Pet sitting is the act of temporarily taking care of another person's

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, ...

for a given time frame. It commonly occurs at the pet owner's home, but may also occur at the provider's home or at a pet sitting place of business or organization. Pet sitting is a more personal and individualized arrangement for care compared to boarding or

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

ing. Specialized training is usually not required for pet sitting.

Description

In 1997 Pet Sitters International (PSI) successfully campaigned to have “pet sitting” added to the Random House Dictionary. “Pet sitting” is defined as “the act of caring for a pet in its own home while the owner is away.” Dog walking is also a form of pet sitting since it involves coming to the pet’s home to provide exercise and companionship. Caring for pets in the clients’ homes is what separates pet sitters from boarders or doggie daycares. Pet sitters visit the pet home to provide a range of services. This primarily involves feeding, exercise and companionship. Pet sitters generally bill clients on a per-visit, per-day or per vacation basis, and include additional charges for multiple pets, travel expenses, and non-standard duties. Pet sitting services do not include services in the pet sitter's home. This is considered "pet boarding." Boarding outside the pet's home generally requires a kennel license, city or county approval, and in some counties oversight by the local Department of Agriculture which requires protocols to help maintain standards to prevent the transmission of diseases. In many areas, no occupational license is required for pet sitters. The term "licensed" is often used by pet sitting professionals to refer to licenses to do business, and/or animal transportation permits available within the coverage area of the business. While licenses are not needed in all areas, they may be required in specific locations.

Global market

According to Pet Sitters International's 2016 State of the Industry Survey, its members completed 17 million pet sitting assignments and generated more than $391 million in pet sitting revenues in 2015. Many pet owners prefer hiring pet sitters instead of the more traditional pet care options available. Some reasons cited for using a pet sitter are to prevent stress to the animal caused by a changing environment, travel trauma, contracting

illnesses A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

and

parasites Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

from exposure to other animals, not meeting

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

requirements that may be necessary for kennelling, and to maintain regular routines and prevent the need to adapt to a new environment. It is also a solution for pets with health problems and mobility issues due to

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

dysplasia Dysplasia is any of various types of abnormal growth or development of cells (microscopic scale) or organs (macroscopic scale), and the abnormal histology or anatomical structure(s) resulting from such growth. Dysplasias on a mainly microscopic ...

incontinence Incontinence or Incontinent may refer to: *Fecal incontinence, the involuntary excretion of bowel contents *Urinary incontinence, the involuntary excretion of urine * Lack of moderation or self-control, especially related to sexual desire - see I ...

, etc. Many new pet sitting businesses are emerging due to high levels of pet ownership and relatively low financial barriers of entry. The pet sitting

gig economy Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers. Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients. In m ...

has led to the creation of various apps and

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

s to match pet sitters with clients.

Vacation care

Vacation care is the most typical type of pet sitting service. While a pet owner is on vacation, a pet sitter will arrange to visit the client's home for a period of time and frequency as determined between the pet owner and sitter. Services include (but are not limited to) feeding, exercising, grooming, providing company, monitoring health, administering medications or other special care. Less commonly, pet sitters offer live-in care which can also include the service of

house sitting House sitting is the practice whereby a person leaving their house for a period of time entrusts it to one or more "house sitters", who by a mutual Contract, agreement are permitted to live or stay in the property temporarily, in exchange for assum ...

and property maintenance.

Dog walking

Pet sitters commonly provide

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 ...

services. Clients hire pet sitters to exercise and care for their pets when they are unable to do so themselves. This is particularly prevalent in dense urban areas, where pet owners often lead busy working lives, and are hence unable to care for their pets. Also, Clients who are physically unable to exercise their pets due to their own health issues or the client is not physically strong enough due to age. Pet sitters may also offer other more aggressive methods of exercise for dogs during dog walking appointments. These methods include

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

inline skating Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bike ...

, or

dog scootering Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most common ...

with client dogs. Commercial dog walkers in some regions are required to obtain a license for dog walking along with inspection of the vehicle that is used to transport dogs for commercial walking. Such licenses sometimes limit the number of dogs that can be walked at one time.

Insurance and bonding

Insurance

Most professional pet sitters are

insured Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

through pet sitter insurance providers. Most pet sitting insurance providers are country-specific. The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

each have firms insuring pet sitters. As of 2016, the major American and Canadian pet sitting

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 ...

providers include limits from $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 for liability claims. They also include an uncommon endorsement that provides coverage for care, custody, and control of the client pets from $10,000 to $200,000 per occurrence. Coverage is included for fire damage, lost keys, and other negligence claims. The major UK pet sitting insurance providers claim coverage limits between £2,000,000 and £10,000,000. The limits for liability claims generally range from £2,000,000 to £5,000,000. Most pet sitter insurance plans provide coverage for pet transport. The majority of pet sitting industry insurers also provide care, custody, and control liability coverage for all animals, excluding the loss from income from an animal that may be used for other business ventures such as farming. Some resources recommend that pet sitters be bonded, though many professional organizations in recent years have held bonding to be unnecessary. Pet sitters are generally not protected from injury to themselves by regular pet sitting liability coverage. pet sitter liability insurance usually covers injury to other people and pets.

Bonding

A dishonesty or

fidelity bond A fidelity bond or fidelity guarantee is a form of insurance protection that covers policyholders for losses that they incur as a result of fraudulent acts by specified individuals. It usually insures a business for losses caused by the dishonest a ...

claim generally applies when a pet sitter is convicted in criminal court of theft from a client home. When the pet sitter is

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is consid ...

, the bond will reimburse the client for the loss, and then seek reimbursement from the pet sitter. This process can take many years to complete, and usually relies on a

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

conviction. Many pet sitters have decided to seek actual insurance coverage for theft instead of procuring a bond. Theft insurance coverage does not require convictions, and can include coverage for accidental breakage, mysterious disappearance, and accidental damage to items in a client's home.

Certification and accreditation

Pet sitting organizations offer training, testing, or review of credentials for pet sitters in the form of certification or accreditation. The curriculum of pet sitting programs may include pet care, health and

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

, animal law information, nutrition, and behavior, and/or business development and management. Certification that is credentials-based may require the pet sitter to provide a

criminal background check A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

, proof of insurance, proof of bonding, certificate of completion of a pet first aid program, documentation of business methods and policies, or other evidence of their professionalism and adherence to industry standards. It is common for pet sitters to obtain a separate certification for pet first aid. Hands-on training can be obtained through private businesses and organizations like

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. Virtual classes are also available.

References

{{reflist Dog-related professions and professionals