Pet Sitters International (PSI) is an educational association for

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

pet sitters located in

King, North Carolina King is a city in Stokes and Forsyth counties, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,096 at the 2020 census. King is part of the Piedmont Triad metropolitan area, located 15 miles northwest of Winston-Salem. The city has two larg ...

. The professional pet-sitting association represents nearly 7,000 independent professionals. PSI was established in 1994 by Patti Moran,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of ''Pet Sitting for Profit''. In 2016, PSI received the Torch Award for Ethics from the

Better Business Bureau Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the Unit ...

of Northwest North Carolina. Pet sitting is defined by the PSI as "the act of caring for a

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...

in its own home while the

owner Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

is away."

Dog walking Dog walking is the act of a person walking with a dog, typically from the dog's residence and then returning. Leashes are commonly used for this. Both owners and pets receive many benefits, including exercise and companionship. Description ...

is considered to be a form of pet sitting as well since it involves coming to the pet's home to provide

exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic ...

and

companionship The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...

. Caring for pets in the clients’ homes is what separates pet sitters from boarders and

dog daycare Dog daycare, or doggy daycare, refers to a short-term daytime care for dogs. It differs from multi-day kennel boarding and pet sitting, where the sitter comes to the pet's home. It shares many similarities with a regular daycare for children, ...

. Other activities include: * In 1997, Pet Sitters International successfully campaigned to have "pet sitting" added to the

Random House Dictionary ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary'' is a large American dictionary, first published in 1966 as ''The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: The Unabridged Edition''. Edited by Editor-in-chief Jess Stein, it contained 315,0 ...

. * In 1999, Pet Sitters International created

Take Your Dog to Work Day Take Your Dog to Work Day (TYDTWDay) was created by Pet Sitters International and first celebrated in 1999. PSI created the day to encourage businesses to allow dogs in the workplace for one Friday each year to celebrate dogs as companions and pr ...

. It is celebrated the Friday following Father's Day. * In 2010, Pet Sitters International partnered with

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

to promote professional pet sitting.

Association membership

Pet Sitters International offers

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

members pet-sitter

liability insurance Liability insurance (also called third-party insurance) is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser (the "insured") from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the i ...

. The organization provides educational resources to its members, including free member

webinars Web conferencing is used as an umbrella term for various types of online conferencing and collaborative services including webinars (web seminars), webcasts, and web meetings. Sometimes it may be used also in the more narrow sense of the peer-le ...

e-books An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

, monthly e-newsletters and a

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

to their

bimonthly {{Short pages monitor