Reflecting on a busy half-year: From Spain to Bulgaria (July 2025)

A lot has happened in the first half of this year. In January, I met Ruby in Malaga, a lovely red Cocker Spaniel, a real bundle of energy; especially when it came to stealing food from people. I had her in doggy daycare, which was very different to me as you only spend the daytime with the dog. She also needed my grooming skills, as this kind of fur grows fast. I loved that beautiful red color. 

February brought me another new companion, Max, in Denmark. He was a just 6 months old puppy, and unbelievably cute! However, looking after a puppy can be a different job altogether; he was not yet fully housetrained so the dogsitting-job turns a bit into a cleaning job too. But the rest of the time it is really just lots and lots of playing J. It was hard to leave him after 2 weeks; he has a way of stealing hearts. 

March introduced me to Barni, also for the first time. He was a little Dachshund, or a so-called sausage dog. He lived in a beautiful house near Marbella in Spain. He was struggling with separation anxiety and the poor little guy had recently been attacked by a bigger aggressive dog. Consequently, he was quite reserved and hesitant to go out. So, it didn’t matter much that it was actually raining non-stop the whole week, a rarity for that area, and we enjoyed the cozy indoors together. 

In April, I went to Bulgaria where I have been since. It is easy to find catsitting jobs, as many expats in this country have adopted street cats but still want to travel often. The problems with street- cats and dogs are huge in Bulgaria; there are just so many and neutering is not yet a part of the culture in general. In July, I had the joy of dogsitting Aspen, a 13-year-old Labrador, in Plovdiv. She lived in the Old Town neighborhood, which in itself was a remarkable experience. The city has an impressively rich archaeological history and architecture. Definitely worth a visit. While in Plovdiv, I also stayed with Maisey, a small dog, Fluffy, a cat, and their two rabbits! They were all best friends living in an apartment together, and the rabbits were fully housetrained, meaning that they went to the toilet in a litter box, just like the cat. I had never seen that before. What I appreciate about my job is the opportunity to learn new ways of caring for pets, which enhances my knowledge and skills along the way. 

The rest of the spring and summer in Bulgaria, I have been staying in Bansko, the famous digital nomad hotspot in the Pirin mountains. I have been trying to help raising money for the street dogs by offering to do doggrooming and also dogwalking, encouraging dogowners to donate to the local shelter instead of paying me directly. The dogs in Bulgaria are generally bigger than in most other countries. Thankfully, compassionate people do adopt some of the street dogs despite their big size. The great thing for me is that larger dogs are generally more patient while being groomed than their smaller counterparts! Many people are afraid of street dogs, but those in Bansko are anything but aggressive. On the contrary, they are some of the sweetest, most gentle souls, and it is hard to understand why someone would dump them in the street. The problem seems endless and the local shelter rely only on private donations. 

Please check out the great work of Bansko Street Dogs on Instagram and Facebook, where you can also find the banking details, should you wish to donate:

https://www.facebook.com/BanskoStreetDogs https://www.instagram.com/banskostreetdogs/

BARRY, one of the Bulgarian street dogs, just as kind as he is huge!