Pet sitting is this a realistic idea?

loulou123

Been running over the idea of going into pet sitting for some time and thought i'd run it past all of you to get some honest feedback.

Ok, i have no formal qualifications in pet care, but alot of experiance with a wide variety of pets.

I have kept dogs (until last couple of years) all of my life, i am equally used to big and small dogs, as have kept a great dane and new foundland, so size doesnt worry me at all. I am also used to cats and am currently looking after a neighbours cat for two weeks. (as a favour not being paid.)

I have plenty of experiance of small pets - rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, mice, etc as have also kept a variety of those throughout my life.

Lastly i have experiance of more exotic pets such as lizards and snakes, which i am thinking is abit more of a niche market and maybe not something that all pet sitters would be happy with dealing with.

I also have a valid CRB check, which shows no convictions etc. (realise i would need to sort out insurance etc, if it was to become a paid job.)

I would be prepared to do home visits to clean out, feed, spend time with, walk animal etc, but am not in a position to be able to board animals in my home (although this may change in future.)
To be honest were animals are concerned i would do pretty much anything the owners asked of me!

Do you think this is a possible job opportunity for me? or is it more likely to be a nice idea, but not likely in the real world? As the thing i cant get over is that i find it hard to believe that virtual strangers would give me (or anybody!) a key to their house whilst away etc.

Any opinions or feedback very much appreciated.

HopeAndDriftWood

To be honest, I don't think you'd get far with this.
I would take my geckos etc to my family if I wanted to move them, and I wouldn't trust someone to come in to my house...You could come across very trustable but there is a lot of risk there and I would imagine that giving your key to a stranger would invalidate house insurance.
It'd be the same for my dog and cats, I wouldn't let a stranger in. I'd get a neighbour or friend to nip in twice a day, or take them to boardings. In my area there are a few 'home' boardings, with qualified people looking after the pet in their own home.

Would it be possible for you to get some qualifications, and look into being able to board? There is lot of restrictions in place, though, so they'd need to be checked as well.

Just my opinion, of course. Good luck!

scotsbob

The real money is from people going on holiday who want someone to stay with their pets while they are away.

I have no personal experience but a relative with 2 dogs used a dog sitter while she went abroad for 3 weeks. This person stayed in her home, walked and fed the dogs and got £150 a week for doing it.

There are web based agencies, but they obviously take a cut, so you may be better to advertise yourself.

sb44

You have to get yourself insured too.

Google Pet Sitters for a few sites.

f1re_cr4cker

I use a pet sitter he is not a big agency but an independent he charges £15 a night for dogs just to give you an idea of pricing and that includes two nice long walks and they live in a bungalow with open access to the garden so they can come and go as they please during the day

Katie-Kat-Kins

I know someone who does this, she has a franchise with these guys

http://animalsathome.co.uk/

I know she does dog walking and things too while people are at work. I don't think it is enough for a full time wage but might be worth looking into!

scotsbob

sb44 wrote: »

You have to get yourself insured too.

Google Pet Sitters for a few sites.

You don't "have to" it's not compulsory.

loulou123

I'd definatley insure myself, that goes without saying, but thanks for those that suggested it.

My thinking behind the more exotic pets is that my boyfriend has a water dragon (pretty big lizard) and its in an enormous vivarium. It would not be possible to move this to someone elses home to get them to look after it (due to the size and weight involved) and no-one in his family is brave enough to feed/care for it, so if we go away together the only one brave enough to do it is my mum! If it wasnt for her he would have a huge problem getting it cared for if away.

I would also be prepared as Scotsbob mentioned to stay over if that was required, only downside in this is that i do already have a part time job, so couldnt be there 24/7 although i typicially only work for 4 hours a day.

Any other opinions out there?

paulwf

I know plenty of people that have used people to home visit to feed cats and there are people making a living out of it. Perhaps it depends on the area, but in a lot of places either friends and family are too busy or people don't like to impose or there simply isn't close knit communities with lots of friends and family around.

So I would say go for it, with the only proviso being view it as an "up your income" idea rather than a proper job as it is probably easy to get a client here and there but might be a lot harder to get enough for regular work. Workload will probably be quite variable, I wouldn't be surprised if half your work came over Christmas and the school summer holidays.

It should cost you next to nothing to start up so very little risk involved, and becoming self employed is very little hassle - just keep good records of your expenses, if possible use a separate bank account.

Obviously you'll need to be able to promote yourself, and be available to fit around popular holiday periods. Don't undersell yourself, be realistic that a 30 minute home visit actually takes an hour with travel time and there will be travel costs incurred so charge a decent rate.

Kimso

Loulou

If you're in Cardiff, then I'd book you!

Why don't you do some cheap flyers and put them up in local shops/vets/dog grooming parlours etc.

I'm sure that you'd get work via 'word of mouth' once you've completed a couple of jobs successfully.

Good luck.

Amber_Sunshine

Bearing in mind all the issues mentioned above, I think there could be something in this, especially regarding exotic pets. Are there any exotic animal societies in your area that you could join, or a shop where you could chat to the owner about possible interest and leave a flyer?