The Pet Sitting Life Blog
Enjoy our articles all in one place!
Double-Duty…Making the Vacation House Check – Indoors
January 23, 2015 - When you've finished checking your vacationer's outdoors [see our article, Making the Vacation House Check - Outdoors] it's time to do an indoor house check. If you have animals to attend to, you'll naturally do this after you've looked after them....
Double-Duty…Making the Vacation House Check – Outdoors
While you're visiting the animals over the course of a client's vacation, you'll be doing house checks also. Some of these are minor and are part of your valued service...some become time-consuming, and this needs to be brought to the client's attention prior to...
Double-Duty…Pet Sitters and Vacation House Checks – Parameters
January 21, 2015 - Lately the phone has been ringing for pet sits...without the pets! We list house checks for vacationers in our business ads and websites and at this time of year we get a few calls. Insurance companies want someone to look-in on a property every...
When the Pet Sits Don’t Go as Planned
January 20, 2015 - Some of today's pet sits didn't go as planned, which sometimes happens. Quite often we have a cancellation or a last minute addition that has us tweaking our schedule. But on occasion we truly step into an alternate reality. If you're thinking about...
Bernese Mountain Dogs
January 19, 2015 - Today on Fun with Breeds we're having a look at one of our favorites...Bernese Mountain Dogs. In our posts on breeds, we lean less on the standard information and more on what we've found out in the field. This is a very small cross-section...but...
Name Your Pet Sitting Business
It's marketing day, today. In a previous post, Let's Talk Marketing, we looked at the importance of what you want to achieve in your business so you'll know how you want to present yourself. With that in mind now, let's name your pet sitting business. A few things...
Never Feed Your Dog or Cat these Foods!
January 17, 2015 - We've talked about being careful with treats for the animals you visit (see Even the Best Treats aren't for every Dog), but which foods are truly dangerous for dogs and cats? Have a look at our latest list, and please feel free to contribute if...
You’ve Arrived!…at Your First Vacation Pet Sit! – Part 4
January 16, 2015 - So...you've been asked to do a vacation pet sit for your client's dog or cat for a week, and it's time for the first visit. What can you expect? To start...the animals will know something is off and that itself sets a different atmosphere for your...
You’ve Arrived…at Your First Dog Sit – Part 3
Today we'll talk about your first dog sitting visit. Even though we lived with dogs of our own all our lives and looked after friends' and family's animals...that first visit into a stranger's home felt...well...strange. So let's take a dry-run before you head out for...
You’ve Arrived…at Your First Small Animal Pet Sit! – Part 2
January 14, 2015 - It's day 14 in our 365 Days of Pet Sitting and it's time to look at the small animals in our practice! Although our day was busy with seven visits (even after two cancellations!) over the lunch period, and our multi-dog family is now tucked-back-in...
You’ve Arrived! What’s Next, Pet Sitter? Part 1 – Cats
We've talked about the adventures we've had out and about with the animals we look after, but if you're just starting out, you might not be sure exactly where to start when you arrive at the client's home. Today we'll look at visits for cats. In upcoming posts we'll...
Living Life on the Edge…the Pet Sitter
January 12, 2015 - Sometimes we live life on the edge as pet sitters. Even when we think we're doing everything possible to stay safe...life happens. Fast. Playing it Safe Safety starts before we leave our homes and we keep a watchful eye at every call. We're more in...
Let’s Talk Marketing for Your Pet Sitting Business
January 11, 2015 - Let's talk marketing today. Sundays are sometimes quieter days in our business...and I mean "our" business. Yours might be different. For instance, we had only a cat to visit today. If we had a vacation sit to do, we'd be on the go from breakfast to...
Older Dogs – Giving Them Quality Pet Sits
January 10, 2015 - I was thinking about the vast array of dogs we've had here the past few weeks - big and small, excitable and quiet, standoffish and cuddlish (is that a word?), younger dogs and older dogs, too. They each had their own distinct personalities, but...
Setting-Up Your Pet Sitting Schedule
January 9, 2015 - It's already nine days into our 365 Days of Pet Sitting and I haven't given you an idea of how those days are set up. How do we know where to go for a call and when? One of the first things you need to set up before opening your business, is your pet...
Introducing New Dogs to Your Boarders
January 8, 2015 - It's been a hectic day! Along with our mid-day pet sits today, we have our multi-dog family of five with us still, until tomorrow (unless the snow squalls get in the way!) These guys are regular visitors and we love them like our own. Today was...
Make the Most of Your Pet Sitting Notes
January 7, 2015 - It's -25 C outside again today with a windchill in the -30s so I thought it would be a great day to talk about something completely different, the Pet Sitting Note. For day 7 of 365 Days of Pet Sitting we have the multiple-dog family with us still,...
Cold Paws in Freezing Temperatures
January 6, 2015 - My husband made a wonderful trail through the backyard with the snow blower today. The snow is only about a foot deep but for the two Jack Russells and the Papillion dogs we have with us this week, it means they can still run to their heart's content...
Is Checking for a Pet Sitting Cancellation Rude?
January 5, 2015 - We were back to our regular pet sitting schedule today...or we would have been if a snow storm hadn't ripped through the area all day! Last year at this time we'd been socked-in since early November. This year we had a couple of hair-raising snow...
Teach Confidence to the Dogs and Cats You Look After
January 4, 2015 - It's the fourth and final day of our four days off and we have a lovely two-year-old dog with us for a sleepover. I have to say, when I ended up booking-up our days off with pet sits, I felt a little sad. I was ready for a break. Of course it's...
Choose Your Words Carefully, Pet Sitter! – Animal Communication
A few days ago I gave out a challenge. Have you taken it? If you'd like to improve your relationship with the animals around you, all you need do is expand your belief systems a little. Even if it feels weird at first...I want you to talk to the animals as if they...
Checking Departure and Arrival Times of Pet Owners
January 3, 2015 - For day three of our four days off, we have two clients to see. 🙂 (I mentioned how we happened to have clients during our off-time in an earlier post.) One of the visits was this morning and one is this evening. Both visits are with two big dogs....
Contingency Plans for Pet Sitters
We had snow last night and it continued through the morning to bring us another 20 centimetres of the white stuff (about 8 inches.) That's not a lot on its own...but the blizzard conditions and white-outs make driving treacherous. Fortunately we're still in holiday...
Take the Two-Week Challenge! – Animal Communication
Animal communication is a topic dear to my heart and I'm guessing many of my pet sitter (and non-sitter) readers are nodding "Yes!" out there right now. But wait! Even if you don't believe in two-way inter- species communication, you'll find posts here to help you...
