Why a Pet Sitter is Not Right for You

Believe it or not, pet sitting is not the right solution for all pets.

Why would we bring this up? We want to make sure that your pet receives the best possible care while you're traveling and that you're aware of the reasons why a pet sitter may not be right for your pet.

1: Your dog is not good with strangers. Some pet parents don't really know this or they won't fully disclose it and the pet sitter finds out in a most unfortunate way. We have had several encounters like this and they've been among our most challenging experiences.

In one situation, the owner said the dog is skittish around strangers but should be ok. We

met the dog the day before the owner left. The next evening the dog would not let the pet sitter in the house. We reached out to the emergency contact and the dog wouldn't let the friend in the house, either! Fortunately, the owner was only in Tucson and was able to come home.

We once had to contact an owner who was away on a trip to get vaccination records to take their dog to a boarding facility as he was too dangerous to the pet sitter attempting to let him out of his crate on the visits.

2: Your pet has a medical condition that is not fully managed by medication. This is most common in senior pets and pets with chronic issues whose health is deteriorating and not responding to medication. These pets require a lot of supervision and, often, veterinary intervention. We recommend boarding at veterinary hospital.

3: Your pet is on medication and is shy with strangers and/or is resistant to the medication. Pets on medication must reliably and easily take medications without force or extreme trickery. Putting medication in favorite treats is fine, as long as the pet will always accept the treat. While we can usually spend extra time getting the medication into an unwilling pet it can often be a risk; to either the pet, if we simply can't administer the medication or get the pet out from under the bed, or to the pet sitter, if the pet becomes upset and bites or growls.

4: You are having workers or guests at your home while you're away. They may be there during scheduled visits and impede the pet sitter's ability to provide care. They may leave a gate, window or door unsecured. The noise and chaos of having significant construction or repairs being done can cause your pets undue stress.

We have walked in on guests in various stages of undress and activities that definitely indicated they weren't expecting anyone to come barging in on them. We have been startled by people coming out of bedrooms when we thought the house was empty. In one very alarming situation a boyfriend chased one of our pet sitters out of the house. Our policy requires that no one else is at the house during our visits for the safety of our pet sitters.

Those are the Top 4 Reasons why a pet sitter is not right for you. If you have a unique situation and you aren't sure whether we can help just give us a call! After 12 years and more than 100,000 visits we have the experience to guide you in the right direction, even if it is not with us!

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