Fun with Dogs!

Being a pet sitter means that I go to the client’s home to care for their pet while they are out of town.  I don’t stay overnight at clients’ homes.  I insist on a mininum of three half hour visits per day for dogs and no less than one visit a day for any other pet.

Over the years, I have pretty much had every crazy thing happen going into a virtual stranger’s home that could happen.  If it hasn’t happened to me personally, then it has happened to other pet sitters I communicate with online as a member of various pet sitting email lists.  I’ve come in the house to sleeping clients who neglected to tell me they had gotten home early.  I’ve had alarms go off (only two homes but I HATE alarm systems I must say! Just too many false alarms!) twice because the client had changed the code and forgotten to notify me despite the fact that when someone books a visit I ALWAYS ask “has anything changed since my last sit for you?”  I was once playing with a puppy in a client’s back yard when a strange man walked out of the basement door…a tenant the client had NEVER warned me about.  I’ve brought in mail that I am sure the client never wanted me to see resulting in my policy of always now carrying the mail into the house face down!

I’ve dealt with fraidy cats who hide as soon as I come in the house (a good pet sitter always makes sure they actually SEE each animal before leaving the home), I’ve dealt with attack cats.  I have quite a bit of experience with flighted parrots and have cared for more than one who just will not come down from a high place.  I’ve cared for dogs who didn’t want to let me in the house and dogs who try to stop me from leaving the house.  I’ve cared for disapproving rabbits and even one killer bunny (this one was black rather than white.)

In seventeen yeas of pet sitting (okay, well in the middle of that I took time to work at a boarding/training kennel and did some office work and had a web development business), I have come to the conclusion that the big secret to success is simply that the sitter is reliable, responsible and cares about animals.

I swear!  I’ve been through a huge number of ways to increase business and market myself and that is the only thing that actually matters:  that I am reliable, responsible and I care about animals.  Meaning that this winter when it was 10 below zero in Lexington I was out at 8am walking a very sweet lab/hound mix who is allergic to grass so he couldn’t just be let out in the lovely back yard with his lab housemate.  He HAS to be walked on a sidewalk so that he can relieve himself.  He just won’t go otherwise.

Reliable: I showed up as scheduled at 8am every day of the visit.

Responsible: I made sure the house was secure when I left.

Cares about animals: I made sure both dogs got some one on one time and lots of hugs/petting and went out of my way to walk the one dog in the FREEZING cold because I knew he would not relieve himself in the yard.  Both dogs were properly fed and watered and got plenty of treats the client had left for them.

You can have a cute business name, a great logo, wonderful paperwork.  That is all well and good but the only things a client really cares about are that you are reliable, responsible and caring with their pets.

I swear it is that simple.  Okay, the nitty gritty:

• My service area is Waller Avenue to Man O’War Boulevard between Harrodsburg Road and Nicholasville Road.
• Potential clients absolutely must set aside a half an hour as far in advance of their trip as possible so I can meet the client and the pet(s) and so the client can meet me and feel comfortable with me being in the home while they are away.  For holiday visits I just will not accept clients who call with less than two weeks before they are planning to leave.
• I require a mininum of 3 visits a day for dogs unless the client can give a compelling reason the dog is okay alone for 23 hours a day.
• My visits are 30-45 minutes each.
• I charge $14 per visit.
• I only keep dogs in my home who are members of our daily walk/play group.

Want to hire me?

Barrie Lynn

barrie@comfortablecreatures.com

859.523.3164