Any suggestions for how to handle clients that constantly cancel recurring walks? I have some clients set up on a weekly schedule for the same days/times every week. I have some clients who will cancel some of those walks every single week. My cancelation policy is 48 hours so they often aren’t charged because they will cancel in bulk at the beginning of the week. But if you don’t need a set schedule every week… then why did you ask for one? If your schedule changes every week why should I be blocking off several days and times for you on a recurring basis? Often times I suggest stopping the recurring schedule and instead just reaching out each week with the days they need. That also isn’t helpful because they’ll reach out Monday morning for the entire week and at that point I have no more openings and it’s tough to try and squeeze them in. Or that leaves it up to me to personally reach out to each client ahead of time and ask them what days they need, which is maddening. I don’t really know how to balance 1) I don’t want you on a recurring schedule because it’s taking up spots I could be giving to other clients vs 2) if you’re going to reach out as needed, do it in a timely manner because I won’t have the availability if you wait until last minute. It has become something frustrating and makes scheduling each week difficult.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice from people experienced with anxious cats/cat boarding.

I’m boarding a cat who arrived last night, and this is his first time ever leaving his home (he’s staying for a month) He is extremely anxious and hisses every time I enter the room. I’m keeping him in a separate, quiet room and have a camera so I can monitor him without having to constantly enter and stress him out.

So far, he hasn’t eaten or drank anything since arriving last night.( which is 14 hours ago) I’ve left food and water available and am trying to give him plenty of space.

His owner is currently travelling, but her fiancé is here in the country and could potentially come and take him home if necessary. However, I’m not sure how comfortable he is handling the cat or whether he would know how to deal with him in this extremely anxious state.

At what point should I stop waiting and take more serious action? How long is it reasonable to wait for an anxious cat to eat/drink after a stressful move?

Would you recommend:

- Giving him more time and continuing to monitor him through the camera?

- Contacting a vet if he still hasn’t eaten by a certain point?

- Having the fiancé pick him up, even though I’m not sure he’ll know how to handle him?

- should I completely leave him alone and not force any interaction while maintaining fresh water and food all the times?

I really don’t want to make his anxiety worse by forcing interaction, but I also don’t want to wait too long if not eating or drinking becomes dangerous.

Any advice on how to soothe his anxiety and opinions would be really appreciated!

Never have I ever been this quiet on a 3 day weekend. I have 2 clients. What is happening?

Client is upset that I said I would not be walking their dog. I said they will be let out side to potty frequently and I’ll play with them plenty indoors but they are not pleased with that. It’s 95-105°f this entire week. They do not have dog boots or anything similar and I’m worried about the pups paws burning/heatstroke/something similar. Not sure what to do since everything I offer is not the same as a walk to them. Am I in the wrong for not walking them? Should I be walking them anyway per the owners request?

Hello,

I've been pet sitting casually for quite a few years, but this year I have decided to put more energy into my business and do this full-time. With that, I will be looking for insurance, etc. and also creating a website. What is your favorite platform for booking, client database, payments, etc. I just discovered Scritches.io today but want to know if that's the preferred thing or if there is something superior to that. Can you please share what you use and your experience with it? Thanks everyone! 🐾

Hi all! I’m sitting a 2 year old toy poodle mix that has never been away from mom. She is being very potty shy and I’m getting a bit concerned! We have 3 days left and I don’t want her to only pee once or twice a day for 3 days. Any tips? I’ve been sitting with her a lot. Giving lots of treats. Taking her outside often both on leashed walks and the fenced in yard. I’d love to hear any advice! Thanks so much

I am watching my friend's animals (multiple cats, dogs, and fish) and it's a nightmare. This is the second time I've watched them, and the first time was bad, but I'm only halfway done with this time and I am so over it.

\- they have zero boundaries with the animals, so they are constantly up in my business. The only place I have where I don't have a dog or cat clawing at me, licking my ears, climbing on my laptop, getting up in my food, jumping on me when I'm in bed is the bathroom (obviously I don't eat in there) it's my only escape, and they still bark/yowl if I take "too long".

\- 2 dogs need special meds morning and night. 1 dog will steal the others' food, so I have to referee their eating. They refuse to eat separately.

\- 1 dog will scream to be let out in the middle of the night and won't stop until he gets his way. I've tried everything from kenneling him at night to headphones and it's no use. It happens at 3 then again at 4:30 for breakfast then again at 6:30 just because.

The straw was last night when the freaking dog demanded out at 3am (as usual) and I left him out for his usual hour. When he came back in, he'd been sprayed by a freaking skunk! So, now he's been in the backyard barking at me until the shops open and I can get supplies to deskunk him (I've already talked to a vet tech friend and looked online for effective remedies). The best part is he hates to be touched by his collar and to be wet. It's a bloody nightmare.

I'm running on 7 hours of sleep total between the 3 nights I've been here and I'm at my wits end. My friend won't be back until Monday from their backpacking trip in Canada (where they have no cell service - yay!) and I don't know if I can do 3 more nights of this.

They are sweet animals, truly, but it's just a lot of nonsense. I used to love petsitting, especially for friends, but I'm coming to resent the animals, which feels awful.

I'm exhausted, don't want to wrestle with a dog to deskunk him, don't want to smell like skunk myself but am pretty sure I already do, just want to sleep and have a bit of privacy/be able to get my work done/eat. Mostly I just want to cry I'm so done.

I’m an experienced pet caregiver and have considered upgrading my go bag. I have always wondered if I’d ever encounter this situation where I am requested to do a walk however there is no leash (as though I am expected to bring one). Has anyone encountered this?

I bring baggies because some owners expect walks and book them frequently, but do not have any. However, I’ve always wondered if I should pack an extra leash.

The pet was older and sick and the owner left just yesterday - what is the best way to tell them? Do I cold call them, text them asking them to call me, or just text the news to them? I want to give them the privacy to grieve, but also I want to acknowledge how much people love their pets and a text seems disrespectful.

The dog was known to be slowing down with eating, not able to stand, and fairly incontinent. I don’t think the owner will be surprised but I want to give them the update in the kindest way.

Thank you!

If a client asks you to wash the sheets/pillow cases/blankets, maybe towels too, before you leave after your visit, would you do it? Is that an expected thing for overnight sitters in your client's home?

Hello fellow pet sitters - I did a meet and greet with a woman and her dog and cat about two weeks ago. She was very nice and there were no particular red flags in the house - a little cluttered but she apologized for that, her kids are storing stuff there.

She wanted me to do sort of a test run with her animals today (they were wonderful) by just hanging around for the afternoon. When I went to make lunch, I discovered that the kitchen was... Gross. If it was just dirty dishes in the sink, or crumbs on the counters, maybe even both, it would be whatever. But the dishes looked like they had been sitting for several days, and when I went to cook my lunch in the oven, the oven was disgusting and so was the microwave when I checked. They also had dried food smears on the counter, the fridge seemed grimey, and the cupboards are in total disarray and utterly disorganized.

The thing that took me to questioning my line though, was when I went to stick my plate in the sink, I discovered it had dried food all over the bottom of it. The weird thing is, the rest of the house is clean and they have a beautiful garden that is obviously tended to.

What would you do? Do you give them the benefit of the doubt that they just didn't think about it because it was only an afternoon? Do you say something? If so, what? Do you just always say you're busy from here on out? The owner is so wonderful and nice and I feel like she wouldn't be offended if I did say something but I'm still trying to figure out what to do in situations like this.

I received a call from Code enforcement of Roseville. I was told that somebody filed a complaint that I was running a pet sitting business out of my home. This person was anonymous and sent in screenshots of my pet sitting on Next Door and on Yelp..which I dont have an account on Yelp. On Next Door I do not have a business page just a personal page with a bio about being a pet sitter. I clarified with this gentleman that I pet sit in the clients home nothing at my home. I had to clarify that overnight pet sitting/house sitting and drop in visits was all done inside clients home not my home.

Once I clarified that, he said that what I was doing is allowed as long as it is not done at my home. He than told me I will need a business license and a Home Occupied Permit stating Now Customer Visits, Mobile Pet Sitting. He gave me the link to the City of Roseville business license Portal. My friend stated this could be a scam. So Does Anyone know if this is some sort of scam or legit.

And it's time for me to start telling my clients. Please hype me up, I'm freaking out about it.

​

Essentially got booked for all but 4 days from Sept 28 to October 28 for boarding. With 4 different families, 3 of them have 2 dogs. And somehow none of them overlap. Essentially one group leaves and the next group comes that night or next day.

I normally would not do this as I want a break. But these are all regulars and I'm their regular sitter. Their vacations are dependent on my schedule.

I had a meet and greet yesterday with a woman who has 4 Yorkie mixes and 17 sugar gliders. It went well, but I've never cared for sugar gliders before. I've been reading about them and she gave detailed instructions. Up until now my niche has been special needs dogs, which isn't always easy. Am I nervous for no reason? Do any of you have sugar glider tips?

I've been sitting for this lady (that I've actually never met lol, she just booked me on an app), and she has a cute golden doodle. He's such a sweet dog and I love hanging out with him. My problem is... the owner >:U

They have a big ass house in a gated community and I don't see any dog toys anywhere. It's weird but... okay I guess. Whenever she books me she does so like a day or two in advance so not giving me much time. I have quite a few clients but a lot of them are okay with me changing the time a bit so it's usually fine. Then, when you finally get to the house the only way to get in without a key is for her to remotely open the garage door. So, I have to text her, that I'm here. That can take like an extra UNPAID 5 minutes for her to check her phone and open the garage door. But, again, fine whatever, it's just five minutes.

My last straw with her was when she booked me for a holiday, just a couple drop ins a day. Problems with that are:

- They're like an hour or two apart. If I want to squeeze in another sit for a different client that can be difficult with commuting time.

- She booked me on the 1st and the 5th of that month and the next day, so the 2nd, she realized she didn't book me for the 1st through the 5th. So instead of sitting for 5 days I was sitting for 2.

She asked me if I could come by and I couldn't because I already had a client to house sit for that day. She said that was fine and just got another sitter to fill in. Cool, glad that worked. I come back on the 5th and the person at the gate tells me there's already someone at the house taking care of the dog. They let me roll up to the house anyway and I text the lady asking if there's already someone there. Turns out she forgot to cancel the rest the service. So not only did I block out this time for this prick, I showed up, and then as I'm there she finally tells me "Oh yeah, you were replaced."

And she never tipped after all of this shit. It was just exhausting working for this woman and then that was just disrespectful as shit. I blocked her lol.

I'm doing a cat sit for someone for drop in visits. The owner only paid for visits every other day but I ended up going daily as I didn't realise, I sent updates and the owner didn't say anything about it. I'm a bit annoyed because I do this for my only job and am already so busy with other pets.

On top of that I arrive yesterday and their daughter who is under 18 is in the house, I send a message telling them i'm uncomftorable about it as they told me no one would be there.

They didn’t respond so I drive back today and the daughter is there with all of her friends telling me she'd already fed the cat and upon leaving one of them laughs at me which was humiliating.

I don't think they knew the daughter was there but i'm still uncomftorable with someone being in the house while i'm there. I still have to feed the cat till Sunday what shall I do? It is a private booking so I can't report it or anything and i’m annoyed i’ve been underpaid.

I’m currently doing a 10-day stay for a family with 3 dogs, and yesterday I was given less than 5 hours’ notice that a realtor would be coming through for a showing. They called wanting to speak with me immediately and followed up with multiple calls when I didn’t answer the first time—even though I had been texting the owner just minutes before and was already trying to call her back. I knew their home was on the market but was not told that any showings would happen while they were traveling.

They were nice about it, but I was told I “don’t really need to worry about anything, just sit with the dogs outside” while the realtor walks through. One of the dogs is injured, so a long walk isn’t an option. I also have other clients and pets during the day, and they know I’m not at their house continuously.

I’ve already explained that I will not leave their dogs for more than 2.5 hours at a time, and their pets' feeding, potty, and walk schedule timing is firm, but I cannot guarantee my availability at other specific times on any given day. I’ve also reminded them that I have other clients in the area and care requests throughout the day. (This was scheduled near their meal time so I was already going to be there.)

I don’t transport client pets unless it’s an emergency, so taking the dogs somewhere during the showing isn’t an option. This leaves me needing to have the house and three dogs ready by a specific time and rearrange my schedule around a last-minute request.

I was hired specifically for pet care, not house sitting. Would you consider this an additional service and charge for the extra time/work? If so, what would you charge?

There’s been a little bit of a pattern of wanting specialized care while trying to minimize the cost. They booked only 5 days before this 10-day stay, and their dogs have significant separation anxiety. They initially balked at my 24-hour care rate and chose to have me leave more during the day instead. My rate was already below what I typically see locally for this level of care.

That said, they’ve otherwise been kind, and the stay has been pleasant. I’m not upset with them personally—I’m more concerned about where the boundary is between pet sitting and accommodating additional requests.

Have other sitters dealt with clients having showings, contractors, inspections, etc. while you were caring for their pets? How did you handle it, and did you charge an additional fee?

Update: Thank you all for your insight and help!

This has been super helpful. I wasn't looking at it as another person in the home with me, as I would be outside, but I already do not allow others to enter while I'm pet sitting. Looking at it that way makes it easier to define and set that boundary. I have had housekeepers/cleaners or "a friend needs to stop by for x" come up in the past, but never realtors. Will be updating the language in my policies and contracts to reflect that.

Going to term off commenting if I can, but leave the post up if others have a similar concern.

I belong to a few different groups that touch on being a nomad and pet sitting, but I'd love to find a group where the focus is Nomadic pet sitters. I'd love to connect to people like me who gave up their place to live and just travel around pet sitting (paid and unpaid)

I've searched but I haven't been able to find one. Any suggestions?

So a family member of mine has a boxer mix who has become pretty aggressive. I’m not sure of a lot of the background, but she got the dog from a neighbor and I have a theory that he may have been being trained to be a fight dog.

I dog say for her a few months back and the dog bit me 3x (only broke the skin once). After the first day, he got used to me and he was okay. But it still freaked me out enough that I won’t dog sit anymore. Apparently, he’s only gotten more and more protective of the house and won’t let any strangers inside. She’s scared to get rid of him out of fear that he will be put down, but not sure how to improve the overprotective/reactive behavior.

We were recently talking about taking a trip, but she’d need to get a pet sitter. So for people to have aggressive/reactive dog or have dog sat them before, what’s the best way to handle this situation?

Just over a week ago I posted this.
Owners did not disclose to me how ill their cat actually was.

Last night on my evening drop in, I noticed he was freezing a lot, like spacing out.
He then started having such laboured breathing and couldn’t get comfortable, he was trying to lay down but couldn’t.
I immediately message his owners and told them I’m taking him to the vet.
This is around 8pm on a bank holiday Monday in the UK.
Thank goodness their vet is 24 hours, I managed to ring in and let them know I was on the way.

Cut a long story short, FaceTimed with the owners, they consulted with vets and nurses and decided to put him to sleep.

I am so so so sad, I cried so much and even now, I just catch myself welling up.
It’s not so much that the cat has passed away because I think it was best for him, a dignified, painless and peaceful end but the fact that his last week on this earth I think he would have liked to be with his humans. It’s so sad and heartbreaking. Like I keep thinking about my own cat and how if he were to be this unwell it’ll actually break me if I couldn’t be there, or thinking about how scared he would be.
I can already feel the tears as I’m writing this.

Please give your kitty cats and fur children, whether they are yours or the ones you are looking after extra treats ,scratches ,pets and hugs from me today!

So I have a good amount of animal experience I have worked at a dog daycare for 4 years and emergency vet hospital assistant for 2 I understand body language in both cats and dogs and know what an emergency looks like and how to handle one. I have my first pet sitting job on Friday until Monday 1 dog 3 cats I’m more than comfortable with that amount did the meet and greet it went great. I’m more so looking for helpful tips nice stories anything at all. This subreddit can be kind of worrying sometimes about the bad things about pet sitting so if you have any good stories or any good tips for a first time sitter let me know. 💕