Ahh the wonders of getting paid to stay in a local Airbnb. Wait no… not actually… but that is definitely how it feels sometimes. In the past year, I have become my local community’s friendly pet-sitter. Whenever someone needs reliable gal like myself to watch their house/cat/dog, they flash a Batman symbol in the sky and I appear. It’s my favorite side hustle! It has been so convenient since I work from home and I love getting to have some time away from my house (sorry Mom, Dad and Oma- still love ya!). I highly recommend house-sitting and pet-sitting to anyone who also works remotely and doesn’t have any pets of their own yet. So here is some of my pet-sitting wisdom and general tips for if you too decide to steal my thunder pet-sit and house-sit!
How I Got Started:
Pet-sitting is definitely not something that is new to me. For years before my family got our first dog, Molly, my brothers and I would watch our neighbors’ and relatives’ dogs. It was something I always loved as a little kid because I had always wanted a pet of my own. But my parents wanted to make sure we were responsible enough first. As I got older, I started watching my Girl Scout leader’s cats when her family went on vacation. But my mom would have to drive me. This was during the time when I think I started to not be a ‘cat person’ because I only associated cats with cleaning out their litter boxes. Gross. I never got to really enjoy them at the time!
You may remember this blog post I wrote last summer about watching my friend Sarah’s cat and loving her apartment. After just doing my friend a favor and posting about her cat on Instagram, so many other opportunities were introduced to me. Everyone needs a pet-sitter!
I have to admit that the most important element of my recent pet-sitting gigs is timing. Before the pandemic, when I would pet-sit, I would just stop by the person’s house a few times a week. But now, I’ve been working from home since last March so it’s just become easier to house-sit, while I pet-sit.
Sometimes it really feels like I’m vacationing in an Airbnb, or renting out a new office space every few weeks. I really like having a whole house to myself and getting to do whatever I want, when I want with no input or opinion from anyone else. It’s hard to have that freedom when you live at home with your parents and there are constantly people, so it’s been fun! I’m mainly pet-sitting as a favor to people, but I’m actually having a blast while doing it.
Since I’ve been doing this for 9 months on and off now, I wanted to share some general rules I like to follow when I’m watching someone else’s house/pet, and some tips for finding gigs.
Before You Even Start:
I like to visit the person’s house before they even leave to walk through everything I need to know for when I’m there by myself. Where the food is, cleaning supplies, how to work the TV, etc… This is also your chance to make sure their expectations of you are clear. Ask as many questions as you can before you even start: “can I have a friend over?” “are there any plants to water?” “do you want me to stay here every night?” “how long can I leave the pet unattended?” “any important things I should know about the pet’s health or safety?” etc.
General Rules (I Make For Myself)
- Keep lists: This just helps me stay organized and remember things. I’ll write down household items that are running low in the house, particular spots I need to clean up later, any phone calls they got, etc.
- Don’t play with fire or unnecessary things: I don’t know how to use a record machine or an electric guitar…so I make it a rule to not experiment with those things for the first time while watching someone else’s house. I also don’t light any candles, because that’s just playing with fire (pun intended).
- Keep up the communication: People love to see pictures of their pets when they’re away! And more often than not, they will want to know everything is fine and will be glad to hear from you.
- Put things back immediately after use: This will help you remember where everything goes so you’re not turning their house upside-down.
- Keep the pet on the same schedule they normally would be on: this is especially important for dogs! I’m also a big fan of routine’s, so this helps me as well to make sure I’m not forgetting anything.
- The pet comes first! You’re there for a reason. Make sure the pet is going on walks, getting brushed, getting some playtime and getting some love.
Tips:
- Ask them to write everything down before you even get there. Having everything written down is so helpful. What day the trash go out, where can to find the cat litter, what is the garage code….it’s so easy to forget that stuff so ask them to write it down/type it out and keep a copy in the kitchen.
- Keep a list of all living things in the house: I mean plants. Any green friends hiding in weird places? This also applies for just general things you need to remember to do. It’s not your house so things may work a little differently, so you don’t want to forget anything.
- Google before asking: If it’s something generic (like operating a coffee maker), I will Google it just to not annoy someone while they’re on vacation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but for little things like that, I go to Google.
- Clean as you go: (A good life tip for life anyway) But this will help ensure you don’t leave muddy paw prints by the back door and forget about it (just as an example).
- Try not to mix your stuff with theirs: I like to keep all my food in the counter and hang up my clothes in a separate area so I don’t get confused with what is mine.
- Have an ally in the neighborhood, just in case! It’s always good to have a number of someone close by just in case.
In case of what? I don’t know! Just. In. Case. - Leave things better than you found them: This is the old Girl Scout in me saying this, but it totally rings true. Especially because of COVID times, I like to wipe down remotes, counter tops, the bathroom, etc. I usually strip the beds, throw any towels in the washer and also replenish anything I used a lot of (toilet paper, paper towels…) before they get home.
How To Get Jobs:
These sort of gigs work really well for me now because I don’t have any pets of my own to watch and I don’t pay rent while I live with my parents. So you definitely want to consider that before you start offering up your time. The main way I get jobs is by talking about my pet-sitting a lot to anyone who will listen. In the last year I’ve done this for my friends, my friend’s parents, extended family, my coworkers and even friends of friends, because word travels fast. There are apps and websites out there that provide pet-sitting and house-sitting opportunities locally, but since I’ve never used those, I don’t want to endorse them yet.
Figuring Out Payment:
This is both my favorite and least favorite part of pet-sitting. Truth be told, I do not like asking for money. And I know that’s not what this is- it’s a job for crying out loud! But I have a hard time putting a monetary value on anything I do (flashback to when I used to take grad photos and didn’t know how much to charge). So I usually have the person or family decide how much money to give me, but we decide before I even start. That way, if I feel like I’m not getting enough, I can express that and explain my case before they even leave.
To me, the amount of money I receive depends on how much time I’m spending doing things for the pet or house and what the general expectations are of me during the week. Cats are a lot easier to take care of than dogs, so watching a cat for a week will usually warrant a different money sum than watching a dog for a week. I’ve Googled what professional pet-sitters make but since I am usually doing this as a favor and I’m not a professional, I don’t go that high. There are a bunch of factors to consider too. But I want to stress that you are entitled to set your own fees as you see fit. For me, I will start my rate out at around $30 per day so go up depending on what the daily tasks are and what the pet’s needs are. I think it’s a pretty reasonable place to start, at least for what I do.
This Free People dress is a rental from Nuuly (Taylor Swift wore the red color in the Long Pond Sessions). I took these pictures with my friend Peyton in my brother’s apartment back in January when I was watching his house for him. So I thought it was fitting to use these pics for this post.
So there you have it! My trade secrets for pet-sitting. I really enjoy doing it and hope I get to continue in 2021. (Hit me up if you’re in the DMV).
Do you pet-sit? Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading! xx