Blue is the owner & main sitter of Paws Up! Petsitting. They always say they’re a cat person, but can be found schmoozing with dogs just as much! Blue loves all animals, truly, and has personal experience with cats & dogs of course, but also snakes, reptiles, amphibians, rabbits, rats, hamsters & gerbils. They’re good for pets of any activity level, whether they need multiple walks a day or if they have a doggy door & only need playtime and cuddles. Blue is our only sitter who works as a sitter full-time, so if you have anxious pets who don’t like to be alone, Blue’s the one you want.

Amira is our first back-up sitter, preferring pets with lower activity needs. She’s good for lots of play and tons of cuddles, and a walk a day or a trip to the park! Amira would like to stick with cats & dogs for the time being, and she does work a day job M-F. Her specialties include fetch, tug-o’-war, and blurry photos.

Will helps out from time-to-time, and he loves any animals & any activity level! He’s a real chill dude with an obsession with anime and giant, city-destroying monsters.

Hi, I’m Blue and this is my company. I started to write in third-person, but it felt silly, so I’m just gonna tell you about myself like this. I’m just your friendly neighborhood weirdo with a ton of labels, so I usually just say I’m queer. I’m non-binary and I use they/them pronouns.

If any of that turns you off or ruffles your feathers, go on and find another sitter. It’s okay, really. I don’t want to do business with people who are offended about my existence.

Okay, are they gone? Just us now, yeah? Cool beans.

When I started Paws Up! Petsitting, I knew I wanted to do what I could to support my people. A lot of us are broke and struggling — myself included. And in our community, we love to barter and trade, be it bread, plants, a car wash, yard work, or whatever else we might be good at that another person needs. I knew right away that I would implement this into my business, one way or another. I want to take care of my communities and give back however, whenever I can.

I worked in kitchens for twelve years, until I had a career-ending injury: I slipped three discs in my lower back, all at once. Physical therapy and medication (thank the gods for gabapentin, amiright?) got me back on my feet, and I needed to get back to work. Only, I knew I couldn’t go back to what I knew & loved. So I tried a different tactic, and applied for a job walking dogs for another local business.

As it turns out, I LOVE working with animals. I mean, I’ve always known I love animals, but I didn’t know how much I’d enjoy working with them every single day. And it really was every single day, for three years. One car fire & one messy break-up later, I realized I was really burning myself out with how much I was working. I never saw my friends or family, never had time or energy for anything else. Something needed to change.

This is it: The Change. This business. It’s still a baby business and I’m still learning, still feeling things out as I go, but I already have fantastic clients and enough work to keep me hopeful. If you got this far, thanks for reading–I didn’t expect to type this much. I do have a habit of oversharing, I suppose. But I also kind of want you to know me, know who you’re hiring and what I’m about. That’s why I’m at a .gay website, and why my queerness is front & center. It’s a huge part of who I am, and I don’t want to hide behind a mask just to make money. If you hire us, you’re directly supporting a queer person. Thank you. Thank you so friggin’ much.