Jetting off soon? You’re probably in search of someone reliable and loving to care for your furry family members, then. While kennels are expensive and lonely, finding a trusted sitter is easy and results in tail-wagging, purr-happy pets.
To help you find the sitter that’s right for you, here we dive (snouts first) into each step pet parents (like you) need to take to connect with the ideal animal lover. Verified, reviewed and enthusiastic about the animal kingdom, they’ll care for your home like it’s their own and look after Fido with all the love, cuddles and care you would.
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How to find a pet sitter, step by step
- Choose your membership plan. With one membership fee, welcome as many verified, reviewed and (of course) trusted sitters as many times as you like.
- Post your listing. Add details on your pets, home and needs along with pictures of your fluffy friends, plus the inside and outside of your home. Add the dates you’re away and let the applications roll in!
- Choose a sitter. Receive up to five applications at a time and choose the perfect sitter for your fluffy friend. If you’d like to receive more applications, simply decline any that don’t quite fit - you’ll then be able to unpause your listing and allow more trusted sitters to apply. Or, reach out to verified and reviewed sitters yourself to find people your pets will love. Once you’ve found the perfect match, confirm your sitter, get to know each other, and get travelling!
Now we’ve dipped our paws into the proverbial puddle, let’s dive into a few must-know areas in a bit more detail…
How to post your listing
Once you’ve chosen your membership, the most important thing to do next is to create your listing and your welcome guide. If you’re new here, you might be wondering what in dog’s tails a listing is…
Well, it’s the ‘ad’ sitters see - it helps them choose whether or not they’d like to care for your pets and look after your home. It’s your chance to talk about your home, your pets and the traits you look for in a sitter.
You’ll do this through the written (typed) word and of course, lots of lovely pictures that truly represent your fluffy friends and where sitters will be staying. Then, simply add the dates you’ll be away (including any additional time to allow for the handovers), and your applications will start to roll in. To get you started or to make sure your listing is up to scratch, here’s how to create the perfect listing.
Once your sitter applications start to come in, you might decide you want to pause your listing to give you time to read through each application.
This will stop any new sitters from applying to your listing for the time being. To do this, simply hit ‘pause’. And of course to reopen your listing to new sitter applications, hit ‘unpause’.
How to review your sitter applications
So, you’ve created the ultimate listing filled with Fido’s quirks, your home’s best (and most mediocre) bits and sitters are applying - great! Now comes the task of reviewing your sitter applications… how does it work?
At any given time, you’ll have a max of five sitter applications open. So, once five sitters have applied to care for your home and pets, your listing will be paused to give you the time you need to review them (and let’s face it - who wants to read through 50 applications anyway?!).
How to unpause your listing and receive more sitter applications
While there’s a dog or cat sitter out there for everyone, sometimes not all of the five sitters who applied will be what you’re looking for. So, to reopen your listing and allow new sitters to apply, you’ll need to do the following…
- Decline the sitters who don’t match what you, your fluffy friends and your home are looking for. If you change your mind, not to worry - you can still message sitters on the website or app, even if you’ve previously declined their application.
2. Once you’ve got less than five sitter applications open, unpause your listing to allow more trusted sitters to apply (here’s how). Then, start the review process again and choose the perfect sitter before you jet off.
How to confirm your sitter
Found the ideal match? Purrrfect! Before you both get your paws all over that ‘confirm’ button, get to know one another first, just to make sure they’re right for you and your furry family members. Organise a video call to chat through your needs as a pet parent and to answer any questions your sitter might have about your pets and home.
Both happy and up for the sit? To confirm your sitter, both you and your sitter will need to click ‘confirm’ to commit. The sit will then be official on the platform, appearing on both your dashboards. And you’ll be able to leave one another a review once you’re home!
Want to create the perfect listing?
Understandable - here’s how to create your listing with tips and ideas on the information and images you’ll need to share.
