What NOT to do when using a dog sitter

In between choosing a dog sitter on the dog minding, walking and pet sitting website Pawshake and getting ready for a holiday or business trip, there’s often a LOT going on.

In the midst of the hectic-ness, the most important step of the pet sitting process is sometimes overlooked or not done correctly – the meet and greet.

You have the power to choose your very own pet sitter on Pawshake so that you know exactly who will be walking, playing with and feeding your fur baby, so it’s a good idea to really get to know that person properly so you can make an informed decision and feel totally at ease when you are on holiday.

Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when doing the meet and greet and to help ensure your pet has a safe and happy holiday stay:

1. Meeting only the dog minder and not the whole household
This is SUPER important when your dog is being boarded in the pet sitter’s home.  If the dog minder lives with housemates or a family or other pets, they must be there to meet the guest pet too. You want every member of the household to be happy and comfortable during the stay and for the dog to be comfortable with everyone it will be interacting with in the household as well!

2. Rushing, or worse – not doing a meet and greet
Life can be crazy busy, but it’s super important to schedule time to have a proper meet and greet. You want to have time to get to know each other, your pet and to inspect their home if your pet is boarding. You also want to do it early enough to have some time to consider your options if you’re meeting with more than one sitter or the house doesn’t suit your dogs space or behaviour needs. Ie: dogs that can easily scale walls or are prone to digging under fences need to stay in appropriately prepared homes.

3. Not passing on the right information or asking questions
There’s nothing worse for both you and the sitter if something should happen to your beloved pooch whilst you are away on holiday, particularly if an owner is overseas, and they can’t contact your usual vet that has the full health history, or no back up family member or friend should a life or death decision need to be made in an emergency.  You should pass on all relevant info you can think of about your pet – health, personality, behaviour, habits, you name it! And in turn ask your sitter questions about their pet care experience, their availability and their other pets.

4. Not letting the pet sitter handle and spend time interacting with your pet
Another important one that’s easy to overlook is allowing the pet sitter to carry, hold or play with your pet if your pet is usually used to that type of interaction with their family.  You should definitely give the minder a chance to do this during the meet and greet. A pet’s behaviour will change if their owner is in the middle of the mix, so step right back and give the sitter a chance to bond and your pet to feel comfortable.

5. Feeling obliged to say yes
If the chemistry isn’t quite right or expectations aren’t landing on the same page, no one needs to feel uncomfortable saying ‘thanks but no thanks’! At Pawshake our minders understand that the meet and greet is always obligation free.

About the Author:  Jess is a Community Manager for pet sitting website pawshake.com.au.