At 11, Turning a Love of Animals Into a Job
Sean Dewhurst is a New York City pet-sitter with a fifth-grade education. He will enter sixth grade in the fall, at St. Annâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s School in Brooklyn Heights. He started a dog-walking and cat-sitting service last year in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he lives with his parents, his three siblings and his cat, Jackie Robinson. Sean, who is 11, has earned $750 so far, and is considering making pet-sitting a career. He is accepting new clients — he put his e-mail address on the fliers he taped to utility poles — but heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s tied up this week and next. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s at sleepaway camp.
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Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
Sean Dewhurst
Favorite subjects at school: I like American history. I like puppetry. For one 45-minute period a week, I had puppetry. I thought it was fun. I have a bunch upstairs.
Company name: I just call it Seanâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Pet-Sitting Service.
Services and prices: If I feed a cat once a day, and change the litter and do fresh water, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s $8. If they want me to do it twice a day, the same thing, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s $6 for each visit. For dogs, for a 15-minute walk, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s $8.
On being one of the cityâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s youngest pet-sitters: I havenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really thought about it that way. I think that my age helps. I think people would like to see a kid doing this job because theyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re happy for the kid. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m glad that I started young.
Where the money went: I paid for an iPad with my earnings. It holds 16 gigabytes. I was just using it.
(Seanâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s father, Phillip Dewhurst, 44, interrupts: I would just like to add that I am particularly happy that he used his own $500 to buy the iPad.)
Why pet-sitting? A lot of jobs have already been taken by adults. I thought that it was the best job. I like animals and pets. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not really sure what the inspiration was. I think it was that I wanted to buy something like, like some big thing.
Beginning the business: At the start, for the first month maybe, I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get a job. I wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really frustrated, but I was a little frustrated. But then when I got my first job I was really excited. I think it was one cat. The price was $10 a day for, like, two weeks. The first day that I went there, the cat threw up. I cleaned it up. I stayed with it. The cat was still nice, aside from the throw-up.
Why he likes pets so much: I just grew a liking to animals. When I was little, I liked to look at animals in the backyard and stuff. It was probably my first pet, which was a lizard. I got it for my birthday, probably my sixth birthday. He got this disease in his mouth, so he wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to eat anything, so he starved. We had the food for him, just he wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eat it. That was my first pet. I named it Geico.
Lessons learned on the job: I feel more mature. I feel that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m better. I feel that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m better at opening a door. Some doors have been really hard to open.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/ny....html?ref=cats
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I wish I could pet sit too
Sean Dewhurst is a New York City pet-sitter with a fifth-grade education. He will enter sixth grade in the fall, at St. Annâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s School in Brooklyn Heights. He started a dog-walking and cat-sitting service last year in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he lives with his parents, his three siblings and his cat, Jackie Robinson. Sean, who is 11, has earned $750 so far, and is considering making pet-sitting a career. He is accepting new clients — he put his e-mail address on the fliers he taped to utility poles — but heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s tied up this week and next. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s at sleepaway camp.
Enlarge This Image
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times
Sean Dewhurst
Favorite subjects at school: I like American history. I like puppetry. For one 45-minute period a week, I had puppetry. I thought it was fun. I have a bunch upstairs.
Company name: I just call it Seanâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Pet-Sitting Service.
Services and prices: If I feed a cat once a day, and change the litter and do fresh water, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s $8. If they want me to do it twice a day, the same thing, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s $6 for each visit. For dogs, for a 15-minute walk, itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s $8.
On being one of the cityâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s youngest pet-sitters: I havenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really thought about it that way. I think that my age helps. I think people would like to see a kid doing this job because theyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re happy for the kid. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m glad that I started young.
Where the money went: I paid for an iPad with my earnings. It holds 16 gigabytes. I was just using it.
(Seanâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s father, Phillip Dewhurst, 44, interrupts: I would just like to add that I am particularly happy that he used his own $500 to buy the iPad.)
Why pet-sitting? A lot of jobs have already been taken by adults. I thought that it was the best job. I like animals and pets. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not really sure what the inspiration was. I think it was that I wanted to buy something like, like some big thing.
Beginning the business: At the start, for the first month maybe, I didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get a job. I wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really frustrated, but I was a little frustrated. But then when I got my first job I was really excited. I think it was one cat. The price was $10 a day for, like, two weeks. The first day that I went there, the cat threw up. I cleaned it up. I stayed with it. The cat was still nice, aside from the throw-up.
Why he likes pets so much: I just grew a liking to animals. When I was little, I liked to look at animals in the backyard and stuff. It was probably my first pet, which was a lizard. I got it for my birthday, probably my sixth birthday. He got this disease in his mouth, so he wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to eat anything, so he starved. We had the food for him, just he wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t eat it. That was my first pet. I named it Geico.
Lessons learned on the job: I feel more mature. I feel that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m better. I feel that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m better at opening a door. Some doors have been really hard to open.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/ny....html?ref=cats
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I wish I could pet sit too