FAQs
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I read everything I can on petsitting via information provided by Petsitters International, and as far as animal care, I continue to expand my shelter work knowledge whenever possible. Presently, I am attending a Level 2 class on handling pit bulls, presented by Best Friends Animal Society and Whole Dog training. I am also extremely interested in pet dog training, not as a career, but as a way to better connect with and communicate with my clients' dogs as well as the many shelter dogs I am privileged to work with. I took the Red Cross dog and cat pet first aid class a few months ago, and I am sure I will need to take it again within the next year or so in order to remain "fresh" and well-informed.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
After having worked as an animal shelter volunteer for over five years, it dawned on me: I should be doing this as my next career! It didn't take long before I found a petsitting company -- Dogs On The Run -- that was looking to expand into my area (Pacific Beach, La Jolla). I met with the company's owner, we realized we were definitely "in synch" when it came to our beliefs (and at the time, her experiences) about petsitting as a profession, and we decided to contract with each other for work (I am an independent contractor affiliated with Dogs On The Run). That was three months ago, and I quickly realized I'd made the absolutely correct decision, career-wise. From the daily morning walk I provide for a client in La Jolla, to the longer, overnight assignments I've taken on, I've found the experience even better than I'd originally imagined it would be. The best part of the job is that I'm dealing with people who love their animals, and, of course, I get to spend time with the animals themselves. I still volunteer at the San Diego County Dept. of Animal Services, but happily, I am able to balance that out with my job.
- What types of customers have you worked with?
My most common type of a job is a regularly scheduled, daily walk; a close second to that would be several visits per day when a customer is out of town and wants his or her pet visited, played with, fed, etc. Slightly less common are overnights, but there are plenty of those as well: many clients who are out of town longer than a weekend prefer to have me living at their house or apartment with their animals, instead of doing drop-in visits. Every case is different, which is one of the great things about my job. I may walk a dog in the early morning on a daily basis, then visit an animal whose "people" are out of town or at the office, then spend the night with a dog whose family is on vacation. (The job requires a strong sense of organization and an excellent calendar)