What is Pet Sitting & How Does It Work?
What is Pet Sitting?
Unlike boarding, where pets stay at a location other than their home, pet sitting is done in the client's own home. This service is great for any pet but most especially for pets that can't be boarded such as guinea pigs or bearded dragons. Pet sitting is also great for pets that don't do well away from home or with other animals. For example, cats much prefer being at home than in an unfamiliar location and some dogs have severe separation anxiety when away from home.
How Does Pet Sitting Work?
We have a few options for pet sitting. Usually, clients do a 30-minute visit as many times a day as they choose. We also have quick visits for caged animals like guinea pigs and rabbits or for cats that are shy and don't like to come out to play. These visits are 15 minutes. We no longer provide overnight pet sitting where we would stay in your home overnight.
A pet sitting visit generally goes like this: we will come to your home, make sure everyone is accounted for and safe and healthy. If you have dogs, we will take them out to use the bathroom or on a walk, feed everyone, give medication if needed, scoop litter boxes, clean any accidents or messes, play with your pets and give them lots of love and attention. We can even water plants and bring in mail.
We even send a report card at every visit through our client portal, Time to Pet, so you'll know that we have been there and how your pets are doing. The report card includes a GPS location check as well as a timer and you'll get photos and updates in that report card.
Who Will Be Coming to My Home?
We have a small team of sitters that also includes Stephanie and Jon, the owners.
Our sitters go through a stringent application process. Everyone submits a resume and answers questions regarding their experience and about aspects of the job. If they pass this round they are then given a survey that gauges their likelihood to steal or do drugs etc. If they do not pass this survey satisfactorily, they will not go forward as a candidate. If they do pass the survey they then move to an interview. If they pass the interview then we may also do a trial interview where they come along with us on a few visits. After this they are then offered the job pending a background and reference check.
Once hired and after they have passed their background and reference check, the sitters are then given a week of in the field training on pet sitting visits as well as online training modules in pet care and animal behavior as well as pet first and CPR training online.
Will My Home & Information Be Safe?
We understand that giving access to your home to people you don't know may seem daunting and scary. This is why in addition to your pet's care, your home's safety and security is one of our top priorities.
When you fill out your information in our client portal, Time to Pet, you can be sure that it will all be safe and secure. The software was created by a software team out of Austin and is encrypted and very safe. No one but our team will have access to any of that information.
When you give us your keys we put a code on that key that is tied to your account in Time to Pet. The code has no identifying features that would give away what home it goes to, such as a name or address. When not in the sitter's hands the keys are kept in a safe in our office.
We try to limit the number of sitters coming to your home, however our sitters work in shifts. There is a morning/afternoon sitter and an afternoon/evening sitter and each sitter gets two days off each week so there may be on occasion more than 2 sitters on your pet sitting job.
We are also insured and bonded so if anything were to happen in your home we have insurance to cover the damage.
We hope this information has helped allay any fears or questions you may have. We look forward to caring for your pets and to a great relationship with you!