PSA: 10 questions to ask your pet sitter or dog walker

Treat your interview like an INTERVIEW! Ask questions! Also, I’ve included three things to look for at other people’s houses if your dog will be boarding THERE. Please share!

[@harpersferrytailspetsittin3814]

I’ve encouraged people to ask these questions for years. As a life-long pet owner I’ve always known how hard it is to relinquish responsibility for my pets to someone else. How can they do it right without all of my love? It seems impossible to my cat-hair covered brain. And they’re going to be in my house, my largest asset that contains all my smaller assets and worthless, yet priceless treasures? Unsupervised?! YIKES I couldn’t be alone in this loop of concerns so when I retired early I began my pet sitting business with these things in mind; trust, reliability, privacy, safety, knowledge, training, transparency and accountability.
Having done this, I find myself training many trusting people to ask me the hard questions BEFORE they hand me the keys and if they are convinced I’m ok just from my face, they can practice on me for the next contractor they plan to let in the house. Granted, I’m in a rural area and we’re lucky that things are usually quiet and nice but it doesn’t mean we don’t have to be careful who we trust with pets, homes, safety, privacy, and everything we love! Thanks for making it clear without scare tactics or hyperbole. Great post and I’ll share it with my clients.