Introducing our brand refresh - and giveaway!

[Jenny]

We’ve been reflecting on how our community has grown to just over 185K members, and evolving our brand look and feel. As some of you will know, TrustedHousesitters has been through many brand refreshes over the last 10+ years, and we wanted to share our latest one with you all here on the forum… and announce a chance for you to win a digital pet portrait in our new illustration style!

This post is just a sneak peek of things to come - such as our new colour palette (and new pet-centric colour names! Fun fact: ‘Meredith Mint’ was named after a member of Team Trusted’s own feline friend, Meredith!). You can find out more about our brand refresh (and see how we’ve evolved over the years!) by reading our blog post here:

We’ve Had a Brand Refresh!

(Paws up, does anyone remember the little black Lab logo from 2010?!).

The main reason we’re making these changes is so the brand can reflect the spirit of our community and bring to life the amazing connections, joy, and adventures you all enjoy on our platform. We love hearing your stories and seeing first-hand how impactful the connections between people and pets truly are - and it felt like our brand needed to match the radical optimism we felt from our community.

Some things will be sticking around, such as “Trusty”, our much-loved logo, and rest assured, nothing will be changing with your membership offering.

The eagle-eyed amongst you might have already seen some of these new colours and illustrations sneaking into a handful of our member emails, but the team will be rolling out updates across our website, app, emails, and social channels over the next couple of months. We’ll also be sharing this in our monthly member newsletter, going out later today (Tuesday 7th November).

To celebrate our brand refresh, we’re launching a GIVEAWAY where five lucky members will win a personalised digital pet portrait in our new illustration style, along with a £/$50 donation to their pet charity of choice!

How to enter: They say a change is as good as a holiday! To celebrate the changes we’re making, we’d love to hear about a special pet that changed you for the better! This could be a new four-pawed pal from a recent sit, your current furry family member, or even a special animal friend from your childhood.

Simply share a photo of them along with a few words about why this pet left such a pawprint on your heart in this forum topic by Tuesday 14th Nov 23:59 pm for your chance to win. Good luck!

(Competition T&Cs here: Brand Refresh | Giveaway Terms and Conditions | TrustedHousesitters.com)

[Jenny]

So… because we’re sure you’re itching to see the famous feline herself, here’s a picture of Meredith shared by her owner and our Data Analyst, Tabitha!

[Samox24]

@Jenny Oh so cute!

[anon42826925]

This is Ella Fitzgerald, border collie cross rescued from a hoarding situation in South Carolina USA.

She was diagnosed with an an al sac adenocarcinoma in February 2020. After staging, with a stage 1 diagnosis, I treated her. This involved removing a very large tumor and 30 days of radiation. 25,000 dollars later, she has been cancer free for 3.75 years. She’s a happy and healthy senior dog now.

She is the sweetest most loving dog ever. I’m so blessed to be her Mom.

[Samox24]

@anon42826925 that’s such wonderful news to hear that Ella Fitzgerald is now well and made a full recovery and she certainly looks very happy

[anon42826925]

It was a hard decision. And when she developed radiation burns I sometimes wish I had not proceeded. We are fortunate to have a top vet school here. As a nurse practitioner I felt that she deserved her chance to get old without being put down due to money. So when the staging came back as stage 1 we went for it. We had some help.

She’s very happy and silly.

[devongirl62]

Scooby Doo has been in our family for over 20 years . He was found on wasteland and i was told if we would not take him he would go to the meatman… Could not let this happen so took over 15 hrs to catch him, and hes been with us ever since as a feild companion to my bigger horses and hes our organic lawnmower.

[Sunny_the_Polar_Bear]

I knew bringing Sunny into my life was a good idea, but I didn’t realize just how much joy he would bring into my daily life. Every tail wag, every slow blinking grin into the wind, every play bow and excited bound, I get to vicariously experience the joy that lives inside my dog, bursting at the seams. Thank you Sunny for bringing in so much sunshine into my life.

[Esuida]

This is Scotty Boy McLovealot and LuLu Bird the African Gray parrot. We just lost Scotty suddenly and I’m devastated. Even LuLu senses the loss. He was my world for 11 1/2 years. Now When Lulu drops her treat, there is no one to gobble it up. She barks for him all the time. He was wonderful.

[Pejho]

I very nearly lost my 2 year old cocker spaniel Jasper in June. He’d inhaled a huge grass seed and it had punctured his lung. One terrible night when he was at the emergency vets I had to answer the dreaded question “ do you want a DNR in place?” Against all odds he ended up in a specialist vet hospital in Ringwood and after he had a lung lobe removed he made the most amazing recovery. I live alone and he is my world. We walk every day - on the beach, on the Downs or just in the local fields. If I’d lost him I would have lost a part of me. I’m grateful every single day that he is still here.

[Pamela]

I fostered Ryder for a week. He is very sweet. I’m so glad he found a home!

Ryder had been with us for several months. He came from a very poor situation and was hesitant to trust humans again. He would cower and be skittish. But all of us that spent time with him saw this beautiful loving young boy that just wanted to be loved.
He hit the jackpot with a young family.

Foster Parenting | UT | Because Animals Matter

[bennetthastings]

New to the forum and pitching right in with some fave photos. This is Marley, mesmerized by the birds at our local lagoon. We love taking care of her, which we do when her humans are travelling.

[Jenny]

Morning all!

We’ve decided to start a dedicated thread here for your feedback about the brand refresh, so that your comments don’t get lost amongst competition entries. Any feedback that’s posted here by mistake will now be moved to the new thread.

From the new thread, we can collate your feedback, and pass it along to the team where necessary, and if we’re able to get any answers or updates then we’ll be happy to do so.

Jenny

[KateY]

This photo says it all about my relationship with my much-adored Labrador, Elsie. Sometimes I like to be the silly one and she is the straight guy(check out that side-eye!), and sometimes she does the zoomies and I am the serious one. But no matter what, one thing we agree on is that life is better when we do things together!

[anon42826925]

Her facial expression is precious. As is yours. Gorgeous dog.

[Samox24]

@KateY Oh that’s so adorable! What a lovely photo

[Jenny]

A big hello and thank you to @anon42826925, @devongirl62, @Sunny_the_Polar_Bear, @Esuida, @Pejho, @Pamela, @bennetthastings, and @KateY for sharing such precious photos and memories with us!

it’s lovely to see some new and some returned members amongst you, and I wanted to invite you over to our Pet Friendly Virtual Cafe if you’d like to chat about anything off topic, we’d love you to stick around!

Take care, and thank you for sharing your heartfelt moments with us.

Jenny

[TonyaL]

Meet @cool_cat_colby! We didn’t realize it when we adopted Colby in January of 2020 that he would be our lockdown Savior!
Shortly after Colby joined our family Covid hit the world. My husband, teen daughter and I were locked down on our little house. My husband who WAS “not a cat person” would pick up Colby and hold his cooing “do you want fur baby time”. My daughter, who went through lockdown depression, noticed how Colby would gently rest a paw on her in times of sadness. For me, Colby was like my shadow. He just wanted to be near me.
Colby became the joy to our every day. He gave us time to “paws” to play, made us laugh on the regular and snuggled up to us when we needed comfort the most. He was the “buffer” between each of us in times of tension. Colby softened the mood, gave us all a joint interest and changed every day for the better. He was and still is our Therapy Animal.
Even now that the world has gone back to normal, Colby continues to make magical moments for each of us. I cannot image going through the Covid times without his comforting purr and silly ways. And I most certainly cannot image our lives without him now.

[Jenny]

Welcome @TonyaL! Thank you for sharing your lovely Colby with us!

[Houmeri97]

This is Lucy. After we lost our beloved Rocky at a grand age, she came into our lives. She had a rough start to life as a pup, in a compound with other dogs in a shelter in Greece for two years. She then had a year with a foster to house train her and socialise her. Being very skittish, terrified of everyone and everything, she has taught me patience and love. She now comes for fuss and treats, walks well on a lead and has a special place in my heart.