Pet Sitting Tips

I wrote about Trusted Housesitters in a previous post, but that was before we’d actually tried it. Now that we’ve completed four pet sits – three in England over a 5-week period and a 9-week sit in France – we’ve picked up a few tips.

Last spring, a Hollywood casting agent named Amberlee got in touch with us. Her film company was pitching a show on pet sitting to Animal Planet and they wanted to interview some pet sitters. Ray and I had no desire to be on TV, but the idea piqued our interest enough that we agreed to a video call to see where it would go. The email instructions were just to be ourselves and “be enthusiastic!” Make up your mind Amberlee. I downed a couple of enthusiasm-boosting gin & tonics ahead of the call.

The show would be a ‘documentary’, which I’m pretty sure is code for reality show. We had a 40-minute Skype chat, that would be edited down to two or three minutes for the audition tape. Here’s an idea of how the conversation went:

A: So, can you give me examples of anything out of the ordinary that happened during your pet sits? Things that went wrong maybe?
Us: Well…the dog took off after a rabbit one time. We were scared we’d lost him.
A: And what happened?
Us: He came back.
A: Okay. Anything else?
Us: One of the sheep was limping…
A: What did you do?
Us: Contacted the hosts. They said they’d deal with it when they got home.
A: I see. So…

You get the idea. Not exactly riveting material. I had visions of the camera crew filming us sitting on the couch watching Netflix, with a dog curled up peacefully at our feet. A bit like watching paint dry really.

The point is, if you’re applying the right filters and asking the right questions, there shouldn’t be any unwanted drama with pet sitting. The animals are in their normal environments following their normal routines. They eat. They sleep. They poop. “And…action!”

That’s not to say you couldn’t make a decently entertaining reality show about pet sitting. We came across some interesting ‘opportunities’ when perusing the housesitting sites. I remember one in particular, I think it was in rural Spain, where the hosts looked like characters from the movie Deliverance, the house was dilapidated on the outside with no pics of the inside, and there were about a dozen cats and dogs to look after. There may or may not have been plumbing and electricity. It didn’t meet our criteria for a dream vacation, but I suspect it had reality TV potential.

Based on our (admittedly limited) experience as pet sitters, here are a few tips to help things go more smoothly.

Tip #1: Take the time to put together a good profile.

If you want the highly-sought-after housesits, you need to make yourself highly-sought-after house sitters, and that starts with getting your profile to stand out among the rest.

We’d done a lot of volunteer pet sitting for friends and neighbours prior to joining Trusted Housesitters so we had references, which certainly helped. Ray’s handyman skills, and the fact that he’s a certified guide dog mobility instructor, also boosted our profile. My French-language skills, rusty as they are, helped us land the France house-sit.

We’d often pass over listings based solely on the tone of the profile. [Note to hosts: Maybe it’s just us, but profiles written in the voice of your pet were an instant turn-off.]  Try to write your profile in a voice that allows the hosts to feel like they know you after reading it. Include hobbies, careers and interests to help establish a connection.

A lot of hosts are looking for a “mature couple” so retirees have an advantage right out of the gate. It’s partly, I imagine, that they trust us not to throw wild parties, but also that we’re more likely to have been homeowners so, in theory at least, are better equipped to deal with looking after a home.

Tip #2: If your profile is weak, start local.

If your pet sitting experience is limited, try applying for sits in your home town first to build up reviews. We’ve been contacted quite a few times by Ottawa-based hosts looking for sitters. Sometimes they don’t want to post a public profile so they search the site for local sitters. Other times, it’s getting down to the wire and they haven’t had any responses to their listing so they’re a bit desperate. Let their desperation be your opportunity!

Tip #3: Take previous reviews with a grain of salt.

Almost every post I saw – for both hosts and sitters – had only 5-star reviews. The system is kind of designed to ensure that’s the case. Either the host or the sitter has to post the first review. If that person gives a less-than-perfect review, they risk getting the same back. There’s enough competition that even a single 4-star review can be the kiss of death, so there’s an incentive to give a positive review, and a disincentive to write anything negative.

Conclusion: Give very little credence to previous reviews. Look for what the reviewers don’t mention. Treat it like a real estate ad and look for clues: ‘cozy’ might mean tiny, an ‘extremely friendly’ pet might mean ‘totally out of control’. But mostly, follow tip #4.

Tip #4: Do your research. Ask questions before accepting the house sit.

House rules are determined by the hosts, not by you, so if you don’t like cats sleeping on your face or dogs on the furniture, make sure you know what the rules are before you commit. Find out how long the pets can be left alone during the day, whether they have any medical needs, if there’s a local emergency contact, etc. Ask to see pictures of different rooms in the house if they’re not included in the profile.

It can be easy to romanticize opportunities and not think through the decision clearly –  villa in Italy, chateau in France, castle in Scotland, barn conversion in the Cotswolds – they all sound idyllic, but centuries-old homes tend to have little light and poor insulation. Central heating and central air aren’t standard fare in Europe like they are in Canada. Find out what the weather is like at that time of year. If the hosts are going away, it might be to escape the rainy or cold weather.

There are multiple elements to consider – home, pets, hosts, location and timing – and you can be so taken with the awesomeness of one element that you ignore or downplay the others. We were considering a pet sit in New York City and saw a listing for a nice Manhattan apartment with a cute little dog. Perfect! But it turned out that the dog needed to be let out every three hours – not really conducive to exploring the city, so we passed on that one.

Once you commit, you’re committed, so to avoid unpleasant surprises, get as much clarity as you can before agreeing to the sit.

Tip #5: Have a back-up plan.

A key difference between house/pet sitting and regular travel is that a hotel is unlikely to cancel your booking at the last minute (and, if they do, you can usually find somewhere else to stay). We had a few cases where we applied for sits and then the hosts changed their plans. It always happened early enough in the process that the impact was minimal, but when your vacation depends on someone else’s plans, you have less control. Family emergencies happen, pets get sick and plans change. It’s important to be flexible, adaptable and financially flush enough that you can move to Plan B if Plan A falls through. If you can’t afford the trip without the housesit, you probably can’t afford the trip.

And she’s quite a proficient jumper.

Our housesit experiences have all been positive and we’d definitely do it again (I don’t know if we will, but we would). And, for those wondering, no, we didn’t get a call-back from Amberlee. I know. We were as shocked as you are.