Planning a trip away from home without pets? Then you’ll need to find a petsitter. But how do you find a petsitter you trust, especially if you are new petowner, or new to your neighbourhood and don’t yet have a relationship with pet-loving neighbours? Such challenges are compounded of course if you are an expat or you live and work away from familiar networks. So listen, here’ what you do…Here are some top tips for how to find a petsitter, no matter where you are in the world.
Top Tips for how to find a petsitter —
- Search online for petsitting and housesitting near you
- Check the reviews of petsitting platforms and their sitters
- Check out their security and safety protocols
- How to choose you petsitter
- Place an advert that gives enough information and invites applications.
1. Search online for petsitting and housesitting
Searching online will help you find petsitters quickly. The trick is getting access to the best list of petsitters who might be available as fast as possible through a reputable source.
— Today most petsitting businesses are listed online. Independent petsitters may still advertise through local leaflet drops or free newspapers, but mostly sitters align themselves with organisations that can offer support, documentation and occasionally insurance.
2. Check the reviews of the petsitting platforms and their sitters
Selecting the best petsitting platform to ‘work’ with. Their modus operandi will be important to you once you start — When choosing a petsitting platform, consider ‘how’ they do business. It is important that you are happy working the way they operate, especially as this will be largely an online relationship until your petsitter appears for the assignment. If you are happy with a fully automated online web-based system that’s fine. However, if you think you might need a little support to get started as a first time user then ask if they can support you, hold your hand so to speak until you learn the ropes. There are a few platforms that will do this. Ask in their Livechat.
Review the reviews — Before making a choice of the company or service you want to work with be sure to check the customer reviews of the service or petsitting platform you are considering joining and working with. The reviews will generally reflect the quality of the service you are likely to receive. The same goes for an individual petsitter listed on a group site. See what the clients have said about them and their service. A good petsitting service should present all those reviews to give you a balanced view e.g. are the petsitters good with the animals, do they keep your home clean and tidy, did they maintain the garden as you had hoped while you were away.
External reviews matter on independent platforms — Look out for what clients have said in Trustpilot, Reviews.io, Yelp and in Google and other review sites. So make sure to search on line between all the different review sites you’ll get an idea for what customers feel about the brand and what they do. It will help you get a sense for what to expect. Remember, it is also important to see what a business says about itself so be sure to read the website pages that describe the offering. This is one case where biggest isn’t always best. Security and service will likely matter more when you need support.
3. Check out their security and safety protocols
One of the important signs of a secure site is if they ask all participants to undertake an ID check online. Verifying participants will help to keep the website safe from imposters and interlopers. A good petsitting platform will also ask sitters to share their current police and background checks online, verified by the website owners. This should display on their profile, so be sure to ask. An agreement to follow these protocols will show you that the company is committed to security and the safety of all participants. And moreover, that the sitters are serious about following protocols for the general good.
4. How to choose your petsitter
What experience will the petsitter need for your assignment — When you are considering the experience and considerations you would like in your ideal petsitter, make a short list of these attributes — e.g. dog lover, has owned a dog, fit and able to walk a dog once or twice a day depending on your pet; would be willing to help with light gardening and household duties.
Will they need a car for your assignment — If your home is based in a rural location, will the petsitter need their own car for the duration of your petsit? make that clear in your online advert. If you have a spare care you are happy for them to drive be sure you are clear on the insurance protocols you need to fulfil to let them drive your car.
References — If you would also like to see references from people who know the sitter then be clear about that also.
Meet online for an interview — It is very common today for petsitters to be interview online via ZOOM or WhatsApp or Skype. There are many such tools available today that enable you to meet them virtually for an interview, free of charge before committing to them for the assignment.
Petsitter or petsitters — Make sure you understand if the petsitter will be on their own or with another person, or even their family before you commit. Some pet owners love to have multiple sitters staying to care for the pets, because there will be more people to care for and play with the pets. But be sure to ask the question and to think about what it is that you would be comfortable with.
5. Place an advert that gives enough information and invites applications.
Once you have joined an online petsitting platform, make sure that your profile gives enough information to invite applications. Use photos of the pets and your property to ensure you create a positive and inviting profile. But don’t give too many personal details and no contact details. A good housesitting platform will veil your real identity and exact location for security. That is the marker of a good and secure online platform. Once your advert is live be sure to check your account on a regular basis. And as soon as a petsitter has applied be responsive and communicative so you can interview them quickly to see if they are your ideal petsitter.
In conclusion
Many such services that are online will have some form of registration. If you have chosen a housesitting and petsitting platform like Housesitmatch.com you will need to pay a small administration fee and you will need to give some core contact details as a starting point. Remember to check the reviews on the website and on external independent platforms. Then find out exactly how they work to see if that style will suit you and if they will provide support when needed. Then when you find a petsitter be sure to be a good host, and offer a good review for services rendered, for both the petsitter and the petsitting platform. Pass it forward, we will all benefit from good information online.
