How to Get a Job as a Professional Dog Sitter
If you love dogs, you may be looking for a way to spend as much time with them as possible. To turn it into a job rather than just a hobby, consider becoming a professional dog sitter. Keep reading to learn how to make your dream a reality.
Just because you like dogs doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll make a good professional dog sitter. Before you pursue this line of work, take the time to think practically about whether you have what it takes. A dog sitter needs to not only be good with animals but also with people – you’ll be providing a service and you need your customers to have a positive interaction with you. You also need to be honest, responsible, and dependable. Your clients will be relying on you to care for their dogs when they can’t do it themselves and that’s a big responsibility!
Related: 8 Tips to Hiring an In-Home Pet Sitter
Before you go out looking for clients, you should work out some of the details about your new business. First, decide what kind of scale you want to have. Do you want to limit yourself to a specific neighborhood or do you want to provide service to clients all over the city? Do you plan to offer in-home pet sitting or will you take the dogs into your own home? Are you going to offer additional services such as grooming, walking, and training or just stick to the basics? These are all things you need to think about now, so you can present yourself to potential clients in a professional way.
Related: A Pet Sitter’s Guide For When Friends Are Watching Your Dog
Once you have the basics about your business set in stone, you can start looking around for clients. As an individual, you’ll need to get creative when it comes to marketing. Ask local businesses in your area if they’d be willing to hang a flyer or if you can leave some business cards on the counter. You could take out an ad in the local paper or use your social media accounts to advertise your business. And don’t forget to turn yourself into a walking advertisement. You could make up t-shirts with your business name or print magnets to stick on your car. The options are endless!
When you finally get your first client, do your best to make them happy! A happy client is your best marketing asset because they’ll tell others about you and you’ll soon start having people come to you, rather than the other way around. Collect testimonials and recommendations as you go along as well – you could even create a website and post them on one of the pages. The key to keeping your clients happy is to treat their pets well and to go above and beyond to show them just how much you care.
If you’re looking for a new career and you think pet sitting might be the way to go, take what you’ve learned here and put it to work! With time and dedication, you just might be able to turn your dream of becoming a professional pet sitter into a reality. Good luck!
Kate Barrington is the loving owner of two cats (Bagel and Munchkin) and a noisy herd of guinea pigs. Having grown up with golden retrievers, Kate has a great deal of experience with dogs but labels herself a lover of all pets. Having received a Bachelor's degree in English, Kate has combined her love for pets and her passion for writing to create her own freelance writing business, specializing in the pet niche.
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