Does anyone have kids and petsit?
We are wondering if anyone on here has children and pet sits. We have plenty of room in our house and a fenced backyard so we could keep them separate if needed.
4 Answers
There are kids in my family. My twin sister and I are the oldest of five and we all still live at home. I've been boarding dogs at the house for about 11 years, and my youngest brother is almost 13 (although he's really tall for his age, so he looks much older). My parents homeschooled us for the vast majority of that time, and I do know the pups could be quite a distraction for my brothers at times.
I would be super picky about my clients if I had kids. Sitting is work, make no mistake, so I would only take in really low maintenance dogs.
Also keep in mind that even if you have the space to separate people from dogs, that doesn't always work out as easily as it sounds. Of all my clients, I have maybe one that would truly be content being shut away from the family. The rest would pitch a fit about it. Additionally, anytime the dog is not within your line of sight, they could be destroying something or putting themselves at risk.
While I personally don't have any kids, many of the sitters in my area do. I've seen some pretty great results in my neighborhood, as the kids of a fellow sitter have assisted her and they have learned a great deal of responsibility and respect towards animals.
I have a 4 year old and I only care for small dogs. The #1 rule is keep your face out of the dogs face! I keep a close eye on him and the dogs, I stop any behavior that I think will make the dogs bite or if the pup has had enough play with him. He has been nipped a few times but nothing serious. I do believe I get passed over from some customers because I have a child and the customer worries that the dog will bite him but people also like that their dog will get the exposure to children. Over all being a pet sitter with a child has worked out for me. Happy sitting, Amber G.
I have 4 kids ages 12, 10, 8 and 2. I am very choosy of the dogs I take in and ONLY take the ones that the owners know are good with children. During the meet and greet I do ask a lot of questions about the dogs exposure to various kids and if I get any red flags I tend to be very cautious and not take that dog on. Both for my kids protection and the portection of the dog. And I always take my 2 y/o on meet and greets with me so I can see for myself how the dog responds to her