General House Info:


  • The code for the front door is your 7 digit phone number.  If the screen is off, tap it, then put in your number.  To lock the door as you leave just press and hold the lock symbol (lower left) and it should lock.

  • When you open the front door to come in, you will hear the alarm start dinging (keypad is on left as you come in), you have a minute to hit disarm, and put in the code, (last 4 of your phone #) then the check mark - you will hear it say ‘disarmed’.

  • When you leave, hit ‘away’ button, then put in the code, (last 4 of your phone #) and the check mark, then  you should hear it start dinging - you have a minute to close the door before it arms. 

  • The alarm for the house will arm itself ‘home’ at 11:00p, so if you are here when it arms, you will hear “armed home” from the hub behind the sofa in the living room.  You don't have to do anything unless you need to open a door.  The doors that are armed are the Front Door, Deck Door, and Basement door.

  • When you open the basement door to get the pups, the basement lights will turn on (could take 5-10 seconds), then turn themselves back off after 10 minutes.


While you are here, please treat it like home - and let us know if you need anything at all.


  • There are towels in the bathroom if you need them for showers

  • Wi-Fi is ‘Drop It Like It’s Hotspot - Guest’ and the password is BulbsCarloadHats809#

Dog Info:

When you open the basement door, the basement lights will turn on by themselves (can take 5-10 seconds), then turn themselves back off after 10 minutes.


When you close the kennel gate, the light (and the fan if it is warmer than 70 degrees) in there will turn on and stay on until you open the gate back to let them out.  Basically, as long as the kennel door is closed, the light is on so the pups aren’t in the dark.  


When you put the dogs in the kennel, please make sure the kennel door closes, and you lock the basement door when you come back up.


Taz--big dog--super sweet, super dumb (does have a skin tag in right ‘armpit’ - freaked me out because I thought it was a tick, which is why I wanted to let you know it wasn't in case you see / feel it)

Winnie--medium dog--a little thug but eventually sweet. 

  • Anytime you are here, they can be out in the house, even overnight.  Winnie will sometimes lay on the stairs to keep an eye on everything from her perch.

  • Their "bad" behavior is jumping on people when they come into the house, so we are sorry in advance if they jump on you.

  • When you first get here, they will probably be really excited, but once they have been out, they usually calm down after 5-10 minutes.  They are usually pretty chill, but they will match energy - if you are wound up, they will be too

  • We have a fenced in backyard where they can go out and run around on their own.  

  • If you want to (not a requirement), there are harnesses and leashes for the dogs in a basket beside the front door if you want to go on a walk with them.  Taz is half Husky, so he does tend to pull a little.  He won’t drag you down the street, but he will pull some.  They will both bark at other dogs, but they typically don’t ’go after’ other dogs. 

  • If it has been really rainy and they are soaked or their feet are nasty, there are towels in a basket on the deck

  • Their dog food would be set-up for you in the kitchen.  The container should be full - but if for some reason it runs out, I keep a bag of their food at the top of the stairs when you open the basement door. 

    • Taz gets 1 1/2 scoops twice a day.  Try to keep Taz from chugging water if you can, or he’ll throw up. If you will be here for a little while, just put about ⅓ of a bowl of water in there so it doesn't matter if he drinks it all.  And he will sometimes drink from the toilet if the opportunity arises, so we usually leave the seat down to be safe.

    • Winnie gets 1 scoop twice a day.

  • Treats–on the counter. (Taz knows sit, shake, lay down if you want to try - Winnie pretty much does what she feels like, but she’s getting better)

  • Spray (for if the smell of the outdoors gets to you) will be with the towels on the bench.

  • If needed, cleaning supplies are in the small closet next to the bathroom.  I will also leave a small wet/dry vac on the bench in the kitchen - just in case.

  • Every once in a while, Winnie might have an accident in the kennel, especially if it has been a really long time.  There is a small broom and scooper hanging on the side of the kennel.  Just scoop it up, put it in one of the bags on the stand beside the kennel, and put it in the (green) trach can outside please.  I will leave a box of rags and gloves beside the kennel for any other messes, just throw those in the trash can if you need to use them.

Just in case: 

WNC Vet

2 Pond Street, Arden NC 28704

(828) 684-3531

They both have been there many times, and they have all of their records 

House Info:


If at ANY time you have a question, drop Amber or I a text (or call) and we can answer them - we truly don't mind.


  • If there are any deliveries, just sit them on the dining room table please (usually they are left on the deck).

  • I did stop the mail, but if you think of it, look in the mailbox on occasion because last time they didn't stop it even after I requested it (can be left on the dining room table as well).

  • The temp is usually set at 66 / 75 degrees - if this is too hot or cold for you, just say “Alexa put temp at whatever you want”  It will reset to 66 / 75 the next day.  (I will have the AC / heat off upstairs)

  • The Roomba will run daily at 11a, it kinda has a mind of its own, and will just stop on occasion.  If it does, just put it back on the station (see below) - it will charge itself back up. 

Lights:


  • As far as lights go in the house, unless you flip a switch, don't worry about the lights.  The only time we can't turn it off with apps is if it is an older (dumb) switch.

  • The lights under the kitchen cabinets and the lights around the pantry come on at 7p and the cabinets will turn themselves off at midnight (the pantry will dim itself).  If you walk in the kitchen after 12, the cabinet lights will come on for 10 minutes, kind of like a ‘nightlight’.

  • When the dogs go out on the deck after sunset, the deck lights should come on for 15 minutes anytime the deck door is opened.  There is also a spotlight on the deck stairs that will come on when there is movement in back yard - it will also turn itself off  

  • Anytime there is movement on the deck after sunset, the lights will be on - these lights will always turn themselves back off.

  • The front porch lights come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise.

  • When you open the front door at night, the inside light above the front door will come on, the porch lights will get brighter, and they will turn off once the door is closed for a minute.

  • I have various lights set to turn on / off at night in bedrooms so it looks like we are home when we are gone, so if you get here at night and a light is on, don't worry about it, they will turn themselves off.  One of the lights in the living room will do this too.  Pretty much if you didn't turn it on, don't worry about it - it will turn itself off

    TV Info:


    A you can see by the tiny TV as soon as you walk in the house - we do love movies and sports.  While you are here, please feel welcome to watch TV / Movies if you would like, the remotes are in a mug beside the sofa.  


    • To turn on the TV, usually the smaller (silver) Apple TV remote will turn it on because we usually use the Apple TV the most.  If for some reason it won't turn it on, use the bigger Hisesne remote.

    • You are welcome to use any of the services that are on the TV, all of the ones on the Apple TV should be logged in and ready to go (they each have a guest account) - some of the ones on the TV itself may or may not be logged in because we don't use it all of the time.

    • We only have streaming services, but we do have some over the air digital channels - they are on the TV guide  

    • We do have over 300 digital movies on the Apple TV app, just open it, and go down to the library and enjoy!

    • If you have a service that we don't and you want to use it while you are here, feel free to install it if you would like.


    Alexa Info:


    • To turn on the lights in the living room, say “Alexa, turn on living room” and the lights will turn on to 20% brightness.  If you need it dimmer / brighter, say “Alexa, put living room at whatever percentage”.  

    • If you want to watch a movie with the ‘movie lights’ behind the tv - just say “Alexa, movie time” and it will turn them on, and turn off the overhead lights.

    • If you would like the living room lights a certain color, Say “Alexa, make living room (color)”.  To put them back to white light, just Say “Alexa, make living room daylight” 

    • Say “Alexa, turn off living room” when you finish with them or leave.

    • If you spend the night and would like white noise, Say “Alexa, sweet dreams” and it will play white noise from whatever device you said it to.

    • If you want to sit on the deck, Say “Alexa, sit on deck” while in the kitchen and it will turn on the deck fan, and the bug zapper for 1 hour.  If you want to adjust the deck fan, there is a black remote on the wall at the deck door.