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For those of you who have used a pet sitter...

The Menagerie
#1

I’d love to hear from you about likes/dislikes, things that stood out to you, etc. I just started my own pet sitting service and thanks to some great advice I’ve gotten on COTH, my new business is off to a strong start and I’m fully booked with clients for this month.

I have all of the legal stuff taken care of (contracts, vet release forms, etc) but I’m looking for ideas for fun ways to stand out. I’m currently watching 3 dogs for a family who is on vacation and I was thinking of leaving a report card of sorts for when they return but was looking for creative ways of doing that.

I do text the client pics and updates if they would like them, but thought it would be nice to leave something for them at home as well. Ideas?

#2

Text them a daily photo of each pet having fun.

#3

Yes, communication is really key. Even if it’s just a quick text or pic. My wonderful pet sitter always treated my pets as her own, and I know she loved them dearly.
Its seems like it would be hard to keep the business side from getting in the way of treating the pets like your own. But the better you get to know your clients and their pets needs, the more successful you should be.
Good luck!

#4

when my sister watches my old dog she posts the “butter diaries” each day-
a facebook post about what butter is doing that day, often with pictures
she is a pro writer so they are pretty funny- perhaps a page for the buisness where you can upload pics for owners?

Examples:

Butter diaries: I will follow you to the ends of reality itself. No matter what obstacles may face us, how long or arduous the journey may be, what perils and pitfalls… Oh you were just briefly standing up to reposition your legs. Then, I too- will sit back down. Solidarity. butter stretches out on pile of laundry

Butter diaries.
Cat Sebastian runs up to Butter and she licks him until he falls over.
Cat Sebastian: “Grandma!”
Butter: "You’re filthy, young’n.

Butter diaries:
Me - Hey Butter do you want to come with us to Thanksgiving dinner?
Butter - No. It’s cold. I don’t have my sweater. Kristy will not be there, only not kristy’s and tiny humans.
me - There will be food.
Butter - … Fine.

Butter diaries:
Me: Hey Butter, you wanna go out?
Butter: No
a few minutes later
Butter: I pooped on the floor.
Me: Man! We just talked ab-
Butter: That’s not what you asked me. It’s cold and I don’t wanna go out. I stand by my decisions.

#5

[QUOTE=shayaalliard;8781980]
when my sister watches my old dog she posts the “butter diaries” each day-
a facebook post about what butter is doing that day, often with pictures
she is a pro writer so they are pretty funny- perhaps a page for the buisness where you can upload pics for owners?

Examples:

Butter diaries: I will follow you to the ends of reality itself. No matter what obstacles may face us, how long or arduous the journey may be, what perils and pitfalls… Oh you were just briefly standing up to reposition your legs. Then, I too- will sit back down. Solidarity. butter stretches out on pile of laundry

Butter diaries.
Cat Sebastian runs up to Butter and she licks him until he falls over.
Cat Sebastian: “Grandma!”
Butter: "You’re filthy, young’n.

Butter diaries:
Me - Hey Butter do you want to come with us to Thanksgiving dinner?
Butter - No. It’s cold. I don’t have my sweater. Kristy will not be there, only not kristy’s and tiny humans.
me - There will be food.
Butter - … Fine.

Butter diaries:
Me: Hey Butter, you wanna go out?
Butter: No
a few minutes later
Butter: I pooped on the floor.
Me: Man! We just talked ab-
Butter: That’s not what you asked me. It’s cold and I don’t wanna go out. I stand by my decisions.[/QUOTE]

I would find ways to go away so I could have those messages coming.:lol:

#6

:slight_smile: We have considered making a book of them- there are pictures too but they are too hard to load-

This is butter she is my 13 year old “chug” chihuahua/pug mix
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=978310882198403&l=15dcd984fb

Here are some more:

Butter diaries: not Kristy brought home a magic gun that shoots bubbles. I am barking at it even though its not currently doing anything. O.O

Butter diaries: butter is such a small dog that she is practically a hover dog just barely keeping herself above the earth. So, when she squats down to potty there is like no space left for the poops to come out. To cope with this tragic height impairment she takes short little steps as she poops so she doesn’t end up on a tower of poos. I call this method… the turd train.

Butter diaries: I follow not Kristy all over the house nomatter what. If she stands up, I follow her. Well, unless she has my ear medicine. Then, I run away and hide under the couch and let out a small cloud of distress farts.

Butter diaries: Me and Star escaped from not Kristy last night when the door was open. She dropped everything in her arms and grabbed me, allowing everything else to break and Star to also run away. She shouted “Save Butter at all costs!”
Damage was minimal and Star returned after not Kristy ordered her to in the ‘angry mom’ voice.

Butter diaries: I look like a goat when I eat scraps of cheese off of the ground.

Butter diaries: I don’t always shed everywhere, but when I do, it’s on that pile of clean laundry you just took out of the dryer.

Butter diaries: Seth is saying my name but I am ignoring him. He is going on 5 minutes. I may have forgotten my name.

Butter Diaries: Not Kristy’s heater is broken, but she got a new comfy chair since last I was here. It is mine now.

Butter Diaries: Humans excited I am here.
William: Butter, Butter, Butter, Butter, Butter. Come see the bed I made you! It’s in my room.
Lex: Butter come. Butter. Butter. Butter come. Why aren’t you moving? Come on Butter.
William goes and gets cheese from the fridge.
William: Now she will follow us.

Butter diaries: Butter is protesting peeing outside by chaining herself (metaphorically) to the heater. lol She also hasn’t been barking at Seth so they may be friends now. She just looks at him quizzically like… 'I feel as though I have seen you somewhere before."

Butter diaries: Not Kristy thought she could sneak upstairs and leave me sleeping on the couch to avoid my snoring. Little does she know I am a loneliness ninja and whenever someone leaves the room without me I am made instantly aware of their need of my presence. snoooore

Butter diaries- the metal on my collar gets too hot b/c I sit 3 inches from the heater, but if you turn it off I bug you mercilessly.

Butter diaries: Butter just had an old-fashion standoff with Cat Sebastian. They met in the hallway and got closer and closer until Butter licked the side of his head. He then collapsed onto his side and she licked the full length of his body for several minutes. In my mind she said:
“Child! I remember when ya was nothin’ but a whelp, come here and let me clean ya up.”

Butter diaries: When I take a bath Butter sits on my bath mat and faces away from me. I can’t decide if she is protecting me in my vulnerable state, or if she wants to be near me but is a modest old lady.

Butter diaries: outside? (s)no(w)pe

Butter diaries: I can walk on top of the snow!

Butter diaries. Butter has been here for counts 5 days. In all that time she never barked at Seth once, until he came home today. BARK BARK BARK Who are you!? Why are you here!? Run not Kristy and tiny humans! I will hold this stranger at bay.
^ for 10 straight minutes.

Butter diaries: butter sneezed tonight. Have you ever heard a pug sneeze? I thought her lungs imploded seriously it was the most disturbing sound ever. I rushed over and checked her all. After like 7 seconds she stopped and just stared at me like - ain’t nothin but nothin.

Butter diaries: I only lay on things the same color as I am. But don’t worry, I snore so loudly no one ever trips on me.

Butter diaries: not kristy calls me melted butter bc I sit in front of the heater and on the heated blanket.

Butter diaries : a strange man people refer to as daddy keeps randomly appearing in the house no matter how incessantly I bark at him. Small man cubs and not kristy woman seemingly unconcerned.( butter forgets who you are if you leave the room or get up suddenly. But only guys for some reason. Selective memory)

Butter diaries: I come home “Hi, not Kristy Davis” children come home “Hi small annoying man cubs” my mom stops in to watch the kids “Hi older not mom,” seth comes home, or leaves the room “WHO THE F ARE YOU GET OUT OF HERE YOU DONT BELONG HERE!!!”

Butter diaries: Seth puts stuff on me while I sleep bc I don’t really care.

Butter diaries: The cat chases my tail and leaps on to my face, but I bear it with dignity before not kristy saves me.

Butter Diaries: Welcome to 16 minutes of Lex feeding butter imaginary cookies. Luckily butter kisses your hands if you stick them out so she ‘ate’ all of said batch of cookies.

Butter diaries: When I first arrive I like to suck on the carpet to see if it tastes like crumbs.

Butter diaries: When I have a nightmare, my whine sounds like a bubble popping in a video game. Bwowawa bwowawa pat pat

Butter diaries: Tiny girl not Kristy fed me an most of a hot dog because I ‘looked sad’. (and here I thought she was just sitting there eating it, not pulling bits off and giving them to the dog. She is now upset we are out of hot dogs)

Butter diaries: not kristy was gone for like 5 hours today and despite Seth’s assurances that I was not turned to stone, I was in the exact same spot when she returned as when she left.

Butter diaries: I have somehow evolved into ‘mega butter’. I have gained new attacks like bite and hypnosis.

Butter diaries: my constant snoring and light grunting at night sounds so much like whispering that on several occasions I have frightened groggy not Kristy and male not Kristy Davis into thinking someone was downstairs sneaking around.

Butter diaries: We took your advice and wallowed (laid on our backs and wiggled about to scratch them) on the carpet. Butter seemed to deeply enjoy it. She spent the last 20 minutes repositioning a blanket on the floor, presumably to fall asleep on.

#7

Sounds like you have your bases covered on he official side.

I’d agree with others - Come up with a style of letting you/the pet let the owners know what’s happening back at home. It IS appreciated.

A dear friend is our usual pet sitter. The alternate is one of the vet techs at our vets.

Both leave something like the Butter diaries on paper on the counter telling us about daily activities. We find out how they ignored the sitter for the first day, met them at the door on day two. We find out from the pet’s POV that the silly sitter can’t seem to understand simple requests like “open the door and let me out”

It’s fun to get the notes when we get back. We don’t do the facebook/text/electronic stuff so paper works just fine for us.

#8

I need them to be able to tell them apart. I especially appreciate sitters who familiarize themselves with the basic veterinary history of each animal, and who I am sure can pick up early symptoms of problems. I need to know they can recognize the signs of bloat, pnuemonia, pyo, etc. and would know what to do in an emergency. I am reassured to hear “Jameson didnt eat quite all of his breakfast this morning, he left a few crumbs, but his temp was normal, and later he was playing with his toys”.

I had one wonderful sitter who was also great with the horses and loved being in the barn. I came back once and she said, “Justin developed an abcess on his right front, so I soaked it, poulticed it, and bandaged it and he seems fine now”. Tried to give her extra $$$ and she wouldn’t take it!

I don’t need a lot of cutesy stories, but am greatly appreciative of a short text - “Just leaving, everyone’s fine and ate well”.

#9

I am a pet sitter and I use a pet sitter. I love pictures of my pets when I go away. I don’t expect one every day nor do I send one every single day. I send one every couple days along with perhaps a weather update if the person is traveling far away. The pics seem well appreciated. I also let people know if there driveway has been plowed in the winter, packages delivered or sprinklers on in the summer and lawns mowed.

#10

A friend had a dog walker come in once a day for a while, and they would call, or text when they came to walk the dog, and that the house was OK.

Where I used to live there was a house sitting/pet sitting service that was very good. However, the providers advertised by having a magnetic sign with their company information on the car doors. Everyone knew when they saw the car there that the home owners were gone, and I didn’t like that (there had been some daylight burglaries there, and that was one way to spot empty houses).

#11

Did anyone recall the epic petsitter thread when reading this title?

OP: may want to research pet sitter threads on this forum. If you find the one by menuoptoes (sp?), it’s a good read on what not to do if you are a pet sitter :lol:

#12

I travel quite a lot for work and use a great pet sitting service. I always get a text saying everything is fine, maybe with a pic or 2. I really like that, because then I know for sure that my pets were cared for.

My sitter also brings in the mail, and will water my houseplants if I am gone more than a day or two. She turns on (different) lights in the house in the evenings, too. Those are all little extras that don’t take her much time but that I really appreciate.

Good luck with your new business!

#13

[QUOTE=Sswor;8783258]
Did anyone recall the epic petsitter thread when reading this title?

OP: may want to research pet sitter threads on this forum. If you find the one by menuoptoes (sp?), it’s a good read on what not to do if you are a pet sitter :lol:[/QUOTE]

:lol: I’ll have to dig up that thread one of these days when I’m bored!

Thanks for the ideas! I ended up texting the client a picture of their dogs with a short update one of the days they were gone, and I also left a note that had details about each day I was there. I posted pics to my FB page too. Keep the great ideas coming though :slight_smile:

#14

One thing about Facebook: it can be a very public way of letting the world know people are on vacation. I am cautious about that - maybe send photos or texts directly or at least ask first if they want you to post publicly.

#15

I know my pet sitter is busy (because she is good). So I don’t really expect her to send me updates etc. Though she will usually text me a few days in and tell me everything is fine. And she always responds promptly to my texts/phone calls. I do know that she takes care of the horses and cats and does an excellent job. What’s most important to me is that my animals are well cared for communication is second to that and keeping it simple is just fine with me. .

#16

I housesit somewhat regularly, the kind of contact depends on the clients. I sit for 2 couples with lots of horses, one a boarding farm, one a lesson/boarding farm at which I also teach lessons when I sit. These two definitely get a call or a text each day, checking in and saying everything is fine etc.

Another has cats and dogs, and I generally text them more or less every day, sometimes every other. They definitely appreciate the cute pictures/funny stories, so I do those a few times per trip as well.

I have another family with just a cat (and a dog who they usually take with them). They’re pretty lax, so I send them a message every few days, and they don’t seem to want/need anymore than that.

I do usually leave a note, with payment info, sometimes with a funny anecdote or two, again depending on the client.

#17

I think to text or not to text depends on the pet owners. I would appreciate a daily text knowing that all is well at home and that my animals are doing fine. I am sure there are people who would prefer to not be bothered, they are paying you to do a job and they assume you are doing it, no daily contact needed. So know your client. Heck, even ask if they want a daily text. Ask if it is OK to post a cute photo of their pets on facebook (after they get back, you can say how much fun it was taking care of these pets) before you post it.

I think a little journal is a great thing to come home to. Then owner knows what the pets did while you were gone.

#18

My sitter sends me regular texts, usually including pics. My critters are also semi-insta famous and she has great fun “taking over” and using their hashtags and creating her own. So, I can see them on their daily adventures on my IG feed, as well.

One thing she does, which I would never expect most sitters to do (and definitely wouldn’t want a lot of them to do) is she takes them out and about. Particularly when it was still just my big dog, who is better behaved than most humans, she’d would often even take Stella to work with her occasionally (she doesn’t do it as much now that I also have Rita, but Rita doesn’t have the same bear rug impersonation that Stella has). She’ll take them on hikes or out to wineries. I’m totally down with it as Stella is an old hat at that stuff and Rita NEEDS the exposure. So, it’s nice for me to know, especially if I’m gone awhile, to know their lifestyle isn’t drastically changed and boring while I’m gone.

One little housekeeping thing she does that is so above and beyond is she will not only wash the linens off the bed (I don’t have a guest room), she also puts them back on. She doesn’t need to do that, but, especially if I’m getting home from a late flight, it is appreciated. When I house sat I always washed my linens and towels, cleaned the bathroom I used, cleaned the kitchen, and ran the vacuum at least in the high traffic areas. One thing I DON’T like is that she routinely forgets food she bought while staying here. Sometimes she’ll come back by and get it, but a lot of times I end up throwing it out (a lot of it is stuff I can’t/won’t eat), and I feel bad about it.

#19

[QUOTE=yellowbritches;8787616]

One little housekeeping thing she does that is so above and beyond is she will not only wash the linens off the bed (I don’t have a guest room), she also puts them back on. She doesn’t need to do that, but, especially if I’m getting home from a late flight, it is appreciated. When I house sat I always washed my linens and towels, cleaned the bathroom I used, cleaned the kitchen, and ran the vacuum at least in the high traffic areas.[/QUOTE]

That’s a nice extra touch, I’m starting a week-long farm sitting job tomorrow and I’ll have to remember to do that.

GREAT point…I didn’t think of that! I’ll be sure to keep the pics vague, no posting the client’s identities if I do post on FB.

#20

If I put something on my on FB it tends to be a vague “loving life on the farm” sort of comment with a shot of my dog running across a field, or something like that - good friends know the back story, to friends of friends it could be anyplace.

Changing sheets and towels makes people happy. Run the dishwasher, vacuum as needed, leave the house like you found it or better. We’ve had some great house sitters and some less great ones. Leave some evidence that you actually spent some time there, if that’s expected of you - we’ve had a couple that I wondered if they really stayed over. One didn’t, and got caught. Not good.

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