Choosing a Pet Sitter - What to Look For

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Choosing a Pet Sitter - What to Look For
by Peggy Baron

Choosing a great pet sitter is important to you and your pets. You want someone who is reliable, trustworthy, does what you ask, and most of all, is affectionate with the furry and feline members of your family. You want a pet sitter who loves your pets almost as much as you do and will go the extra mile if your pets have a medical emergency. You want someone your pets are happy with too!

The first thing you should do with a potential pet sitter is schedule a meet and greet at your home. This is the time for you, the pet sitter, and your pets to all get acquainted. This will take some time initially, but it’s time well spent and will give you a chance to ask questions, be comfortable with your decision, and start the communication ball rolling. The pet sitter will certainly ask you lots of questions about your pets; feeding, walking, vet info, etc, but there are some important items for you to cover at the initial meeting.

1. Ask about the pet sitter’s background. How were they trained? How long have they been a pet sitter? What other training do they have, such as Red Cross pet first aid and CPR?

Previous lines of work? Other interests? Do they live close? What is their home address? Email address? Chat them up! As a pet sitter on the other end of these conversations, I have found out that one client’s ex-husband used to coach my daughter’s soccer team, another client had an upcoming appointment with my husband’s coworker, and yet another client and I used to live in the same town in another state. It’s comforting for everyone to start off on some common ground.

2. When talking with your potential pet sitter, watch how they interact with your pets. Do they give your dog a cursory pat on the head and give all the attention to you? Or do they have a grin on their face as they find the special spot to scratch behind your dog’s ears and then croon to her during lulls in adult conversation? You want to get the sense that they LOVE animals, yours specifically, and they LOVE their job.

3. Do they keep a journal and write in it after each visits? You want to know when they notice some slightly unusual behavior or off-colored poo. Let them know what you consider important enough for an immediate phone call. You need to set the parameters of communication with your pet sitter.

4. Are they insured and bonded? Technically they don’t have to be, at least in my state, but you certainly want them to be. Ask for copies of both documents and check to make sure they are up-to-date.

5. Most pet sitters have written contracts but if they don’t produce any, ask them to do so. Contracts that spell out what they are going to do or not do, is important protection for both of you. Keep copies for yourself.

6. Ask for references! I am amazed at how many people do not ask for references from pet sitters. Pet sitters should have these handy. If they’re good, they have no problem supplying you with this information.

7. What plan do they have in place in case they have a personal emergency? Do they have another petsitter who can cover for them? Also, do they have back-up petsitters for when they manage to work in a vacation, or are you on your own to find one? You can ask to meet any back-up petsitters, after all, it’s your home and your pet.

Following this advice should help you hook up with an amazing pet sitter, one you’re comfortable with and trust. You’ll be happy you did because a good pet sitter will become like a member of your family!

Chipped Tooth - A Pet Sitting Hazard

Yesterday I chipped one of my upper front teeth while on duty. It's just a teeny tiny bit shaved off the end and not noticeable to anyone but me. It didn't really hurt but it sure scared me. I was bending over to put a dog back in her make-shift crate when I hit my big, open mouth on the metal.

Before you start thinking, "What a klutz!" let me explain (rationalize) what happened. It wasn't actually a metal crate, but metal fencing like used in crates. It did not have a top, it was higher up than a crate, it was gold, and it blended right in with the hardwood floor.

Moral of the story? Keep your mouth shut when you bend over dog crates!

Pet Sitters - How to Find a Great One

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Pet Sitters – How to Find a Great One
by Peggy Baron

Maybe you would like to have a pet sitter come to your home and watch your pets while you’re out of town on business or a much-needed vacation. Perhaps you work long hours or have elderly animals and just want a pet sitter to come and walk your dog or give your cat her medicine at noon. There are many good reasons to employ a pet sitter and the choice is certainly up to you. If you’ve never had a pet sitter before and don’t know how to go about choosing one, then I have some tips for you.

1. Probably the best place to start is with friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers who use a pet sitter who they would happily recommend. If your friend gushes about how wonderful and dependable her pet sitter is, you need to dash to the phone and schedule an appointment with them immediately and hope they’re taking new clients.

2. Other good places to try are your vet, dog trainer, or groomer. They keep their eyes and ears open and know about good pet sitters from their clients. Also, they may have personal experience with some of the area’s pet sitters themselves. It’s always good news when a pet sitter is recommended by the pet professionals.

3. Check online for a pet sitter in your local area. Many pet sitters have websites, and even if they don’t you can still find listings for them on an online yellow pages-type directory. A lot of people have success finding a pet sitter through doggeek.com and petsit.com. At petsit.com you just put your zip code in and it brings up all the pet sitters in your area.

4. Of course, you can also google for a pet sitter in your local area. Pay close attention to the service areas they cover as most pet sitters are feeling the gas prices in their wallets and do not want to sit any pets that are too far from their regular service area.

5. Don’t forget about your real estate agent if you’ve just moved into a new place. Real estate agents know a lot about your area and know people in all sorts of different industries. Generally, they want to help you feel at home and will find the answer to your problem, even if they have to check with everyone in the office and several past clients.

6. Be observant. Do you see someone happily walking a dog everyday around lunch time, rain or shine, heat or snow? Pay attention. While pet sitters usually don’t smile all the time while walking dogs, you can still tell if they’re having a good time or if they’re bored. If they’re always on the cell phone keep on going, but if you like what you see stop and ask if they’re a pet sitter and if they’re available to take care of your pets.

7. If you call a pet sitter and they are not taking on new clients, ask them to refer a couple of dependable pet sitters to you. Who does this pet sitter use for their own pets? You can also ask them if there is a pet sitting organization for your town that you can contact. Sometimes finding a great pet sitter can be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but usually all it takes is knowing who and where to ask. With these tips you should find a pet sitter you’re happy with, and you can then turn your thoughts to other matters, like what you should pack for your trip.

Small Dog Walking Pleasures

A funny thing happened yesterday. I had just started walking one of my favorite dogs at an apartment complex and noticed someone else walking a dog a little farther up the sidewalk. Well, I wasn't really paying attention because I was more focused on where my sandal was hitting my fresh mosquito bite and trying to rearrange my foot so it wouldn't rub and make the mosquito bite as big as Kansas.

"Peggy?" I hear. I looked up and it was a fellow petsitter, Mary. She was walking one of her dogs too. We couldn't get too close because the dogs didn't want to be friendly, but we were able to walk along and talk for a little bit. Petsitters don't usually get to see and talk to other petsitters while on the job, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Mary promised she'd tell the story here about how her watch saved her life. Stay tuned!

Homemade Dog Biscuits

Do you like to make cookies? Here's some healthy dog treats that are easy to make and taste oh-so-good (according to dogs, I haven't tried them personally.) Just get yourself a bone-shaped cookie cutter and your dogs will love you.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit
2 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Powdered Milk -- non-fat
1 1/2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Whole Egg
8 Ounces Peanut Butter -- (1 jar)
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Cup Cold Water
Mix above ingredients together, adding water after other ingredients are mixed. Knead for 3 to 5 minutes. Dough should form a ball. Roll to 1/2 inch thick and cut into doggie bone shapes. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.


Cheesey Garlic Dog Cookie Recipe
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese -- grated
1/4 pound margarine -- corn oil
1 clove garlic -- crushed
1 Pinch salt
Cream the cheese with the softened margarine, garlic, salt, and flour. Add enough milk to form into a ball. Chill for 1/2 hour. Roll onto floured board. Cut into shapes and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until slightly brown, and firm. Makes 2 to 3 dozen.


Veggie Carrot Dog Cookie Recipe
2 cups carrots -- boiled and pureed
2 eggs
2 tablespoons garlic -- minced
2 cups unbleached flour -- or rice flour or rye flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
Combine carrots, eggs and garlic. Mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients. Roll out on heavily floured surface and cut into bars or desired shapes. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or to desired crunchiness. The centers will continue to harden as they cool. Brush with egg white before baking for a glossy finish.

http://makedogfoodathome.homestead.com/

Beat The Heat

So what I started to say last post is that it's gotten darn hot! Petsitters have all sorts of ways they keep cool. Here's one I use almost every day in the summer because I'm a heat wimp:

I fill a water bottle half full and leave it laying on its side in the freezer the night before. When I go out on my midday walks I take the bottle which I've filled the rest of the way with water. As I walk I nonchalantly hold the water bottle against my leg, in the crook of my arm (for maximum skin touchage), at my throat, and sometimes the back of my neck. Okay, so the last two aren't so nonchalant, but it works. The icy cold brings down my body temperature and gives me a more pleasant outlook on life. I switch hands when one gets numb and impervious to the cold temperature.

I bet I could learn a thing or two from those construction workers I drive by everyday. What tricks do you use?

Dog Days of Summer

We're into the dog days of summer and.... where did that expression come from and what does it really mean anyway?

"The term "Dog Days" was coined by the ancient Romans, who called these days caniculares dies (days of the dogs) after Sirius (the "Dog Star"), the brightest star in the heavens besides the Sun.
Popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" - Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

A casual survey will usually find that many people believe the phrase is in reference to the conspicuous laziness of domesticated dogs (who are in danger of overheating with too much exercise) during the hottest days of the summer. When speaking of "Dog Days" there seems to be a connotation of lying or "dogging" around, or being "dog tired" on these hot and humid days."
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Days

I didn't know that about the Romans and the Sirius dog star.

Here's to good wine and sane dogs in your life today.
Peggy

Funny Dog Video

Dog thinks its own foot is trying to steal his bone.

Video Provided by Funny Video Guy

This cracks me up! It's from my friend Claudia http://healthypets.happynutritionist.com

A Petsitter's World Revolves

Today is very muggy and overcast, certainly not typical for sunny Denver, Colorado. And you know what? I love it. I love the fact that the weather changes. Just when I get tired of sunny hot days, the clouds come for a day or two. Just when I get tired of snow and wearing snow boots(which was a lot this past winter!), a warm tropical-like day comes. I love that the seasons change. When I get to the point where I don't want to wear sandals and shorts anymore, the season changes to fall, then to winter, then to spring. Maybe it's my ADD tendencies, but I like change.

I also enjoy variations in my day to day routine. Just to mix it up a bit, I like to visit my pets in a different order. Sometimes it makes no sense to do it differently as I'll end up backtracking a bit, but I do it anyway, just for variety. I also try not to leave my house at exactly the same time everyday, or I'll run an errand before visiting my furry friends. Of course, I am still in the mid day time range.

Sometimes my routine is changed because clients move within town. That's okay with me - different places to walk the dogs, and different places for them to sniff. Other changes come from regular daily clients taking time off, vacation clients taking vacation and adding their pets to your routine, and new clients coming on board with new needs.

In my opinion, the variation in my day to day routine is one of the reasons I enjoy petsitting so much. Can you do that in a corporate job? Perhaps you could, but it probably depends on how high up the ladder you are.

Cambridge aka Goober

My aunt's dog. I see major personality written all over that face!

My Spoiled Dog and Spoiled Rugs

by Jan Gamm
Two thirds of the floors in my house are covered in ceramic tiles. The rest is carpeted. Tell me, why is it that my dog has to vomit on the carpet? I have actually observed him, in his nauseous quest for somewhere to throw up, search through the house for a convenient rug, then chuck up all over it, rather than stay where he was and be sick onto the tiles, which are oh so much easier to clean.

Dogs are strange creatures, I have decided. Our pooch is particularly spoiled, as we rescued him from an unhappy life and we believe we should somehow atone for his early misery. As a result he has grown in dignity and craftiness. He can hear a treat packet being opened from fifty yards, and he knows by instinct when his bath is being planned and manages to escape capture indefinitely.

There is one corner of our garden which is thickly covered with a bush giving out sticky burr-like woody beads, and these little beads can entwine themselves into our dog’s long fur and resist all efforts to extract them. He makes a bee line for this bush every time he goes out, in spite of going through numerous painful sessions of burr extractions from his face, legs and undercarriage. I am now certain he does it for attention, as he knows if he is covered in sticky burrs, then someone must remove them.

The latest foible of this spoilt mutt is to refuse to eat his dinner unless my husband and I are sitting next to him. This sounds little enough to do for him after his early traumas, but in fact it can be very inconvenient to give up that particular ten minutes of the day, especially as it coincides with the preparation time of our own meal. All the same, we do sit there like two idiots, totally in the control of this small furry despot.

Someone suggested to me we need to take him to obedience classes, but I really think that what we need is a doggie psychiatrist. Or perhaps just a psychiatrist.


Jan Gamm writes reflections on life with an emphasis on world travel. She has lived in many countries and traveled extensively in the Far East, the Middle East, America, South America and throughout the South Pacific. She writes for fun and for money whenever she can manage it.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jan_Gamm

Petsitting Testimonials

Do you have testimonials on your petsitting website?

Testimonials are wonderful! People come to my website who do not know me. They check out my site and think my terms of service and rates look fine, but how do they know they can trust me to do a good job? By what other people say. Testimonials show that others have used my services and are more than satisfied. Good words in testimonials are words like "trustworthy", "dependable" and "reliable."

For me, when teetering on the edge of whether to buy a product online, testimonials are usually what sell me. It's true that testimonials appeal to a person on an emotional rather than logical level, but they work!

You've probably found that happy customers often give you wonderful feedback, especially when it comes to taking care of their precious pets. Instead of just feeling all warm and fuzzy from client's compliments, add them to your website after asking them for permission to do so. If you're short on written comments, go ahead and ask some of your clients to write you a short, 2 or 3 sentence testimonial to use on your website. I've found that they're more than happy to be able to help you in some way after the great service they've recieved from you.

There are differing views on how you should display them; dispersed throughout your site, or on a dedicated testimonial page. I have them on their own page, and I know from looking at my website stats that this page gets the exact number of hits as my rates page. That confirms to me the importance of testimonials. Wherever you put them, just do it because testimonials work!

Here's one of mine:
"I have two cats and travel often, so it's comforting to know that they are well cared for when I am gone. Peggy is very professional, reliable, and takes great care of my cats - whether it be the standard feeding, playing, and cleaning of litter boxes, or going the extra mile to give them medication when needed. It's nice to come home and read Peggy's care journal and know just what happened while I was gone and see two non-traumatized kitties."


Happy Petsitting,
Peggy