Are you ready to see what all of the fuss is about?
Perhaps it’s time to Meet The Minders!
© 2005-2010 The Monster Minders LLC
215-925-1119
Luckily, they do not look after them all at once. Each is the charge of The Monster Minders, a dog-walking and pet-sitting service Carrie founded three years ago.
A few years and 10 additional “minders” later, they’re busier than ever running the company out of their Italian Market home.
“It’s very much a full-time job,” Carrie said of the 12-plus hour days the husband-wife team put in seven days a week. “It’s probably double-time. We work around the clock.”
They’ve taken care of everything from a 6-pound Chihuahua to a bull mastiff, as well as all sorts of felines, reptiles, birds and even mice.
“We see other services walking five or six dogs and they just look miserable,” Lindsay said. The couple said their philosophy comes from a heavy emphasis on safety.
“We push our minders to use total caution, especially on walks,” Lindsay said. “We keep it nice and safe. It’s more enjoyable for everyone.”
The dogs aren’t the only ones taking notice. Shortly after its inception, Monster Minders won “Best Urban Pet Sitter” in 2006 from Philadelphia Magazine and also garnered a mention in its ’07 “Pets Rule” issue. The same year, Phlare Magazine, which is geared toward the area’s businesswomen, declared it the “Best Dog Walkers … Hands Down.” In ’08, Philadelphia HOME Magazine called them “The City’s Best Sitters.”
The Marias are certified PetTech instructors and everyone on their staff is trained in first aid. Luckily, they’ve never had to use mouth-to-snout resuscitation, but Lindsay doesn’t hesitate in demonstrating it on their 10-year-old hound/Great Dane mix Max.
“We have dog dummies at home,” Carrie said watching her husband while she sat with Lola, their boxer/whippet/pit bull mix who is almost 2.
As certified instructors, it’s something they want to teach others.
“It’s a good skill to learn, especially living in the city where animals are hit by cars all the time,” Carrie said.
The couple’s shared love for pets reaches back to their respective childhoods — Carrie, 26, grew up in West Chester, while Lindsay, 29, was in New Zealand.
“I come from a super-ridiculous pet family. My grandmother was like St. Francis of Assisi,” she said of the cats, dogs and rabbits she played with as a child.
Lindsay, on the other hand, had a deep affection for animals, although his family never owned any.
“My father grew up on a farm and thought animals belonged on farms, not homes,” he said.
“Lindsay’s making up for lost time,” his wife added.
They met in ’01 when Carrie was working for Habitat for Humanity in New Zealand and living with a host family — Lindsay’s. The two were married three years later and have traveled and lived all over the world, including London, where they stayed for six months, New Zealand and Australia. They returned to the States in ’05 and chose to live in South Philly, somewhat close to Carrie’s hometown.
“It’s great. We know all of our neighbors,” she said.
“There’s more of a community here than in Center City,” Lindsay added.
The area is great for dog walks and runs, too, mentioning Mario Lanza Park in Queen Village and Dickinson Square as frequent stops.
Each minder has a number of clients. Those with dogs can chose daily walks of 30 to 60 minutes or daily runs of either 30 or 45 minutes. The couple also offers in-home visits for all animals from a half-hour of playtime and attention to overnight care. They’ve never run into a major problem — at least nothing they couldn’t handle.
“We’ve gone into houses where dogs have eaten a bottle of sleeping pills, eaten medicated hand lotion or two pounds of chocolate,” Carrie said.
“Then you figure out what they did and call the client …,” her husband added.
“… Then you race to the vet. We’ve had to get two stomachs pumped and, for the lotion, I had to call poison control,” his wife finished.
The Marias try to set it up so the same minder will always provide care and service, building a relationship with the pets. Hiring is one of the most important aspects of their business, they said, because there is a great deal of trust involved.
“One of the requirements we have is they have to be pet owners themselves,” Carrie said. “You shouldn’t be a minder if you’ve never had the responsibility of being a pet owner — you just can’t understand it. It was so terrifying to hire someone at first. We tried to stay a two-man team for awhile.
“Traveling the world helped us,” Lindsay said. “It helps you to figure people out quickly.”
Today, they’re busier — and happier — than ever, and still accepting new clients and their little “monsters.”
“One of us will be out walking a dog and we’ll call the other one to say, ‘You know what? Our jobs aren’t so bad,’” Lindsay said.
