After our Mississauga sit we had a little time before our next house sitting in Ontario at a little place called Caledon.
We drove to Glammis to visit our daughter and family in their big home (built in the 1800s). We played with the new puppy, Homer (a St. Bernard), and our 8-week-old grandson, Quinn. The time went quickly, and soon it was time to head to Caledon to care for two pets while the owners were off to New York for a long weekend.
This was my first visit to Caledon, although we have been to Erin, which is about 20 minutes away and has everything you could want, including a bakery and a couple of vintage and antique stores.
Caledon
Caledon is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area. It is primarily rural; its major urban centre is Bolton on the eastern side, adjacent to York Region. To the northwest is the city of Brampton. Caledon is also the largest city or town by area in the Greater Toronto Area.
The population in 2016 was 66,502.
Meet the Family
Our Hosts at the House Sitting
Martina and Patrick were very gracious, friendly people who made sure we had everything we needed for our short stay.
Nestled on 15 acres, their location is stunning, and we were lucky enough to be there during the height of autumn with the leaves turning orange, red, green and gold! A guest house, hot tub and pond completed the setting. For a winter house sit, the house is 5 minutes away from the Caledon Ski Club.
The home itself is a renovated Victorian farmhouse. There were comfy beds, fireplaces and all the amenities we needed to make our stay comfortable. Martina paints and sculpts and you can see her ‘pieces’ throughout the house, adding to the décor and giving it a ‘personal’ touch.
Since there were also laying hens, fresh eggs every morning were a bonus and Martina told us to make sure we took some with us when we left. Yum!! Already this house sit in Ontario was appealing.
The Pets at the House Sitting
Pets included two dogs, 5 laying hens and 2 budgies.
Milo
Milo is a 15-month-old black Bouvier who loves being outside and checking everything out. Even though there are lots of trails and he is used to roaming on his own, we put him on his leash for long walks just to ensure he didn’t take off on us. Milo is very gentle and loves attention.
Lexie
Lexie is a little 12-year-old Yorkie girl who tolerates Milo but doesn’t like other dogs. Maybe she thinks she is human?! She liked to go outside too but not as much as Milo. She had a couple of favourite snoozing spots and was quite content to hang out in them.
If Lexie and Milo could talk, we imagine the conversation going like this.
LEXIE & MILO
LEXIE:
My name is Lexie and my housemate is Milo, who I merely tolerate as he’s still a young dog, only 15 months old, but he’s finally learning that I’m the Queen of this household. After all, I am 12 years old! He’s not bothering me as much as he used to when he was a puppy, but I tell him time and time again to stop being a P.I.T.A.
We live with our humans on a 15-acre rural lot, in Caledon Ontario; it’s a great place, with lots of walking trails, a big pond (we don’t swim in it but we do chase after our humans on it in the wintertime when it freezes over).
Our humans are in New York City to see a play and other cultural events…the ‘fill-in’ humans asked them if an NHL or NFL football game was on the agenda, but not. So this is why we have strangers here to house sit.
After our humans left, the ‘fill-in’ humans moved up from the guest house to sleep in one of the bedrooms in the main house, which our humans remodelled – they know what they’re doing as they own a construction company for custom-built homes in Southern Ontario, so our house is nice!
I liked the ‘fill-in’ humans right away as they were around the house most of the time, except to pick up stuff in Erin Ontario. They cuddled with me, fluffed up my spots, and rubbed my tummy the first night they stayed in the house while sitting on the living room couch.
The ‘fill-in’ humans took us for lots of walks and gave us way more treats than what I was supposed to get, but it was so worth it! We went for three or four walks a day, which was nice, as without us the ‘fill-in’ humans would’ve been lost… or at least they’d be out for a long, long time.
At first, Milo was unsure of them, but he soon warmed up to them; he’ll explain to you in a bit. I also liked that I slept in my own space in my humans’ room while they were away, and slept so well, that the ‘fill-in’ humans had to call me to go for my morning walk….imagine that!
MILO:
Hello, my name is Milo and I’m a 15-month-old black Bouvier, who is officially the second-in-command at our humans’ home, although the humans know better. I am a big dog, but still a puppy, so I am learning how to train my human. I plan to have fun with these two new people who came to house sit with Lexi and me.
The ‘fill-in’ humans were good to Lexie and me and the man human took me for many walks, at first on my telescopic leash as he was unsure if I’d run away.
After a couple of walks though, we trusted each other and it was fun. We even went on a ten o’clock walk at night, as the sky was a clear, moonlit night, and it was easy to see around the paths.
Both ‘fill-in’ humans were nice to me – they gave me lots of pats and tummy rubs and learned that when I sat in front of them and barked, it meant that I needed to go outside to do my business. The ‘fill-in’ humans remembered that I loved to play toss and fetch with sticks – the man human found a fallen thick tree branch and cut it up into five separate sticks to run and fetch – we must have played fetch for a couple of hours each day. I was so exhausted in the evenings that I fell asleep behind the living room couch each night.
I noticed they helped with an unscheduled delivery of things needed by our humans’ son, so the man helped unload the truck, stored the delivery in the garage, and contacted the son to let him know it was there to be picked up.
Our humans’ kids dropped by throughout the weekend to pick up things and meet the ‘fill-in’ humans, and they got along which was nice. Charlie brought his two dogs and we ran around for a while to ‘blow the stink off us’… and I got treats when I got back inside.
At first, I was skeptical of the ‘fill-in’ humans for this house sit, but they were nice to us, took us for walks, brushed us and made sure we stuck to the rules.
I had to sleep in the front hall, which I didn’t mind as I could keep an eye on things. Even when the ‘fill-in’ humans used the hot tub late at night under the stars, I sat by the door waiting for them to come in.
The ‘fill-in’ humans cleaned out the chicken coop, which was much smaller than the one he cleans out at the farmstead in Glammis Ontario; it has 16 hens, one rooster, and four turkeys, so it takes him longer to do, but he did a pretty good job.
I did miss my humans, and late Sunday afternoon the ‘fill-in’ humans’ who stayed with Lexie and me the past four days at our house, got busy on their computers and phones, sorting things, and packing up their suitcases. The ‘fill-in’ humans left in the late afternoon, and our regular humans were home from their trip a few hours later, just in time to take us out for a walk.
I think the ‘fill-in’ humans miss us, even though there are a 3-month-old Saint Bernard and two cats at the farmhouse they’re going to. I’d like it if they visited us next year for another house sit when they return from living in Mexico!
Bye for now!
Lexie & Milo
Saying Goodbye
Even though this was a short house sit in Ontario, we enjoyed every minute of it. We are winding down our house sits for the season, with one left in St. Catharines, Ontario. If you would like to know how we come across these great sits, click here for more information.
Do you ever imagine what pets are thinking and what they would tell you if they could talk? Feel free to share your comments below.
I am a Canadian baby-boomer-aged comedian who does not do winters; When not house sitting, I enjoy playing the drums and tennis, laying on the beach soaking up the sun, watching the world go by, and spending my children’s inheritance.