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Choosing a Pet Sitter


If you are travelling for work or planning a vacation with your family, you won’t be able to take your beloved pets with you. In that case, you may have to board your pets at the kennel or burden a relative or friend with pet care-taking duty. A better option is to hire a professional pet sitter. Professional pet sitters are trained in first aid and pet CPR. Furthermore, they can offer a variety of services from overnight stays to dog walking. However, not all pet sitters are equal. Some of them are inexperienced and don’t really know how to handle pets. You don’t want to risk the well-being of your beloved pet by leaving it in the care of such pet sitters. To help you out, we’ll highlight a few tips on selecting a professional pet sitter.

1. Check If They Can Handle Emergencies You must hire a professional pet sitter who is capable of handling anything. While you are away, accidents may happen and your pet sitter must have a plan to handle emergencies. Ask a pet sitter if they have handled emergencies before and what they would do if your pet stopped breathing. If the sitter is trained in CPR, they’ll be able to respond to your question and give a convincing reply.

2. Ask If They Can Attend to Special Needs If your pet has any special needs, you must bring them up to the pet sitter. You must ensure that your potential pet sitter is capable of meeting all the needs of your beloved pet. If the pet sitter feels nervous or intimidated when he/she finds out about special needs of your pet, it’s a clear sign that they aren’t the best fit for your pet. The pet sitter should be confident to handle any special need of your pet and should assure you that they’ll be able to attend to any and every need of your pet.

3. Ask About Training and Experience You want to hire a professional pet sitter who knows how to take care of pets. Professional training is an essential requirement for a pet sitter. If your potential pet sitter isn’t trained, they won’t be able to handle emergencies or spot potential health problems. Make sure your potential pet sitter has prior experience with your particular type of pet. For instance, some pet sitters are only experienced with dogs. Others mostly take care of cats while a few deal with reptile pets.

4. Contact References

Before you make your decision, contact references to ask any more questions that you might have about your potential pet sitter. Ask references about their experience with the pet sitter and if they faced any issue with the particular sitter. If they tell you that the pet sitter was respectful and took good care of their pet, it means that you can trust the sitter with your pet. If you follow the tips we have highlighted above, you’ll surely be able to find a pet sitter that is right for your pet.

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