Hiring Pet Sitters From An Online Directory: Risks
The Problems With Hiring A Pet Sitter From An Online Directory
In this day and age there is an app for everything. In the pet sitting industry we have a number of websites and apps dedicated to hiring freelance pet sitters such as Rover.com , DogVacay.com, and Care.com. Plus, many of these freelancers tend to be much cheaper than professional pet sitters. Sounds like a smoking deal, right? Well, we’re here to tell you that it may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Professional pet sitters still continue to have a number of advantages over freelancers. Let’s talk about what the problems with hiring a dog walker from an online directory.
Lack Of Experience
An individual listed as dog walker from online directory most likely are not pet sitting as their career. For a professional pet sitter, yes, pet sitting is their career! This means a professional pet sitter day in and day out are working with pets from all walks of life and have most likely seen everything.
Professional pet sitters are a lot of the times trained in Pet First Aid and CPR, whereas a freelancer may not be. A professional pet sitter will be experienced in administering medication and will know what to do in the event your pet needs veterinary care. They will also always have a backup solution in case of an emergency.
Freelancers may only have no or very little training.
Lack Of Commitment
Like I said before, most freelance pet sitters do pet sitting on the side for extra income, whereas pet sitting is the primary source of income for a professional pet sitter.
What does this mean? A freelance pet sitter may be tempted to blow off the job or not do their best work. They may rationalize this with thoughts that they don’t particularly NEED the job, or maybe they’ll have other conflicts that will take priority.
With a professional pet sitter, this is never the case. Professional pet sitters are committed because after all, this is their livelihood. They will not only be there for every single scheduled visit, but they will take the proper time and care to ensure gets everything that it may need.
Professional pet sitters are organized (in that your keys will always be safe and sound!), and are extremely dedicated to ensuring the satisfaction of both you and your pet.
Lack Of Availability
What happens if one day during the summer you want to take a spontaneous road trip but your pet sitter is unavailable. Now you’re on the hunt again to find somebody to take care of your pets – ugh!
With a professional pet sitting company, there will almost always be someone available to come care for your pets, even if it’s not your usual sitter. Professional pet sitting companies will usually have a staff of a number of qualified pet sitters that will be able to come on short notice.
The bottom line is that having a freelance pet sitter may not always be convenient, and can sometimes turn into more of a hassle than it’s worth.
They Might Not Have Enough (Or Any!) Insurance Coverage
It’s important to note that professional pet sitting companies are insured and bonded. While freelance pet sitters may be covered under the website they are listed on, please understand that this insurance is very limited and most of the time, non-inclusive. It is quite rare that a freelance pet sitter will be covered under their own policy. A professional pet sitting company will have top quality insurance, bonding, and workman’s compensation to put your mind at ease, should anything happen.
The Bottom Line
We understand that some pet owners are on a budget, which can make freelance pet sitters seem enticing and good enough. But, with your pet’s safety in mind and your home in mind, you just want to be aware of your options and understand the full picture.
Saving the couple extra bucks per day on a freelance pet sitter is not worth the ambiguity, potential inconvenience, and lack of piece of mind that can come with it. With a professional pet sitting company, they are dedicated to ensure that your pet sitting needs are taken care of in the smoothest way possible. And they will always be there when you need them.
