As a busy pet parent living in urban areas, you’re often faced with a challenge: how to quickly find someone for a home dog sitting. Usually, we all get worried when there is no choice but to leave our pup at home because of work or travel. When this happens, we ask family members or friends for help. But is there a more practical solution than that? Sure it is! Hire a trustworthy dog sitting professional.
Most of the pet lovers are taking advantages of the following services when hiring the home dog sitters:
- House Sitting: overnight sitting for dogs and puppies at your home.
- Drop-In Visits: 30-minute service to play and feed your dog or let him out for a potty break.
- Doggy Day Care & Boarding: in the sitter’s home.
- Dog Walking: 30 to 60-minute walk around the neighborhood.
- Additional Services: grooming, bathing, potty training, vet visit.
Reasons to Hire a Professional Dog Walker and Sitter
So why should you hire a professional dog sitter? Your friends or neighbors might jump in, but they lack the proper training required to take care of your dog. That can lead to some serious issues or unexpected behavior. Working with dog sitting experts will give you the peace of mind your pooch is in safe hands and will receive the necessary care it requires.
1. A professional dog sitter is skilled in working with a vast majority of breeds. Besides that, he knows how to deal with different pet personalities, separation anxiety or other dog behavior problems.
2. Home dog sitting service provider will give more personalized care over kennel boarding, meaning your pup will receive home care that doesn’t break his daily routine.
3. If your 4-pawed friend needs to take daily pills, the licensed pet sitter can be of great help on medication administration. Additional services may include monitoring health, giving food supplements or any other special care needed while you’re away.
4. Pet sitting organizations can offer you full backup in case of illness, traffic accidents or overbookings of your chosen dog sitter.
5. Avoid potential hazards like fleas, heartworm or viral exposure when leaving your dog at a kennel or boarding center.
House Sits Can Overcome Separation Anxiety In Dogs
Once you bring the dog to your house, it will become attached to the place, its bed and the area where he usually spends most of its time. However, when you are going to work or on a trip, your dog will feel stressed in your absence. That might affect the physical and mental health of your canine. Having in mind that, at-home pet care is a better solution.
Pet sitting experts will stay at your home as long as you are out, even during the night. In this way, the home environment of your dog will not be changed. Namely, most dogs suffering from separation anxiety are less stressed as long as someone is with them.
Where to Find a Reputable In-house Dog Sitter?
1. Use the best pet sitting websites or apps
Dog-sitting websites with their huge member database offer a prominent advantage over other ways of finding your next sitter. You can perform a local search, read sitters profiles, client reviews they got and asses their pet sitting experience. All verified pet sitters must also pass a background check on citizenship status, driving record and criminal history.
Before securing house dog sitting services schedule free Meet & Greet and get to know your sitter or dog walker in person. Remember that is the best way to check if you are hiring the right person.
How will I know that my dog is ok? Don’t worry, use an app and connect with your sitter. Photo updates of your loved one are one of the best features available in the related pet sitting and dog walking apps.
Here is our list of the best pet sitting websites:
https://www.rover.com
https://www.care.com
https://www.holidog.com
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com
2. Ask for recommendation
Another alternative is to ask your friends or coworkers for a suggestion. Maybe one of your neighbors is already using pet sitting services. You should know local vets can be your best source of information. Consider also getting and advise from dog trainers or dog grooming salon owners.
3. Check yellow pages, newspapers or bulletin boards
This approach may not be so effective as a website search can be.
Occasionally you can find real gems of experienced dog sitters through newspaper ads or bulletin boards.
Cost of Hiring a Pet Sitter
Many dog owners have a misconception that dog sitting is expensive. You should know that average home pet-sitting price ranges between $20 and $30. Final price depends on the sitter’s experience, where do you live, length of a visit and on supplementary services like dog-walking, grooming or giving a special diet.
Overnight home sitting stays will cost you a bit more, between $50 and $100. Despite that, your home will be more likely to stay safe from burglars, and you won’t have to leave your dog in a kennel, while you’re gone.
Make Sure Your Dog Sitter Has Adequate Insurance in Place
Before selecting your future dog care provider, you need to find out if he carries pet sitting liability insurance in case anything goes wrong. Most insurances cover cases if the dog causes any damage or injury to a person or property.
Determine if their policies cover veterinary fees, a death of animal and loss by theft or straying also. If you book pet sitting professional over popular websites like Rover you will already benefit some level of protection.
Bottom Line
Finally, home dog sitting is nearly a must for busy urban dog owners. But first, you have to assure that you find a reliable in-home dog sitter with experience of working with the dog breed you have.
Before hiring someone is better to check all client reviews and rating of the dog walker and sitter. It will give you a perfect insight into whether the service provider is trustworthy or not.
When possible, consult previous clients to get a better idea about service quality. If you only have to leave a canine at home for a few hours, you may consider using dog crates. It will help you keep your dog safe, and apartment protected.
