Ohana & Friends Pet Sitting

...nobody gets forgotten.

🐰 Who Are We? 🐰

Ohana & Friends Pet Sitting owner, Joelyn, with Browny the dog.

Who's Joelyn?

That would be me!

I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Humanities from the University of Southern California. Afterward, I traveled abroad and spent many years in the corporate world but hadn’t really discovered my calling. I'd always been an animal lover but became a dog fanatic after my family adopted a little dog we named Ohana. So, finally, I decided to follow my heart and founded Ohana & Friends Pet Sitting and thus found my calling. My company is insured and bonded through Pet Sitters Associates, and I am Pet First-Aid and CPCR certified (yes, there are two Cs now) through Sunny-dog Ink. I have been blessed to do this for a living for 14 years; I'm not just a hobbyist! And when I'm not taking care of pets, my husband and I have our hands full with our young son and his brother: our adorable 12 year old Yorkshire Terrier son!

Animals -- especially dogs -- are my absolute passion. I want nothing more than to see that pets are treated properly, well taken care of and LOVED! If every animal was as adored as much as the dogs in our family are, the world would be a much dandier place indeed.

Rescue dogs Ohana and Browny, relaxing at home.

So Who's Ohana?

Ohana was my (canine) sister! She lived with Mom and Dad in Northern California.

But I can’t mention Ohana without first mentioning Booger. Booger was a 19-year-old Maltese mix our family dog sat while Booger’s parents went on vacation. Little Booger brought so much joy into our lives; we didn’t want to give him back! The search was on to find a dog of our own.

So on October 1, 2003, after many searches and disappointing setbacks, we found and adopted a scared, shy, 6-year-old Terrier mix from the local SPCA. Dad named her Ohana, the Hawaiian word for “family,” because like the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch states, “Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind...or forgotten.” Having been abused and abandoned, it took a while for Ohana to warm up to us. Eventually, she became the sweetest, most affectionate, most loving and playful member of the family that one could ever imagine.

Months later, we added to our family by adopting 7-year-old Browny, also from the SPCA. Browny was a Lhasa Apso mix with the cutest puppy-dog eyes and the funniest antics.

I’m sure your pets bring as much happiness into your lives as our dogs have brought to ours. And you want your pets to be given the same care and love as you give them. So now, with a cold, wet nose and a warm, loving heart I present Ohana & Friends to you, from our ‘ohana to yours.