CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QC Life) - National Professional Pet Sitters week just wrapped up but for many of us, as we return to the office, we could be thinking about getting some extra help taking care of our pets while we are away.
Little Friends Pet Sitting joined QC@3 to provide some bullet points about professional pet sitters.
1. What is a “Professional Pet Sitter” and why hire a professional?
- Professional pet care business owners have decided to make pet care their career.
- Providing safe, reliable, and quality pet sitting and dog walking is their passion.
- Profession pet care business owners have processes, policies, and tools in place to ensure their clients have a seamless and trustworthy experience.
- Owners hire experienced staff and train them on the company’s processes, tools, and expected level of pet care.
- All pet care recruiting candidates are fully vetted using a background check company, personal and professional references, and an extensive interviewing process. Only the best get the jobs!
- Professional Pet Care providers will be mature enough to handle any emergency which comes along. They can provide medication to the pets and with their pet experience can look for any issues which might come up with pets.
- A professional pet sitting/dog walking company will also be insured and bonded. Insured covers any accidents that may happen with the pet’s or owners’ homes. Although extremely rare, accidents are always a factor to consider. Bonded covers any theft that may occur while the sitter is in the client’s home. This is also extremely rare. Because we take so much effort to hire the best talent we can, this is generally not a factor. However, we choose to have this place, just in case.
- A professional pet care business will have the same scheduling applications and communication opportunities as the big Uber-type pet care companies do (think Wag! and Rover).
- With a Local Pet Care provider, you get more of a hands-on experience from a core group of Customer Service Representatives whose’ role is to enable the process of scheduling visits aligning with the right pet sitter or dog walking is their main job. They also monitor ‘all’ communications which take place between the pet sitter and client. This supports not only the client to ensure they have their expectations met, but also supports the pet sitter in case of any question that comes up or any emergency situations.
2. What types of pets do pet sitters care for?
- Most pet sitting companies will care for any and all pets. Dogs, Cats, Rabbits, Reptiles, Fish, you name it. We even have some chicken clients. Some will handle ‘barn animals’ like horses. We don’t, but there are some out there.
3. What are some questions we should ask when choosing a pet sitter or dog walker?
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- Are you bonded and insured?
- Do you perform background checks, and other references?
- Does your team have experience caring for pets?
- Do you have a service agreement or contract in place?
- Do you belong to any professional organizations like “Pet Sitters International” (PSI) or “National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAAPs). The two major professional organizations for pet sitters. As professional pet care providers you want to know that the company is always learning and striving to ensure they have the best processes and tools and education to provide to their clients and their staff.
- Do they have well-organized Website with straightforward pricing and contract information?
- Do they use Pet Sitting Software like Time To Pet, which is what Little Friends uses. There are a number of good ones out there, but we think we have the ‘best’. Not only do clients have access to the scheduling and communication tool via their desktop, but there is also a mobile version. The app provides GPS tracking and the ability to send a report card with pictures of the pets after each visit via the app.
- Does the company provide the ability to schedule a meet and greet with each pet sitter who will care for their pet family and home.
4. How much should you pay a professional dog walker or pet sitter?
- Short answer, that depends.
- Most pet sitting companies offer a variety of pet sitting and dog walking services based on the amount of time needed for the pet’s pet care.
- We offer 20 min, 30 min, 40 min and 60 min options. It really depends on the types of pets and the number as well as the care the client requests when determining the appropriate time to schedule. And if a dog is involved, how long do they need to walk to get the appropriate amount of exercise in. We also offer Live In and Overnite options where the sitter will stay in the client’s home so the pet does not have to be alone. We are often asked how many times should I schedule you to come over to care for my pet. We work with the client to design the right care for their pet family. All of this is factored into the cost of those visits. And most pet care providers will have this clearly spelled out on their website.
All in all, there is a lot that goes into being a professional pet care business owner.
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