Hi everyone, I was just curious how many dogs you all walk per day? I do dog walking as well as pet sitting, so I can’t fill my day with walks, but I usually have 5 per day.
I hate getting messages from clients along the lines of "We may need a sitter for these dates; will you be available?"
I understand that maybe their plans aren't finalized, but.... neither are mine. I can't plan my life around hypothetical bookings, especially when they are months in advance.
My partner and I have been pet sitting for some extra money here and there because we love animals. We've hosted at our house and pet sat at the owners houses several times.
Two weeks ago, a beautiful golden retriever named Cookie was booked in for one week's stay. On the same day the booking was supposed to end, an informal request was made to look after him for three more days. After we said yes, but to make an official booking through the app (Mad Paws), there was no response. Several calls have been made and many texts/messages sent, but still no response. Even Mad Paws said nothing could be done until 48 hours after the "last agreed upon stay" (those extra three days).
It's shocking to me that booking management companies like Mad Paws don't have any sort of contingencies for this sort of thing. I understand that there probably isn't a great deal that can be done on their end, but it's such a sad situation.
Now our only choices are to submit a missing person's report for an owner who we only have the first name of and nothing more, and to surrender a super lovey-dovey almost 11-year-old golden retriever to our local Animal Welfare people. Cookie has been nothing but amazing during the stay. He's such a happy old man and has become really good friends with our 1-year-old border collie named Loki.
Obviously, Cookie is not ours, but we would gladly welcome him into our home. If possible, we're planning to foster him until he finds a new home, because we hate the idea of him being in a cage for the rest of his limited life.
Animal/pet abandonment is disgusting, and I have no idea how people can even willingly do that.
What would you do in this situation? Does anyone have similar experiences?
Does anyone have a custom referral link (under billing) for Time to Pet? You get $200 credit, and I get 3 months @ 50%. Hit me up with your link!
Camilla
We are thinking about planning a trip that is 3 weeks long in about a year. We are heavily hesitant on taking this trip because we are not sure how to safely leave our baby (currently 1 year old female dog) for that long. Is it possible to find reliable pet sitters? I’d love to have someone I trust stay at my house to pet sit. She sleeps the regular 9-5 and needs her afternoon walk/hike/mental exercise so I worry no one will have that love and passion to give her what she needs.
I’m a professional in-home pet sitter, and I’m in a bit of an awkward situation.
I have a repeat client that I genuinely enjoy working with. Their dogs are wonderful, and I’d love to continue pet sitting for them.
They recently asked if their 16-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome and is fairly independent, could stay with me for the first week of their three-week vacation.
For some context, my brother had Down syndrome, so I do have experience and a comfort level around people with special needs. I think that’s probably why they felt comfortable asking me.
That said, I became a pet sitter because I care for animals—not because I’m qualified or insured to supervise people. Even if their daughter is mostly independent, I would still feel responsible for her safety, well-being, and anything that might happen while her parents are away. That’s a level of responsibility I’m just not comfortable taking on.
I don’t want to offend this family because I truly value them as clients and would love to continue caring for their dogs. I’m just trying to find the kindest way to say, “I’m happy to pet sit, but I can’t take on the responsibility of supervising your daughter.”
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How would you word it so it sets a clear boundary while preserving a good relationship?
EDIT***Everybody's telling me nope nope nope. I understand that and I want to say nope nope nope. I just need suggestions on how to do it without losing this client.
I was supposed to watch 2 dogs for 2days. I somehow got the days wrong and it was supposed to be july 2nd to july 4th, and i thought it was supposed to be july 4th to july 6th. I went over to their house to find them there ane was obviously surprised people were home to say the least. Apparently the dogs were in cages then too for almost 2 days straight so no foof or water or no ability to go to the bathroom.
This is making me feel horrible, what do I do??? It was my fault too, they did everything right on their end with letting me know date and time and I messed it up somehow, I know they arent ever going to want me again (obviously, I wouldnt either) but I cant get over how bad of a mistake I made
I am feeling incredibly anxious about a pet sitting situation that happened today, and I thought I would just channel that anxiety into a PSA for sitters/owners.
I was watching a dog earlier today, left for about an hour, and when I came back the dog had gotten into my bag and made a bit of a mess. It wasn't a big deal, I just cleaned everything up, and a couple hours later I was done with the sit. The owner texted me tonight asking how the dog had been with the fireworks this week, bc her heart was beating really fast tonight. I realized when I was looking through my bag that the dog had punctured my inhaler, so I called the owner and let her know.
It wasn't until after I called the owner that I really started googling, and I learned that inhalers are SUPER dangerous for dogs, that an albuterol overdose can quickly be fatal. I have been crying all night feeling so horrible that I let this happen. They're taking the dog to the vet and I have nothing to do except sit here and imagine all the worst case scenarios.
Sitters and owners! If you use an inhaler, PLEASE always keep it out of reach from dogs! I had no idea that it was so dangerous. Hopefully someone sees this post and will be able to prevent a situation like this in the future.
So I sat for these people for the first time a little bit ago. I’m not sure I wanna sit for them again. They have 3 dogs plus a cat. I’m allergic to cats but that’s a whatever I love cats and take allergy medicine. What I’m worried about is the animals. The dogs I sat well I was staying there the dogs + the cat figured out how to open the door and the door wasn’t locking properly for the first couple of nights and I woke up twice to the door OPEN because the owner told me not to kennel the dogs at night. One dog figured out how to get under the fence even though there was wood there to stop said dog from getting out but she figured out but came back when called but even when I went to grab the leash to get the dog back the dog would be back on the deck waiting for me to let her in, same dog got a mango off the counter that i didn’t even know was there and ate most of it till i finally grabbed it. The last day I was there I woke up to pee EVERYWHERE! Now they went me to sit for them again and I’m unsure her if I want to it’s from July 12th-July19th and the owner said that this time I can go in the morning let the dogs out to do their thing and then let them back back in, kennel them and leave and do whatever for however long, come back at night let them out to do their thing, kennel them and go home and sleep at home and repeat. My mom has said that’s a lot driving since they live on the other side of town from us and she also said that’s not completely fair to the dogs to kennel them for however long, let them out for maybe 5-10 minutes and kennel them again. I’m not sure
I’ve been pet sitting a cat for a few days now and will be until the following weekend. He is quite old and overweight and I’ve noticed he pees and drinks a lot (pic shows amount of litter clumping in ~36h. I’m not a vet but my friend who is mentioned it could be diabetes or at least warrants a vet visit.
Just wondering if this is something I should mention to the owners? I just don’t know if it’s my place and the etiquette surrounding this especially since I’m not an actual vet. I’m also worried about him having an episode (?) while I’m looking after him.
Would appreciate any advice!
Hi!! I just wanted to get some input from other pet sitters on how you would interpret this situation.
I worked for a pet sitting company for a while but recently left. I got initial information before signing my IC agreement but at the time wasn’t fully aware of how many pet sitting companies toe the line for employee misclassification.
There is a management structure of manager/owner, assistant manager, and team lead. Lots of control over schedules, availability, trying to limit time off for certain holidays due to lack of prepping (but also admitting they can’t due to them being 1099 but still trying.) Exact outline of how to handle operations, always need to loop management into communication/check first before signing up for a walk, sit, or job! Made clear owner would be handling all forms of communication, even if the pet owner let me know something directly, the company owner would have a separate communication thread with them to filter information down to me or other “team members.”
Biggest issues were one time completing services with no payment for that chunk of time due to incorrect invoicing (refused to send an updated invoice) & variable overhead fee taken off the top depending on the job/contractor! Never knew if it was 15% or 25% - which I found out way later. I did leave this company but looking back so many things seem operationally incorrect or illegal.
I used to work as a professional pet sitter for a pet sitting company, but recently I started taking clients on my own again.
I just finished a multi-day booking with several visits each day, and now it’s time to send the invoice. Even though I know I earned it, I can’t help but feel a little guilty.
Part of me wonders if the client is going to think it’s expensive, even though they agreed to my rates beforehand. At the same time, I know I was getting up early, going back out late at night, driving back and forth multiple times a day, sending photo updates after every visit, and planning my entire day around the booking.
Has anyone else felt this way when they first started working for themselves? Does that feeling eventually go away? I’d love to hear how other sitters think about sending invoices.
Update: she tipped me $40! I really need to stop underestimating myself. I do a good job and it obviously shows.
I have been doing this on my own for 10+ years but im in such high demand im always having to turn away clients. I figured if i hired and employee, had them do and apprenticeship of sorts and then id be able to assure my clients still have care on the days im already booked.
I have a few people asking if id be willing to partner and ive let them know im willing to do the research to be able to hire them on then go through training and so on but it wouldnt be a whole partner situation but they will be my employee and they seemed excited about that
I have an influx of new clients right now as its a vacation area i live in so some help would be so nice
I know i need to look at changing my license and insurance but what else do i need to do or does anyone have any tips
(No specific $$ mentioned)
In the past my cat clients have always been in SFH with their own collection bin. But recently, I have cats in apartments and condos. I currently have two weeks with two cats (started 4 days ago). Super easy sit (drop ins, they hate humans. Like, a lot. lol), but they live in an apartment building with a dumpster, there’s no bin for collection (like a house would have).
The issue is that the dumpster is nowhere near the building, so I can’t walk to it, and it’s in the opposite direction of the exit. Once I get into my car it takes about 5-6 minutes to get to the dumpster and throw away the cat poop. It doesn’t sound like a lot but jt adds up after 14 days. I have one building that i have clients in and while I only have dogs now, depending on where they are in the building it can be a 10 minute walk, depending on how the elevator is treating you. I was thinking I’d add a nominal charge for those that don’t have a collection bin at their house but then what if one client only takes 3 minutes and another clients 3x that.
I just don’t know how to handle it going forward. It’s just enough time and out of my way-ness that I have to consider that extra so many minutes for booking purposes.
Just curious as to what you all do or if you just say that it’s all part of the sit.
update: i didn’t cause the damage, it was pre existing and i made it all up in my head! perfect outcome!
hi all! can someone please give me a normal and professional way to tell my client that while in the process of trying to retrieve her cats toy, i moved the couch and the floor got damaged. It isn’t a scratch but more of a part of the leg went into the wood and drug a little so it’s kinda like an intended break in the wood. i am so anxious about this i don’t want to sound like a freak so i’d love some assistance.
i am happy to pay for repairs (i cant imagine this will be a large sum, she rents) i dont want to hide it for obvious reasons but also its so noticeable if you bend down LMAO
i feel horrible! i’ve never ever damaged anything and I seriously BARELY moved the couch, seriously just enough for me to fit my hand back there, so I have no idea how this happened but I didn’t realize her couch legs are metal.
ETA: my dog has had 2 seizures in the past 2.5 years, triggered by anxiety, so this is not new. Both seizures actually occurred at the vet’s office, as she gets very stressed out there. The person I have hired does have experience and her mom is actually the vet tech at our vet’s office, so she has access to our dog’s medical records and vets, if necessary. She will be able to spend the majority of the day/night at home with our dog, so that was an important factor for me and I am comfortable with the arrangement. Thank you to those that actually answered the question!
After a bad experience with a previous drop in pet sitter and a dog that recently had a seizure, we have hired a college-aged neighbor to stay at our home with our dog while we’re on vacation next week. She is very easy going and said she’s fine with whatever arrangements, but since we’ve never done this before, I’m not sure of the etiquette on a few things.
Thank you in advance for the help!
So usually my clients when I first accept a pet sitting they give me their Wi-Fi information and they always have water available so during the meet and greet I don't check inside the fridge to make sure there's water of course maybe I should have just asked but this is my first time having a situation like this.. I'll definitely know what to do in the future. But my client she is elderly and for whatever reason she does not want to share her Wi-Fi password with me and she does not care that there is no water here for me but she wants me here most of the day and she said she does not leave for more than an hour at a time she told me this last minute even though I told her that I will be gone for 1 to 4 hours at a time. It's frustrating because I'm using my cellular data right now and I can't really do anything for too long on my phone without things lagging and I'm not able to send photos if my cellular data completely runs out. She already paid me for these four days and I don't know what else to do... I first messaged her about it at 7:40 a.m., it is now 12:23 p.m. and her last text before the most recent one was 8:09am.
What will you do in this situation?
I used to be a full time pet sitter for years so I know how it goes. Our sitter we use moved away so now I’m trying to find a sitter for our dogs when we go on vacation soon and boy has it been hard.
I messaged one girl and she said she would need be to book dates right away to lock in her dates which I said I didn’t feel comfortable with that I would like to meet her beforehand so I can make sure it is a good fit, I’m sorry maybe I’m old fashioned but I definitely want to meet the person taking care of my animals and who is going to be coming in my home? After I said I’d like to meet before booking she told me she didn’t have time for meet and greets then blocked me on the app I was using . Now I’m messaging with a new person and I again told her I need to do a meet and greet before booking and of course she immediately presses the book button and then asked me today “are you going to book soon” even though I told her I need to meet her first. 😭😭😭
I can’t believe sitters are just openly taking bookings before meeting dogs and owners.
When I was younger I always wanted a golden retriever and now after pet sitting about 95% of the golden retrievers I watch have been badly behaved. I’m sure most of it is the breeders but just having so many bad experiences I can’t ever see myself getting a golden retriever. Same with Labs, frenchies and doodles ( though I will say the Aussie doodle I’ve watched has been really well behaved and sweet but her Berne doodle brother has been awful ).
I wanted to get some opinions because I'm not sure if I'm overthinking this.
A client reached out to book me for her puppy. During the meet and greet, I found out she also has a cat (whichshe didn't mention at all). She told me the cat only needed to be fed while she was away and that the puppy was the main reason she was hiring me.
I explained that I require all pets I'm responsible for to be included in the booking, even if it's just feeding them once or twice a day. My reasoning is that if I'm responsible for the cat while the owner is gone, I want that pet included for liability and documentation purposes.
She seemed to understand during the meet and greet, but after I sent the booking details, she replied that we had only discussed the puppy and that she didn't need me to take care of the cat.
Am I wrong for wanting every animal I'm responsible for included in the booking? How do you all handle situations where a client says a second pet "doesn't really need care" but still expects you to feed it?
This is for housesitting for one night/day.