Interviewing a pet sitter
The pet sitting industry is no different from other industries in that there are honest and dishonest service providers. I have come across pet sitters who advertise that they are insured and bonded and are members of certain professional organizations when none of that is true.
Ask to see proof. Any professional pet sitter should have a presentation manual with the certificate of insurance and bonding and various memberships and certifications included in their book. The insurance and bonding usually comes with multiple certified copies from the insurance company, so there should be plenty of copies if one is misplaced. The policy needs to include the Lost Key Endorsement and the Care Custody and Control Extension.
Pets Stay Home - Pet Sitting Plus is a premium pet care and dog training service in Winnipeg, MB
More on professional pet sitting software
One of the benefits of the pet sitting software is the reminders that are generated for clients and for us. It’s powerful software that helps manage our client visits. The software generates a list of visits for each day and each morning we receive the list. For client protection no address info is in this list. At the end of the day we check off the completed visits. It helps ensure that nothing is missed.
The software is the equivalent of having an office manager which then allows us to focus on other work.
Pets Stay Home - Pet Sitting Plus is a premium pet care and dog training service in Winnipeg, MB http://www.petsstayhome.ca
Why we chose professional pet sitting software
We switched from a manual scheduling process to professional pet sitting software in mid 2009 . For new clients, our old process involved four different forms plus a Service Request that we would fill in at the interview. For repeat bookings, the client would email us, we would create another Service Request for the new timeframe, email it back to the client for approval, and the client would email confirmation to us. This was a long, tedious process. When we needed information, we would find it to be outdated or incomplete.
We needed to simplify the process and the record keeping. We reviewed a number of professional pet sitting software applications. As a member of Pet Sitters International we chose their recommended software, Power Pet Sitter. We chose a trial run of it and attended a couple of teleseminars in its usage. We were very happy with it. We introduced it to the clients and received good reviews of it.
What we especially like about the software is that the client maintains his/her own information and appointment dates. We are still involved in the process in that we approve the appointments but much of the work has been shifted. For those clients who don’t have access to the internet, we will create and maintain an account for them.
There are security measures in place for accessing any of the information. We tell clients that if they don’t wish to enter any of the information, not to. We can record other information in the file instead.
After having used the software for over a year, it was definitely the right choice, not only for simplifying the process but in having access to current information for all clients.
Pets Stay Home is a premium pet care and dog training service in Winnipeg, MB
Timed Visits for Pet Sitters
Some pet sitters advertise 20 minute visits or 30 minute visits and charge a different rate for each. I have to wonder, what if the pet is ill, needs extra care or if there is a problem in the house? What do you do then? Do you say, “Time’s up, have to leave!”?
We don’t provide timed visits. We know that one day the basic care is fine and the next day the pet may need extra time. But even basic care can be 30 minutes. It’s surprising the amount of work that is involved in pet care. Timed visits do not work!
Pets Stay Home - Pet Sitting Plus is a premium pet care and dog training service in Winnipeg, MB www.petsstayhome.ca
What Happened to the ACPSN?
ACPSN stands for All Canadian Pet Services Network. It was started in 2004, filling a need for a Canadian pet industry group. While the name implies it is an organization and some say it is a non-profit group, it is actually a sole proprietorship registered to Lara Willis in Toronto.
During the first few years, the owner of ACPSN provided everything a pet service would need. There were contracts and all the business forms, Read more
Retirement Business
What do retired people for the next 10 to 20 years after retiring? Travelling, golfing and having lots of free time can become old very quickly. Some start consulting businesses in their specialty, others start B&B’s, some open stores and coffee shops. I started a pet service. This business idea was something that I had read about long before I retired.
I had read the book, Pet Sitting for Profit by Patti Moran. Many parts of that book spoke to me Read more
Reducing Waste When Cleaning Litter Boxes
Litter boxes require daily scooping. If a new bag is used each day, that’s a lot of extra bags that are going into the landfill and that could easily be reduced to a third or less.
Here’s something that works very well. Get a small plastic garbage can, one with a lid. Line it Read more
Education Keeps Dogs Out of Shelters
“Education keeps dogs out of shelters & happily in homes.” from Dog Star Daily
Read more from this great site Dog Star Daily site
Pets Stay Home - Pet Sitting Plus is a pet care and dog training service in Winnipeg, MB. Pets Stay Home
Training Methods
Time Magazine had an article in the July 30, 2010 issue on dog training methods. Discussing training methods can become as heated as discussing politics. It’s an interesting read.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2007250,00.html
Playing with Your Cat
Here’s an article on keeping your kitty happy with play. There are other great articles on HelpingKitty.com too.
http://blog.helpingkitty.com/46/enrichment/how-to-play-with-your-cat
Pet Sitting Over and Beyond Basic Care
We occasionally receive a quote request from a prospective client with the comment that all they want is a quick check of food and water and scooping of the litter. We can’t help those clients because our service is over and beyond quick pet care. Below are a few examples.
We monitor changes in the pet’s eating, drinking and elimination habits and in the overall health and well being. If problems arise we need to react appropriately, and that may mean a veterinary visit and yes, it does happen!
We need to ensure the home is safe for the pets. That means checking that the heat is on, no toilets are running, no water leaks in the basement, etc. We need to recognize problems and take quick action to resolve them. We recently encountered a situation where the back door of a home was wide open when we arrived. After checking outside for signs of tracks in the snow which would suggest that someone had forced the door open - none were found, we knew that the wind had blown the door in. The latch didn’t work and the door couldn’t be locked so we propped a box and a few other things against the door so it wouldn’t open again. But the best part of this was that no pets were missing.
Pets Stay Home - Pet Sitting Plus has been providing pet care in Winnipeg since 2004. See our website at www.petsstayhome.ca
Holiday Season
After being in this business for almost six years I’ve noticed that if there is going to be a snowstorm, it will be during the busiest time - over the holidays. So this winter I purchased my first set of winter tires for my 4wd Toyota. The tires really made a difference! As expected, during the holiday season we had a snowstorm which dumped quite a bit of snow. Some of the areas that I needed to get into didn’t get plowed for about four days but going in was no problem. I was very impressed with the Michelin X-Ice i2 tires.
Karin is a pet sitter in Winnipeg and operates Pets Stay Home - Pet Sitting Plus.
Pet Sitting Software
Staying organized can be a challenge for any business. But for a pet service it will make or break the business. To help manage client and pet information, in 2009 I added pet sitting software. I did that very carefully with research over a couple of years. When I was finally comfortable with one product - confident that it would do what it should - I registered for it.
Which one did I choose? Power Pet Sitter! It’s the one that Pet Sitters International recommends and has years of testing behind it. I met the owner of the software in Atlanta, GA at the PSI Regional Meeting in September. When she had the software created for her own company, she had 100 pet sitters working for her, and needed software that would keep everything in order. With that type of testing, I know I made the right choice.
Clients have been very happy with it and have provided many positive comments.
We have been keeping pets happy in Winnipeg since 2004.
http://www.petsstayhome.ca
Pet Sitters in Winnipeg
A couple of years ago I was interviewed by the Winnipeg Free Press on what to look for when hiring a pet sitter. The text of that of that interview is below. I have also added a couple of additional points at the bottom of this blog that should be taken into consideration.
November 3, 2007 Edition of the Winnipeg Free Press:
HEADING out of town for the weekend or planning a Christmas getaway?
For pet owners, figuring out what to do with your animal while you’re away can be a difficult dilemma.
Many pets prefer to stay in familiar surroundings and become stressed when taken Read more
To Board or Not to Board
This is one question that many clients will ask when it comes to care for their dogs. I had previously posted on this topic, and have a few more thoughts on the subject.
Each situation needs to be assessed independently. There are some cases where home care is the best choice; other cases where boarding may be the better option.
Consider the following two cases: Read more