How do you filter your search results? What are the most important things in a dog caretaker's profile? What things might sway you if two sitters/walkers sounded equally good? I'm very curious what different people value. :)
I would say to schedule a meet and greet with both of them and see if after meeting them one stands out more to you than the other one. Honestly, it is all really personal preference. Which one stands out more to you? Below are some thoughts that go through my mind when choosing a pet sitter and something I would also hope that my clients take into consideration when choosing me as their pet sitter.
First and for most, I want to make sure that when I do meet with the sitter that they greet my Dog without me having to tell them. (If you say hello to me, I expect you to say hello to my dog) It may sound minor to some people but to me I feel that this is an extension to if my pet is in your care that you will talk to my dog throughout the day. Are they going to say "goodbye" to my dog before they leave the house or are they going to just walk out the door. (I treat my dog as my child, and how I would want to be treated. I kiss my dog before leaving the house telling him to be a good boy, I will be back.) Personally having a background in the medical field, I want to know that my pet sitter would too know how to handle an emergency situation. What would they do? I want to make sure that they are not going to panic and that they would react in the same manor (or similar manor) as I would. I keep in mind the area that they live. I want to make sure that they are not on a busy street. Although, my dog is well trained In the small chance something happened and my dog did get out, I want to make sure that he is not going to be on a busy street dodging cars flying by. A residential, quiet neighborhood would be ideal. Some other basic questions that I like to know is :How many other dogs, does the sitter watch? Are the dogs allowed on the bed/couch? What does the sitter do if she has to go to the store? where do the dogs stay? Does she separate the dogs while feeding? Is anyone else going to be watching my dog? How often will she give me updates? I also look at the clients home is it set up for dogs. Does she have toys for the dogs to play with? are there dog pets around the house? Are the dog beds clean? Is the backyard cleaned? Are her pets on flea meds? Did she ask me about flea medication or about vaccinations? (If she did not ask me, she may not ask others so I don't know if my dog will be around other dogs that are fully vaccinated or on flea protection) Hope this helps but again it is all personal preference, go ...
Great advice!
I am right now using http://Rover.com for my very first time. My usual sitter wasn’t available and her prices have been rising to make this too expensive so I googled dog sitters in my area and got Rover. First, I filtered by geography and price. That gave me about 7 from which to choose. Then I looked closely at the photos and narrowed it down to the three who had a good clear photo with the sitter looking directly at the camera, smiling and cuddling a pup. Some photos seem like an afterthought and I wanted someone who goes the extra mile. It was also important to me that the sitter have one or two dogs as my dog needs to socialize and I wanted someone used to having dogs around all the time so mine is just an addition to the pack and not a major upheaval in their home. But I also wanted someone who only boarded one at a time. Because these three were rather equal, I took out the one with no repeat customers. I know that they might have just started but I had to narrow the field. Both of the two left had great reviews but in the end I chose the less expensive, closest to me to do a meet and greet. The meet and greet went great. She was super friendly, greeted me and my dog and made complimentary comments about how cute he was and how well behaved. Her dogs got on just fine with mine. Her home was tiny but the dogs seemed well loved and happy. We discussed how often I wanted updates and so she has sent me about 3 texts per day with photos of my dog playing, lounging and looking quite happy. My biggest problem might be when I go to pick him up in a few hours that he won’t want to come home with us and leave his new doggy buddies. If all goes well, I’ll be a repeat customer.