What to ask your prospective pet sitter

Do you ever feel like you can’t ask a perspective pet sitter about their experience and qualifications? Chances are if that’s how you feel talking to them they may not be the right fit for you.

As a pet sitter I expect you to have questions, just as you should expect some from me. You don’t have to wait until your scheduled meet and greet to ask questions either. But please keep in mind we may not be able to answer you right away.

Some things to consider asking…

1) how long have you been caring for animals- this can be pretty general as it may bring in the sitter’s personal pets as well as client pets. And that’s fine. For me a sitter that has never had pets of their own raises some red flags.

2) Do you have good working relationships with area vets? The answer should always be YES. That doesn’t mean they work with every vet in the area but they shouldn’t have any issues with the vet you use.

3)Are you able to handle or comfortable with…give a specific medical issue or behavior or even a type of animal. I’m telling you right now I will NEVER care for snakes or rodents.

4)How often do you have to call or take a client’s pet to the vet? This is really going to depend on the # of animals in their care at a time, how long they’ve been in business and how long they are taking care of a particular client’s animals. RED FLAGS come up when they’ve been pet sitting for a short amount of time but have a high number of vet visits or calls. We deal with animals and there are going to be times when things happen. It is unavoidable. However it should NOT be a regular occurrence

5) what kind of emergencies have you had to deal with? Again this may pull in personal pets for the sitter and the answers will vary based on the types of animals they care for.

6)Do you plan to take dogs to dog parks? This should always be NO. It’s your choice to take your dog to a dog park but a sitter should not. There are too many ways for things to go wrong.

Leave us a comment with other questions you would want answered.