After living with a multitude of pets of all varieties throughout her life, Lake Superior State University psychology student, Emma David, is launching a new pet sitting service called Tails N' Paws.
Her first pet growing up was a family dog, a border collie named Peeps. It was a gift at Easter, so hence the name. She was full of energy and became Emma's best friend. The two loved going on adventures together.
"Eventually, I wanted a pet of my own. I convinced my mom it would teach me responsibility and I ended up with a gerbil named Daisy," she said.
And that it did, but she learned so much more with a whole plethora of pets growing up.
"I fell in love with animals and caring for them. My favorite thing about having pets is learning their unique personalities and watching them change and grow over the years. I have had a lizard, two newts, two gerbils, two guinea pigs, a bunny, numerous fish, a hermit crab, a mudskipper, four fiddler crabs, five frogs, six snails, a hedgehog, and the three family dogs… it was always quite a zoo in our house," she explained.
She now has a mischievous cat named Reid and a betta fish named Mikey.
A senior at LSSU, David will be graduating in May.
However, before she puts the pedal to the metal and goes farther into her psychology career, she is going to take time off for her love of pets and helping others.
"Currently, I have plans to continue my educational career through graduate school, but hope to take a gap year in the Sault to continue my work here," she said.
She hopes to have Tails N' Paws up and running by the end of January.
"The care and curiosity related to psychology goes hand in hand with caring for pets… after all, they are family!" says David. "I quickly learned this with my emotional support hedgehog, Willow. As much as pets need us, we rely on them as well and they deserve to be treated with care and compassion. While I hope to build a close bond with the pets I have the opportunity to care for here, I think that no matter where I move, I will continue to provide pet sitting services to the community. It is a fun and rewarding career that I enjoy doing. I think psychology can be applied to nearly all career fields."
With her personal background and love for pets paired with her psychology studies, she feels her pet services will benefit a lot of people looking for help.
"Having a few friends with pets in town, I am no stranger to the need for pet sitting services. With so many Yoopers traveling downstate for various things, there is such a demand for these services and it is oftentimes overlooked," she explained. "I realized that I could provide these services not only to my close peers, but to members of the community as well. Tails N’ Paws gives me the opportunity to help the community while also being around animals – two of my favorite things."
"After going back and forth with the idea, I decided to post on Facebook just to see if there was even an interest or need… I was blown away! My post received close to 300 likes and messages were flooding in. After seeing the need for these services, I kicked into gear and launched Tails N’ Paws as a platform for my pet-sitting services."
Even with her love of animals and her educational background, she still understands the need for safety in her new business adventure.
"Safety is definitely my number one concern when it comes to both pets and humans. Before scheduling services, I do communicate with the owners about any behavioral concerns I should be made aware of and offer to do a meet and greet prior to services. This ensures that both myself and your pets are safe and happy while you are away," she said.
Despite her class and extracurricular schedule taking high priority the last few months, she said she has a relatively light course load during the week and has ample availability during the weekends.
Her initial post to a local Facebook page garnered tons of interest and she is very appreciative of the support from the community thus far.
"I am excited to see where this adventure takes me. My Facebook page can be found @TailsN’Paws and I do the majority of my scheduling through Messenger, text, or email. Please let me know if I can assist you with your furry (or not-so-furry) friends! I look forward to the adventures of Tails n’ Paws and hope to provide some much-needed services to the Sault," she concluded.
Emma's email is [email protected]
Her rates and hours for various services are stated in the graphic provided.
