A professional pet sitter possesses experience and many qualifications that your friends, relatives and hobby pet sitters do not. Below is a list of what I offer my clients that gives them peace of mind when they leave their beloved fur babies in my care.
I am certified in CPR/First Aid for pets.
If your pet falls ill or is injured, my training enables me to stabilize your pet prior to taking him to the vet for professional medical care. It also enables me to recognize many signs of distress that could lead to a more serious medical condition and take appropriate action. Additionally, I get a thorough medical/behavioral history of each of your pets prior to any pet care visits.
I am licensed in the state of Washington.
While there is no professional licensure required for pet sitters and dog walkers, the State of Washington requires a business to obtain a business license so that taxes can be collected. It is of paramount importance to me that my clients know that I operate with integrity and honesty and pay my taxes. After all, you are allowing me into your home to care for your pets.
I have pet care insurance.
Pet care insurance means that if anything goes wrong, I can put in a claim for anything that happens due to my mistake. This insurance covers your home and your pets while under my care.
I am background checked and approved.
I can provide my clients with the clean results of the thorough background check done by a company called Truth Finder. This check included federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
I belong to a professional organization for business owners/operators of professional pet sitting companies.
I am experienced in animal behavior.
I have studied canine behavior and have about 40 years of experience in training dogs for the conformation show ring, obedience trials, carting and tracking. I have immersed myself in the study of feline behavior by studying and interacting with cats for over 8 years. The knowledge and experience I have gained enables me to know what to do (or what to advise a client) when annoying or dangerous behaviors emerge.
More on Why Choosing a Professional Is Your Best Bet for the Best Care
I hope you’ll take a couple of minutes to familiarize yourself with how a professional pet sitter is the best option for your pets and why we do what we do and DON’T do the things that hobby sitters, neighbors, friends and family do. 🙂
- A professional pet sitter is not your neighbor’s teenager who is trying to earn money during the summer while school is out. We are trained, serious pet care professionals who are running a business…and that business is to administer appropriate care to your pets using the knowledge, training and experience we possess to ensure that your pets are safe, healthy and cared for in accordance with their age, overall health, level of training and socialization skills and medical needs. The best compliment I can ever receive from a client, once they arrive home, is for them to tell me that their home and pets are exactly as they left them—or better.
- A professional pet sitter will NEVER accept assignments that could cause potential to harm an animal either psychologically or physically. In other words, we do not accept pet sitting requests for visits once-every-three-days. Even cats, as solitary as they can be, need human interaction and to be checked on at least once per day. If you doubt that cats can get themselves into life-threatening situations in three days left on their own, visit my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/flyinfurpetsitting) to read some of the things that have gone wrong for me and some of my fellow professional pet sitters when clients’ kitties were left alone for just ONE day and were saved by the pet sitter because they had a DAILY visit. As for dogs, my policy is that a minimum of 3 daily visits are scheduled for dogs being left at home alone for days. Dogs just don’t do well left alone for long periods of time without any human interaction and can also get themselves into trouble when they are bored or unhappy. It’s my goal to ensure that you come home to the same healthy, well exercised, sane dog that you left when you went on vacation.
- A professional pet sitter will not accept assignments when other people (friends, family, neighbors, etc) will be accessing your home during the pet sit. This is referred to in the industry as “shared pet sitting” and mishaps with pets or your home are not covered by any pet sitting insurance company if others are also accessing your home at any time during the booked pet sitting dates. This is due to the fact that when you allow many people to access your home, the insurance company has no way to conclusively know which one of the visitors to your home did the damage to your house or pet. If I am caring for your pets and make a mistake, I will contact you immediately and follow up with a claim to my insurance company. To date, I have never had any occasion to make an insurance claim.
- I care for many types of animals with dogs being my specialty. I have over 30 years of experience raising, training and competing with dogs in the conformation show ring, obedience trials, tracking trials and draft competitions. I am well versed in canine behavior and dog body language. I have nearly equal knowledge in cats and continue to learn more and more every day from my client’s kitties. Additionally, I am certified in CPR and First Aid for pets through a nationally recognized educational organization (PetTech, Inc.) specializing in training pet care professionals in life-saving and first aid skills for pets.
These are just a few of the reasons that so many of my clients have completely given up the idea of having unqualified and untrained people to care for their pets.
Here’s a few members of the Flyin’ Fur Family
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