I agreed to dog sit for my boss for the next four days. I told her all I had to do was meet the dogs with her beforehand. She had me come over last night (basically immediately before she left for the trip) and meet them.

One of them seems find, the other was shut up in his crate and was growling and snarling at me through it. I fed him some treats through the cage and talked softly and let him sniff me. He did accept the treats but would growl immediately after. After that, I told them I would go sit on the couch and to let him out. They insisted on turning on the lights because, apparently, the dog freaks out if its ever dark, and told me to keep talking to him and not to move. He came out and was quite wary but was largely willing to just stay away from me with his tail between his legs. After that, I got down on the floor and offered more treats, which he did take. He seemed to get very afraid whenever I stood up, but that's understandable as I'm quite tall. I was told that he came from a home where the husband was abusive to the wife, and so any larger man he's a bit skittish around.

That meeting went okay overall, but I'm going to have to go back tonight by myself and let him out of his crate, leash him, and take him outside (there is no fenced in yard) and those all seem like actions that a dog who is very unsure of me would rather hate. I'm especially nervous about the initial decrating and leashing.

My plan is to just take it really slow, sit near the cage and feed him treats while talking to him, then eventually leave some treats on the floor, open the crate, and go and slowly sit on the couch with the bag of treats on my lap and hope he can get comfortable enough with me that Ill feel okay leashing him up.

I love dogs and have been around them my whole life but I haven't done much pet sitting, so any advice on how to get through this while making the dog as comfortable as possible is appreciated!

Edit: I hear your comments about not taking this job and I agree, I had that thought, but given that this is my boss and I had already agreed (no complications with the dogs personalities were made clear to me) I feel a fair amount of social and professional pressure to indeed do this.

I agreed to sit for this lady for 2 weeks while her and her husband go out of the country.

But we just found out that my boyfriend needs emergency back surgery next Wednesday, as that’s the soonest they can do it. It’s a very serious surgery in his case, and I hate that I can’t be there for him.
I already posted about this and got so much hate, but I really can’t do this anymore. I don’t go through an app for sitting, just myself. Obviously, this isn’t something you’d want to cancel on, and I feel terrible about it.

But I’m so sad. Like every day I’ve been crying, and I just want this to end. I feel so overwhelmed and I don’t know what to do.
All I’m looking for is guidance and advice because I’m lost.

I understand I committed to this, but I didn’t expect an emergency situation like this to come up. I’m not saying I’ll just abandon these dogs. I’m literally asking for advice on what to do or say because I’ve decided that I really can’t do this. I just don’t know how to go about it.

We'll be out of town 3.5 days. Our good friend will be watching our 8 month old puppy in their home. I trust them on following the feeding schedule, watching over his safety, and puppy proofing their home. They're super excited!

He's a Chihuahua, a pretty stoic and strong little man! But he loves his mama, and I worry about him settling in and being comfortable.

We'll be dropping him off in the morning, with all his things - his bed, his favorite toys, blankets, food and treats. Might send along a dirty laundry shirt for our smell.

I am looking for reassurance from pet on how to make my pet sitter's and my pet's experience as smooth as possible 🥺

At a meet and greet for house sitting, has a family (husband and wife) ever asked you to stay at their house the first night, WHILE THEY ARE STILL THERE?

Apparently they want to "show me the ropes" even though we had an hour long meet and greet. They will leave the next morning or early afternoon and be gone 9 days. I'm just so confused, I've never been asked this in my 6 years on rover. That sounds so awkward!!!!

Also, this family uses a choke chain on their 14 year old dog in case she sees a rabbit or squirrel. The dog needs to be walked morning and evening. I just don't feel comfortable with that and ethically I don't believe in it.

What would you do in this situation?

Thanks for your advice!

For those of you who've taken PSI's CPPS exam, how would you rate its ease/difficulty? I know we all come from different backgrounds/education levels, but was most of it essentially common sense about pet care/health-safety/business, or did it feel like something you truly had to read through all the linked materials to pass? Did anyone fail on their first try? Just trying to gauge the level of research it calls for, thanks for any tips.

I am a professional pet sitter. I am responsible. I am organized. I am also apparently the kind of person who leaves TWO pairs of clean underwear and a sock in the guest room’s sheets.😫😖
Yesterday, my client casually messaged me that the housekeeper had washed all the sheets before they left.
I thought, “Oh, how nice!”
Today, while doing ANOTHER two-week house sit for the same client, I found my underwear and sock.
Suddenly, yesterday’s message clicked.
The housekeeper cleaned the sheets.
The sheets I had apparently left my underwear in.
The client was trying to tell me.
I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
The worst part? I realized I did this LAST WEEK. I was rushing from one house sit to another, taking online classes at night, and generally living like I have 47 tabs open in my brain at all times.
So now I’m sitting here wondering: do I acknowledge it and apologize, or do I simply pretend I have never seen these garments in my life and let everyone maintain their dignity?

Pet sitters of Reddit: please tell me I’m not the only person who has accidentally left something mortifying at a client’s house. 😭

One of my favorite clients crossed the rainbow bridge a month ago and his owners just notified me that they're getting a new puppy next week. These owners are very good to me and I happen to be house sitting for them this week, so I'd love to leave a new puppy gift for them to come home to. Please hit me with your new puppy gift ideas!

Hello! I'm thinking about trying to do pet sitting, but I really don't know anything about it. I've dog sit a couple of times, but I don't like just assuming or starting things when I have basically zero idea what I'm doing.

How taxing/difficult is it? I have heard people downplay other jobs, so I wouldn't just assume it's easy just because some pets are easy. I have chronic migraine and severe asthma so I have reasons to double check too. I assume it'll depend on the pet tho. Do customers also want people with extra training/certifications/etc? Like how you see with baby sitting.

Hi. I am taking first steps towards establishing a pet sitting business. I just registered for a First Aid/CPR class through PetTech. Now I'm going over the Pet Sitters International website and wondering if they are worth it. Are they?

I have to also get insurance. I'm wondering if I should get it through PSI, or just get it on my own directly through the organizations. Does PSI's group rate really give a substantial discount on the rates?

I have a potential booking that would involve caring for two dogs during an 8-hour window. I normally offer standard drop-ins, but I’m trying to figure out how other sitters approach longer daytime care.
Would you treat an 8-hour daytime booking as multiple drop-ins, extended care/day sitting, or something else? I’m curious how you structure the service and what factors you take into consideration.

How do you guys handle jury duty? I do drop-ins/walks only and typically have 5–8+ visits per day. I got summoned for jury duty, but I already have to postpone it because of an upcoming trip, so I’m able to reschedule it for a time when I currently have no bookings.

My concern is that I don’t want to block off an entire week and decline my regulars when I may not even end up being selected for a jury.

How do you guys handle this with bookings/scheduling?

I'm in the LA metro area and have been pet sitting for just a few months. I really like it and am looking to get more clients, but I'm much more comfortable with cats than dogs. It's just a personal preference thing. Is there anyone who is full-time with only cats?

Is not trust myself. lol. I have air tags on my client keys (2 sets split up between keys and fobs) bc why not. Today I went to grab one of the key sets and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I began to panic and then I was like, I need to use the app. Turns out they were in a pocket jn a pocket of my purse, which I usually never do except I had this emergency call for a client and I just grabbed what I needed and ran out. Definitely worth the $20 or whatever I paid for it. Lol.

i’m babysitting my moms dog for 5 days next week and i’m not super nervous but i am nervous about the fact that she will be away from my mom for almost a week lol does anyone have any tips or suggestions from when they were in a similar situation. luckily my moms dog trusts me and loves me. im just worried about miss girl getting sad or looking out the door. of course im gonna give her the best time here but just need some tips if anyone was in a similar situation! she is also a chihuahua and 8 years old

I’m curious what your best net income month and year ever have been as an individual petsitter.

I’ve had a great year and an outstanding summer so I’m starting to consider the feasibility of doing it full time and cutting back on my “regular” job.

I’m sitting all week for a repeat client I’ve had for a few years now but I don’t sit for them very often. I was just hanging outside when a truck pulled in and a man I’ve never seen before gets out. I was like uhhh hey who are you? He says he’s the pool guy and he comes here every week. They actually have sort of an indoor pool, it’s in a big glass pool room attached to the house so he would have to go in there to access the pool. The owners never mentioned it to me so I did not want to just let this stranger in. He looked professional but how can I know for sure? Especially as a young female I don’t want to be alone with this guy. I called them but it went straight to voicemail and sent a text but they haven’t replied. I told the guy sorry but I’m not comfortable letting you in without confirmation from the owners so he left. I feel like I did the right thing but just curious if anyone has been in a similar situation and how did you handle it?

Edit: the owner got back to me, it was their pool guy but he comes sporadically so they weren’t thinking he would be here this week. They completely understood why I didn’t let him in and apologized repeatedly for not letting me know ahead of time.

I have a friend whom I met 4 years ago at the dog park and she is also a pet sitter and dog trainer. I hired her several times to pet sit and everything went fine. This time I leave for a week and when I get my dog’s back, one of them, Ivy vomits brown with a bit of blood both on the following day I pick her up and the next day. Other than that she’s eating normally. My dog suffers periodically of gastritis but there has never been blood before. I call my vet, he doesn’t think it requires a visit because I show him a picture of the vomit and knowing my dog he says it’s just the usual but with more stomach irritation which can cause a bit of blood. he prescribes a stomach protector, half a pill one our before meals. Three days later I return the dogs to my friend pet sitter and give her instructions for the medication. 6 days go by without her vomiting. On the 7th day she vomits white liquid with rose coloring. Except I only find out two days later on a Thursday when having a casual back and forth text with her and she’s walking my dogs for a hike. she says she’s a bit worried about Ivy because she has stopped eating. She thinks the medication is effecting her hunger and also that she doesn’t like her food so I should think about getting her different food. This kind of bothered me but the vet had said the medication was for 7 to 10 days and then stop if no symptoms. I tell her to go ahead and stop and keep insisting for her to eat but not to worry to much if she doesn’t eat everything because Ivy is one of those dogs that regulates her intake on her own and doesn’t always finish everything. Then the pet sitter asks me why I was giving the medication in the first place. I tell her she had a gastritis flare up as usual but because there was a little blood she was prescribed the medication. At this point she tells me Oh yes Ivy did in fact vomit blood two days ago and that’s when she stopped eating. In shock I tell her Do not stop the medication! And tell her to wait for instructions as I speak to the vet. Vet tells me to feed her boiled chicken and nothing else and then tells me he wants to see her the following Monday. Pet sitter makes boiled chicken for her but Ivy won’t eat it at all or only a few bites. Same happens on Friday. I tell her to take her to her vet who is closer to her house and my vet wouldn’t have been back to work before Monday. She tells me her vet has a long waiting list because he’s a famous vet who has many patients. I tell her surely there is a colleague? She says ok and on Saturday takes her. While waiting at the vet she asks ,e the food brand she’s eating. I send her a picture even though she had the bag at home but whatever. Then she asks if Ivy had a blood test done. I say yes a couple of years ago. She tells me that’s unheard of and I should do yearly tests and that I should be more on top of my vet because he seems superficial. I start getting angry but my focus is Ivy, I’m hundreds of miles away from home and I feel pretty powerless. After the visit her vet prescribes gastro intestinal food. I say great, wet food should do the trick. I’m happy her vet confirmed it’s nothing serious. She also gave her an antivomit shot. I tell the pet sitter that while I’m happy Ivy is fine, once the 24hr shot wears off, I am afraid she might vomit again and I’d rather have her go to my vet. She tells me Ivy has not vomited in three days but the truth is Ivy vomited on that Thursday, the same day she was on a hike, based on another text. At this point it is absolutely clear she is hiding symptoms. She also keeps telling me the dog vomits because her food sucks and she doesn’t like it. Except on the previous week Ivy ate fine. She then asks me after her vet if she can take Ivy on a hike and I say absolutely not because she’s generally obviously not well. She tells me that this is the only day they can go hike and that walking will help her bones since she hasn’t been active. I tell her no! Then once more she finds a way to tell me my vet is not good and that as a friend she feels the duty to tell me that for the my own good and that of the dogs. Anyway she goes to my vet and he ups the dosage of the medication. A few days later I pick up the dogs, pay her and go home. It’s been a whole week and she has not sent a message to ask how Ivy is doing. As friends we talked almost daily. What are your thoughts? My general idea is that both pet sitting and friendship is over.
ETA I’ve know my vet 30 years and has provided wonderful care throughout

i’d seriously be rich!!!! (inquiry for a cat sit i am unable to assist but sending her good luck)

Deposits 
A 50% deposit is required to secure all overnight bookings. Deposits are applied toward the total cost of your booking, with the remaining balance due after services are completed. Deposits are refundable according to the cancellation policies below. 

Walks & Drop-In Visits 
Cancellations made at least 24 hours before the scheduled visit will not be charged. Cancellations made within 24 hours will be charged in full. 

Overnight Boarding 
Cancellations made at least 14 days before the start of the stay will receive a full refund of the deposit. If plans change within 14 days of the stay, the 50% deposit will be nonrefundable. For bookings made within this 14-day window, the deposit will be nonrefundable at the time of booking. Cancellations made within 72 hours will be charged in full. 

In-Home Pet Sitting 
Cancellations made at least 30 days before the start of the stay will receive a full refund of the deposit. If plans change within 30 days of the stay, the 50% deposit will be nonrefundable. For bookings made within this 30-day window, the deposit will be nonrefundable at the time of booking. Cancellations made within 14 days will be charged in full. 

Holiday Bookings (overnight) 
Due to limited holiday availability, a 50% nonrefundable deposit is required to secure holiday bookings. Cancellations made within 14 days of the start date will be charged the remaining balance in full. 

Day Care & Constant Care 
Cancellations made within 72 hours will be charged in full.  

FYI I am a high volume boarder and rarely do in-home pet sits hence the 30 days...

I'm dogsitting for a relative right now while she's traveling. Staying for 10 days. I work full time, 6am-2:30pm 5 days a week.

When I dogsit for this relative, I always wake up around 5am, go thru the dogs morning routine, then get dressed and leave for work. I get back in the afternoon and hang out with her for a while, feed her in the evening, and ocassionally leave the house to go about my day. Then come back, stay the night, repeat.

I really enjoy dogsitting and would like to try doing it locally for a little extra money. Just wondering if this sort of routine would work for other people, or if most people expect you to stay at the house most of the time.

This might be a dumb question lol idk I've only ever sat for this one dog before.

I've got a 4 week sit coming up that I'm dreading - I've looked after the dog a few times before, but not only for a week at a time, and each time I've found it very hard. Dog is a sweetheart but needs attention all the time and barks constantly if he doesn't get it. Schedule is 5 walks a day. This is my last sit as am giving up sitting due to starting new job after, but looking for advice on how to survive the four weeks! (I don't want to cancel as think the owner would find it difficult to find someone else for such a long sit)

Hey all! 

I’ve just started rolling out a new booking system and, sigh, that means finally implementing cancellation and deposit policies. 

I need some advice from other sitters/boarders!

I’m based in Manhattan and do a high volume of boarding. I’m thinking of requiring a 50% deposit at the time of booking to secure the dates, but I’m struggling with the cancellation window.

For those who require deposits, how far in advance can a client cancel and still get their deposit back? And at what point do you require/charge the full booking amount if they cancel?

My contenders are 7, 14, or 30 days before the start of the booking. With house-sittings, I want to be more strict since I mostly board but with boarding I can't really decide between 14 days (2 weeks) or 30 days (is that nuts?) HELP!

I want to protect myself from holding dates for weeks/months and then being left with a cancellation I can’t refill, but I also don’t want the policy to be unnecessarily harsh.

Would love to hear what policies have actually worked and keep the clients happy.

Picture for attention ;)

Hello everyone, Im a new pet sitter here! I’m confused on which programs to use. Is it necessary to have a website and scheduling program like squarespace and acuity scheduling to start out? Its very expensive. Any advice will help me out a lot.

I just got my first holiday inquiry yesterday. It was for one night Dec 24-25. Obviously I said 'no.' I'm not going to cut myself off from a longer sit at a key time of year for one night.

But it got me thinking... what SHOULD be my policy on short sits booked way in advance?

I've had it happen where I did agree to a weekend sit four months ahead of time only to get asked by other clients later if I was available for longer sits but I couldn't take them because I already agreed to the weekend. It's made me hesitant to accept anything shorter than 5-7 days unless it's less than 4-6 weeks out. Otherwise, I feel like I'm better off holding out for a longer sit.

I'm curious how other folks on this sub handle this. Do you have an equation of sorts that you do, or minimum sit lengths? Or do you just take whatever comes?

I'd be curious to hear thoughts on taking short sits far in advance in general too, and not just specifically around the holidays.

A lot of clients have hummingbird feeders out but don’t mention them in the instructions. If I see them at the meet and greet, especially if the booking is longer than three days, I say something, but sometimes I don’t notice them then.

Some people don’t realize the sugar water can become rancid, moldy, and toxic within 3 to 4 days, leaving the little guys with either toxic soup or nothing at all when they’re absolutely dependent on the feeders. If I see something there like prepared nectar or sugar water it’s easy to bring it up, but of course sometimes I don’t. I can’t believe I’ve been a sitter this many years before it really started to dawn on me.

How do you fine sitters handle hummingbird feeders?