I’m sure we’ve all seen the slick commercials for the on-demand, app-based pet sitting services. You know the one, they claim to have the largest network of five star pet sitters and dog walkers.
Why would you want to hire a professional pet sitter or dog walker instead of an on-demand pet sitter?
First, I can tell you that for every one employee I hire I weed through approximately 150 or more applications.
I estimate that 85-90% of those 149 I reject would be gladly accepted to be listed on the on-demand sites.
In fact, I know of SEVERAL that are listed on those sites that we have turned down when they applied for employment. Some are even charging MORE than we are, with no experience!
If we rejected them to be an employee, do you really want to hire them through an app service?
Next, our professional pet sitters:
- Are EMPLOYEES, not Independent Contractors.
- Are covered by Worker’s Compensation Insurance. If an on-demand sitter gets bit by your dog, they are not covered and may come after your Homeowner’s Insurance.
- Are bonded.
- Are constantly keeping up with continuing education. We are all knowledgeable about Pet First Aid.
- Have an emergency plan in place. I personally am available to my staff for any last minute issues 24/7/365. If a sitter comes down with the flu, another one of us can easily step in. An on-demand sitter won’t have that option. You may be left scrambling at the last minute to find coverage.
- Will be there the next time you need them. We aren’t doing this as a ‘side hustle’ or because we need extra cash. This is what we do for a living. We’ve been in business almost 18 years now.
Lastly, go ahead and Google on-demand pet sitting/dog walking horror stories. Go ahead, I’ll wait. What you will find will make your hair curl. The on-demand rage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
So tell us, do you want to risk your pet care to someone we wouldn’t hire?
Thanks for the clarification that I can expect professional home pet sitting services to be employees and not independent contractors. I might need to hire one soon because I will need to visit my parents this weekend in order to help out while my father is sick. It would be more troublesome to bring my dog along for the trip so it would be best to just hire a sitter.