done quite a lot of venue searches where VIP personnel are frequenting. That is searches to locate explosive devices. Several demos of our dogs capabilities have been conducted to sell our services to the Feds, who do love using our dogs. The dogs have been getting more helo and air time than any of the guys. Top of page Let me introduce you to Mr. Bigglesworth, his story will be told by his staff member No. 2. For the record my full name and title is- 'HERMES Lugus Tunguska Mignon Bigglesworth Esq.', Co Regent of 100 acre wood (with my sister Babe) and Grand Vizier of both the Upper and Lower Nile. As you will recall from your ancient Greek history Hermes is the winged messenger god, and some would say creator of mischief, which I have done my utmost to uphold! My story began 9 yrs ago. As a newly born kitten I found myself in a household full of ... let's just say 'undesirable' types in Footscray, and realising my destiny lay elsewhere, I asked the mighty god Amon- Ra to send me a rescuer and take me to the Eastern suburbs where I could show my true potential. After being rescued by Staff member No 1 (my mother) it was left up to Staff member No 2 (my father) to prepare me for the world. This consisted of intensive Jedi training using the carpet burn technique before moving onto the more advanced Busy Bee course. After graduating I was able to fully demonstrate my prowess with the 'ankle bite', a manoeuvre I employ when I need to discipline my errant Staff members. However I realise that all work and no play makes Kitty dull, so I occasionally play with the ping pong ball, using the opportunity to show off my dexterity and grace. Staff member No 1 has an annoying habit of trying to enforce curfew, I tolerate this but only if I'm supplied with my weekly allowance of fresh ocean prawns. Meow xxx Top of page More to come...