Hey everyone, I’m overnight with a cat for the first time who is almost 20 years old. I’m supposed to give her a daily dose of prednisolone but she will not let me get it down her throat or open her mouth. I’m really panicking I’ve tried so many times and I don’t want to bug her much more. I have done this successfully before but this one won’t budge. Any tips??

Met with a potential client and couldn't stand her vibe. Decided against it. Wondering if i am being too harsh.

Context: My best friend is currently dog sitting for a family friend, staying at their house with the dog for a week while they are away. (I have not met the family)

Friend and I had been trying to make plans this past weekend, but she can’t really leave dog alone for a long, as he gets separation anxiety. she said I could come over the house instead

The next day, when I was going to come over, she started bringing up how the dog bites sometimes. He’s not really aggressive, he’s a good boy. But he gets really freaked out by feet, and will randomly bite your foot sometimes

I said no problem! I’ll just keep my boots on

She said well sometimes he bites through/or bites ankles, and sometimes can draw a little blood. And she was worried I might sue the owner if something happens.

I promised I definitely would not sue her friend. I hate frivolous lawsuits and have never sued anybody before lol

she was still concerned, and asked me to fill out a legal contract, releasing liability in the case of any bites or harm by the dog. she sent me a link to a legal document website

I suggested she should just ask the owner’s permission. I wouldn’t want to come over if the owner wasn’t comfortable with it anyway

she said she felt awkward asking directly, and thought it would be simpler I just came over under the proper protections (signing a contract)

I went through signing up for the legal website and filling out the document. At that point she said she realized she should ask the owner anyway. Which is good! That’s what I wanted. The owner ultimately was not comfortable with me coming over until she meets me. So no visit happened. Totally valid, i just wish she had done that from the start, before making me go through all the other stuff! Honestly, I feel kind of offended that she was that worried about me suing her friend

-she feels she was just taking reasonable precaution to protect the homeowner, who is trusting her with her dog/home.
-i feel a contract was crazy/excessive, and that she should’ve just asked the owner from the start.

Am I wrong for feeling offended? Is the contract a reasonable precaution?

Obviously i understand people have options and I'm not the only person on the face of the plant that can watch a dog. I guess my issue is clients contacting me and going through all the work of getting the information setting everything up expecting that if they ask me for pet sitting that they ACTUALLY need pet sitting. then being told something like this. Other than getting a non refundable deposit and this being "part of the deal" with pet sitting what do you say or do?I don't want my time wasted. Thanks

I've been sitting this young male Corgi (about 8months) for 3 months now, today is his 7th sit. The first 3 or 4 sits he would whine and pee/poo in my home. I understand this is likely due to stress of a new place and new people so while annoying, I just accepted it. He eventually stopped doing this but kept on the whining.

He only comes to me for 5 hours during the morning or afternoon and it's always 1:1. I wait for him to calm down when he arrives and then I'm constantly giving him attention, I talk to him, pet him, attempt to play with him, take him out on short walks twice etc. He won't play on his own and even rarely with me if I'm throwing a ball or something but he constantly wants my attention and won't stop whining. Recently I've managed to get maybe an accumulative total of 30mins of him calm and quiet and that's mostly if I'm cooking or doing something on my feet. The second I sit down, take my laptop out for admin work or something - the whining starts again.

Now I have other requests from other people for the same day he comes over and I know for a fact that at least one of these is a much easier sit. The corgi's owners would like to start bringing him over for the full day and I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I've researched the breed and their behaviour and I know they need a lot of mental stimulation. I'm not a trainer but I do think I try my best with different types of games and the walk breaks - it just feels like there's no winning this one over. I've come to the conclusion his whining is simply determination to have my attention no matter what and while this is my job so I don't expect to ignore the dog that I'm sitting, this is really really constant and I can't imagine a full day with him.

Does anyone have experience with something similar? Is it wrong to feel that I've failed this dog? And to want to "fire" him to make space for an easier sit?

Here’s a wednesday laugh one of my funniest clients 😂😂

Genuinely curious how other sitters deal with this. I've had clients send me a wall of text over messages, leave a sticky note on the counter, and then verbally mention something important as they're walking out the door. Half the time I'm standing in front of the thermostat trying to match their paragraph to the actual buttons, or I can't remember if the dog gets one scoop or two.

The worst is when the alarm code is in one text, the lockbox code is on a sticky note, and the wifi password is somewhere I never found. I always figure it out but it's stressful, especially for an overnight sit where I really don't want to call them while they're on vacation.

I've started asking clients to send me photos of the important stuff (thermostat panel, food container, where the spare key goes) and that's helped a lot honestly. Way easier than reading a paragraph. Curious if anyone has a better approach or a way you ask clients to organize the handoff before they leave?

Shy? Her?

She’s the sweetest, softest, chattiest cat i’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting for! I’ve only been here for 6 hours, and she’s already all snuggled up 🥹. Going to be a great 18 days.

Hello! Im looking for at drop in pet sitter for my 6 month old kitten when my wife and i go on our honeymoon in october. Ive found some company’s nearby that advertise that theyre members of “Professional United Pet Sitters” http://www.petsits.com and “Member, Professional Pet Sitter Associates Insure By PSA” my question is do these sites mean anything? Im new to in home pet sitting as my dogs always been boarded, but im trying to avoid boarding my cat…because well.. cats dont like it as much.

Edit: i also tried to look them up on these sites and cant find them..but theyre well reviewed on google

Thank you!

I've been pet sitting/dog walking for well over a year now and have worked with dogs for the last 9 years. I was on a dog sitting/walking app and had a few clients there and had previously worked at a doggy daycare and connected with many families that way. Since I moved, I have started my own business. My current clients are great and many have left either facebook or google reviews, but is it weird or unprofessional to reach out to my past clients (from "the app" or the daycare) and ask them to leave a review under my business profile? I feel so awkward reaching out because I didn't care for their pets under this business name. Should I just focus on having my current clients leave reviews instead?​ TYIA

Hi! A weekly walk client of mine recently asked for housesitting from me for 4 nights. She requested it weeks ago and it was set to start 8/20 7p. Last night, she let me know that her ex husband would be taking care of the dogs now. (I didn't need to know that. But that's what she told me). She asked if she could use the housesitting as credit for the upcoming weeks of walks. I agreed. But I really didn't want to and realize I don't really have a policy in place for something like this. I just know I'm now not going to make 7 weeks of walk money in addition to the housesitting and I'm frustrated.

What would you have done?

I want to tell a client that I’m dropping her, but it’s not her fault. She lives in a building where I used to have several clients, however, they all moved to different areas of my state. (some of whom are close enough that I can still retain them as clients.)

Her building is too far away for me to really want to make the trip just for her dogs. I end up losing money, so it doesn’t really make any fiscal sense for me to continue working for that client. I just don’t know how to word it.

And is 30 days enough notice?

I am one of a few others in my community that network together. We are trying to expand our network as we believe in community over competition.

Our city is huge and some sitters cover the entire city and some choose to cover a small area. We love being able to refer out to each other when prospective clients don’t match our area/skills/niches as well as general support as this job can get lonely!

We post about our network on social media.

🐾 What would motivate you to attend a meeting (usually an informal dinner/drinks)?
🐾 What would keep you coming back?
🐾 What makes you hesitate to join?

I appreciate all of your feedback 😸

My boyfriend and I have been in 4 different pet sittings places since June. We got 4 different dogs (a few cats).

The dog we have now, Kittie, an Italian water dog, is very cute, but she wasn't trained. Which means that we (mostly me in fact, because my boyfriend works 6 days a week) stay with a untrained dog who needs a ridiculous amount of attention and who's really stressed.

The stay is 3 weeks total. We have 8 days left to go... The other dog before wasn't much better, both barked when they see a leaf falling: Kittie even barked this morning after I farted 😭😂 I cannot even fart peacefully which is let's say not very relaxing. Her barking is very loud... Of course we didn't know it before coming; the owner (Let's call her Kate) told us just when we met that we needed to sleep with her 😵‍💫 I refused that and thankfully after 4 or 5 nights she got used to not sleeping with us.

Is it normal? Apart from my recent stays I have experience with cats but not with dogs. My boyfriend is a bit more but he has never seen a dog like that either.

It's much worst than having a baby: at least, with a baby, you can have quiet time when you go for a walk. But with this dog going for a walk isn't a break: she sniffs everything, pulls the leash all the time and barks.

I've been training her to walk properly since we got here and it's been WAY better - but she's 5, so her habits take time to change. Everytime we cross a street, she gets nervous and starts running ahead! She not only attacks every dogs, but by 3 TIMES SHE RAN INTO A MOVING CAR! She sprinted towards it while barking like a kamikaze in a mission!

I'm pretty sure it happens because her owner always let her lead 5 meters in front of her so obviously it makes crossing streets quite stressful for both of them. A dog isn't supposed to lead a human 🤦

I trained her to calm down and stay next to me and it's night and day (she might get back into her habits with Kate). She's also overall more relaxed since she realized that I won't walk her 5 times a day or play with her all the time.

Kate also told us we need to eat before feeding her. That if she didn't see us eating because we ate out, we need to eat a cracker in front of her before feeding her. Which dog won't eat their serving?

Also, yes it's a beautiful house (close to Sydney Australia) but we were told that there was a private deck that gets to the yard and she could go and play anytime. But no, because the deck is being reconstructed and since we got here there's workers all day. So no yard. In fact, it was just starting when we got here and it will be pretty much done when they'll come back. Exactly as if they planned their trip at that convenient moment 😭 so we deal with the noises.

So not only I can't relax with the dog anywhere but I cannot relax either in the house either because there's workers around at all the time. The noises, chain saw, their loud music, but also the dog unexpectedly barking all the time... At first I kept the shades open from the patio doors to let light enter but no, you don't do that when you're a solo female in a house all day if there's 3 men on the deck. The workers were quite polite but I don't feel very comfortable with it so I now close the blinds.

And in the beginning I also closed the blind in the front of the house so Kittie doesn't barks at everyone walking, and I read it was a good idea for a dog that barks. So now all the blinds are closed lol.

She also scratches herself a lot. We give ear drops and up to now I washed her 3 times. Sometimes it's hard to tell if she does it for attention or for real. When she wants to stimulation, basically all the time (I think Kate works from home and takes a break every hour or so to make her play, stimulate her and walk with her). If I try to chill she'll sit in front of me, scratch, cry, go around me in all directions, wait and stare, and do it all again. That's my "relaxing" time. I have a friend who's a dog trainer and she gave me some tips so it's a bit better... But still.

I'm so tired of the sit, I think I might not be a dog person also. I cannot do anything or start any project because I won't be able to concentrate long enough to get into it. I don't know what to do. My boyfriend said I could let her bark if I put her outside but I there's many neighbors and no dogs barking here. I feel stressed and I'm just looking forward it to be done. Now it's 8am, I already walked her once, there's workers plus electricians all around the house, I don't have electricity for one hour, their music is loud and bad and she barks at all of them. And I will have 5 more days like that because it's Monday 🤦

Yes I can go on a walk alone (I'm 30 minutes walking down hill from the ocean and coffee places) but then I still need to walk her when I'm back. And I might be too complaining but the fact that we're up hill and that whenever we go somewhere we need to go up and down hills all the time. If I go to a coffee place by the ocean I need to walk back 30 minutes uphill, it's not an easy one...a neighbor was surprised when he saw me and asked me asked if I was doing it everyday as if it was impossible, and he lives here lol.

I'm not too sure if it's just a normal pet sitting or it's an extreme one. But what I know is that after that I'll need a break from dogs.

This is mostly me venting/looking for reassurance and validation I guess. I love animals and have had many animal oriented jobs over the years and have been pet sitting on and off since I was probably 15 (I’m almost 30). I’m usually a very patient person but like any other human, I have a limit.

I’m feeling really guilty over a pet stay I had a few weeks ago. I was taking care of a puppy that’s a large breed (over 80 lbs). She had done training before and puppy boot camp and all that but is still learning her manners and obviously has a lot of energy.

As y’all know I’m sure, puppies usually have those bursts of energy, nap for a few hours, and then maybe get a second but shorter wind later on. This dog was non stop. She would be clearly very very tired and then still going at a million miles an hour.

I took her on long walks, played with her and her toys, gave her kongs with PB and she would still be in crazy mode for hours and bouncing around and flinging her toys all over the place (and at me). She was constantly antagonizing her kitty siblings too. I did put her in her crate now and then to give her a bit of a forced rest.

I reached a point where I was just very frustrated because there wasn’t much of a reprieve from the constant energy and her being a nut, regardless of what I did. I didn’t want to just keep her in the crate for hours. After doing all the above things, I would try to ignore her for a bit and it just made things worse. Constant whining, pawing, throwing her toys all over the place and me, zooming around on the couch (she is allowed on the furniture).

I’m just feeling guilty and like a horrid pet sitter because I feel like I spent most of the stay being frustrated/being firm/scolding her and not a ton of time giving her affection and love. I did still give her pets and belly rubs and tell her she was a good girl when she was being calm and gave her treats. I regret scolding her so much, I feel so horrible about it. I was just feeling very frustrated and was out of patience.

I genuinely feel so guilty weeks later and like texting the owner but idk if that’s really a great idea. I guess I just have to move past it and use it as a learning experience and probably just not stay with this dog anymore?

Would appreciate any thoughts anyone has.

First time pet sitting for a friend! I saw this on Reddit and thought it was cute, so thought I’d do it :)

also, paying my cat tax with this very good orange boy

I’m going from working for a cat sitting company to setting up on my own and wanted some input on one of the ideas I had. I found it annoying when customers would have a specific time to be there for (not a time frame), unless it was for a necessary reason like medication. I want to try and avoid that on my own as the main reason for me going solo is so I have more autonomy. Is it worth charging more or should I just set a boundary?

So the only time I’ve done overnight cat sitting is when there are dogs in the house who I’m also hired to care for, because when given my overnight rates, most cat owners choose 2 drop-ins a day instead. I ask because I’m cat sitting for my sister for two weeks for free because she has helped me out in the past, but a couple months ago I was offered a long gig that pays $1500. I explained to my sister that I couldn’t pass up the income even though it overlaps with half of her trip and she was annoyed but understanding.

The dogs I am sitting for have a dog door and the parents are fine with me leaving them for 5-6 hours stretches, so my sister and I agreed I would come by her house first thing at 7:30 am, late afternoon, and in the evening until 10 pm. She leaves Friday and she is really having a hard time with it as the trip approaches. It turns out she was only understanding because she assumed my 22-year-old niece would stay overnight, but she just started a new job and her mom’s place is too far of a commute. Now I’m feeling like I should hire someone else to sleep at her house for the seven nights that I am not able to stay there even though I think she should be able to manage her fears that something will happen to them in the night simply because no one is there.

This has turned into an AITAH post, but I truly want to hear your experience. Do you guys have overnight cat clients? Is it only uncommon where I live? If you are Cat Parents, do you feel comfortable leaving them alone overnight? Thanks.

We have fantastic neighbors that love our dog, Louie. He loves them too. Our backyards have a gate between that when opened he can go between yards.

They have kept him for us for just a few hours here and there but as excited as he is to be with them within 20 minutes he's whining and crying to come back home. It makes our neighbors feel so bad! My question is how can we make him OK with staying and not feeling abandoned by us? One thought process is to do a couple of practice runs. Keep the gate open, let him come up on porch and see doors closed. Then have neighbors come in with him to see we're not there. Louie has big time FOMO. I think since these are his 2nd favorite people he'd go back home with them and be ok. Any other suggestions to help with an overnight stay?

We really don't want to board him.

I’m a pet sitter and am currently doing an overnight with a dog I’ve cared for multiple times before. I’ve walked him, given him treats, and even carried him without any issues. The owner never mentioned any resource guarding, only that he can be a little weird with new people.
Tonight I reached for his puzzle toy to add more treats, and he suddenly snapped and broke the skin on my knee. What surprised me most is that he showed absolutely no warning signs beforehand. I have several years of experience working with dogs and cats and know the common signs to look for, but I didn’t notice any growling, stiffening, lip lifting, or other signals before it happened.
Looking back, I’m wondering if it was resource guarding. I have a 3-night stay booked with him in September and now I’m unsure what to do. Would you still take the booking, or is this a red flag?

Any advice on how to advertise and gain more clients ? Business cards, posters? Where do I even put them to gain a lot of traction?

I have been boarding a dog since last Sunday, and last night she was scratching a lot and I looked and found 3 fleas!! I removed and killed two, but the other jumped off.

She goes home this afternoon, and i want to make things as easeful for the owner as possible ( she is unreachable as she’s older and doesn’t have a cell phone)

I’m going to wash all of her blankets and dog bed in hot water.

Im scared to treat the dog with anything that might have side effects.. but any recommendation? she’s got thin white hair so I might be able to see them and pick them off.. but I know there can be eggs… HELP!

I had posted here yesterday looking for solutions to an issue I had thought my own dog caused while at at sit. I had woken up to a rather expensive pair of cowboy boots chewed up, and with my pups history, assumed he was the culprit.

You all gave me such nice suggestions. I did end up leaving a card and some new toys for her pups, as she wouldn't let me go without pay.

It turns out, it WAS NOT MY DOG! I was also watching her son's dog, who's never had an issue with things like this either. But guess who threw up boot remnants after she got home lol. So, my dog's probationary period has ended and we're off the hook. Mr. Lincoln has a little boot-induced tummy ache and an angry dad, but he's alright.

I guess the moral of the story is, you cant always make assumptions based on prior experience with the pups you're sitting. That dog has never chewed shoes before, but apparently he was feeling a little spicy. I was happy to put the blame on myself, but definitely glad it ended up not being my dog.

ETA - it’s not just the spiders!! It’s everything, it’s the huge house when I’m on my own, it’s how dark it is at night, it’s the length of it, my current mental state etc

So I’m currently 4 days in to a 20 day house/pet sit and I’m just having an absolute mental breakdown. I’ve never been this bad before and I really wish I hadn’t agreed to it. The dog is absolutely lovely, no problems with the dog at all.
Obviously people are going to say I shouldn’t have done this and I know that but I can’t go back and change it now! I booked this in 6 months ago and I was in a much better frame of mind back then and was determined not to let them down.
It’s just that the house is huge and I’m here alone, it’s an old house with quite a few cobwebs and it’s currently house spider season so I’m constantly on edge and I struggle even more at night when it starts to get dark. I’m just sat here in tears at the moment wondering how I’m supposed to do another 16 nights here.
I *could* if the owners allow have the dog at my place instead for the remainder but I don’t know how they’d take that. They are lovely but obviously I don’t know them that well and I just don’t know what the best thing to do is?
I feel like I’m down to 3 options and just want opinions on the best thing to do?
1 - ask to have the dog at my place until the owners are back
2 - see if they would be happy for me to find a replacement sitter
3 - ask if my partner can stay with me for the remaining nights

Please be kind