Pet Sitting Questions to Ask Owner
Twenty questions to ask an owner before you take a pet sitting job: the feeding and medication detail, what the animal is frightened of, the warning signs before a bite, what you are authorized to spend at the vet, and who else has a key to the house.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Can you walk me through a normal day, from when they wake up to when they settle at night?
Why ask it
A narrated day catches the small habits an owner would never think to list, like the walk always going left or the last trip outside at eleven. Animals cope with an absent owner far better when the shape of the day is unchanged.
What exactly do they eat, how much, and where is it kept?
Why ask it
Ask for the measure they actually use, a scoop or a named cup, rather than a weight. Owners routinely say two cups and mean the container on the shelf, and a hungry or overfed animal is the most common avoidable problem.
Is there anything they must never be given, and has anything made them ill before?
Why ask it
This is where allergies, a sensitive stomach and past emergencies come out. It also covers the neighbor or visitor who hands over scraps, which the owner may only remember once you ask the question this way.
Are they on any medication, and can you show me how you give it?
Why ask it
Watching once is worth any amount of description, especially for eye drops, insulin or a tablet hidden in food. Ask what happens if a dose is refused or brought back up, because that decision should not be yours to invent.
How do they behave when you leave the house?
Why ask it
Separation distress shows up as barking, chewing, pacing or accidents, and a sitter who is not warned assumes it is their fault. Ask how long the animal has been left alone before, and what the longest gap should be.
What frightens them?
Why ask it
Fireworks, thunder, garbage trucks, vacuum cleaners, hats, umbrellas and men with beards are all common. Knowing the list beforehand means you can shut a window or change route rather than working it out during a panic.
What do they do just before they bite or scratch?
Why ask it
Every animal has a warning, whether it is a still tail, flattened ears, a hard stare or a low tail thump, and owners can usually describe theirs precisely. This is the single question that prevents most sitter injuries.
How are they with other dogs, with cats, and with children they meet outside?
Why ask it
The three cases are separate and an owner who says fine to all three has often not tested one of them. Ask what happened the last time each came up, since a specific incident is more reliable than a general assessment.
Can they be let off the leash, and do they come back?
Why ask it
Owners overestimate recall, especially around wildlife and other dogs. If the honest answer is mostly, the safe rule for a sitter is to keep the leash on, and it is far better to agree that now than to explain a loss later.
How do they travel in the car?
Why ask it
You need this even if no trip is planned, because a vet visit turns into one. Carsickness, a crate requirement, or an animal that panics when the trunk closes all change how a journey has to be handled.
Where do they sleep, and are any rooms or furniture off limits?
Why ask it
Household rules are invisible until they are broken, and a dog let onto a bed for a week will keep trying afterwards. Ask about closed doors specifically, since some are shut for a reason the animal knows about.
If they have an accident indoors, where are the cleaning things and what do you use?
Why ask it
Practical and slightly awkward, which is why it often goes unasked until it is needed at midnight. It also tells you whether accidents are normal for this animal or would be a sign that something is wrong.
Which words and signals do they actually respond to?
Why ask it
Ask the owner to say them out loud, because tone carries as much as the word and a written list loses that. Note the recall word especially, since using the wrong one in an emergency is a familiar way to lose an animal.
What treats are allowed, and how many in a day?
Why ask it
Sitters tend to over-treat, partly from guilt and partly to win the animal over, and a week of that shows up as a stomach upset. A stated daily limit also settles whether food is used for training or just given.
Is there any grooming to do while you are away: brushing, teeth, paws, litter box?
Why ask it
Long coats mat within a week, litter boxes need a routine, and some animals need paws rinsed after every walk. It is easier to agree the tasks now than to be told afterwards that something was expected.
Who is your vet, and are you leaving written authorization for treatment with a spending limit?
Why ask it
Many practices will not treat without the owner's consent on file, and a sitter standing at the desk cannot give it. Get the practice name, the after-hours arrangement, and a figure you may commit before you must call.
What would you want me to call you about, and what should I just deal with?
Why ask it
Owners vary enormously here, from wanting daily photographs to not wanting to be contacted at all unless something is serious. Agreeing the threshold prevents both a nuisance and a silence that gets discovered later.
Who else has a key, and might anyone turn up while I am here?
Why ask it
Cleaners, gardeners, neighbors watering plants and family members with spare keys are all common and all alarming if unannounced. It also settles who else the animal will recognize at the door.
Is there anything you would rather I did not post online about them or the house?
Why ask it
Sitters post photographs without thinking, and some owners mind about the house being visibly empty. Asking takes ten seconds and prevents the one complaint that tends to end an otherwise good arrangement.
Has anything gone wrong with a sitter before?
Why ask it
The answer is usually a specific small failure, a missed medication, a door left open, a plant destroyed, and it tells you exactly what this owner will be anxious about. Silence to this question is worth noticing too.
Setting Up a Pet Sitting Job Properly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
The Handover Visit
Meet the animal in the house, before the job starts
A dog that is friendly on neutral ground can behave differently on its own doorstep, and a cat may not appear at all. Twenty minutes in the house with the owner present tells you more than any amount of description and gives the animal a chance to associate you with a normal day.
Have the owner do everything once while you watch
Feeding, medication, leash and harness, alarm code, back door lock. Written instructions leave out the step everyone in the household does automatically, and that step is usually the one that stops you at nine in the evening.
Write it down where you will actually find it
One page on the fridge with the vet's number, the owner's number, the second contact, the feeding amounts and the medication times. Phones run out of charge and a folded note in a bag does not help someone else who has to step in.
Before You Need It
- Get the vet practice name, the after-hours emergency provider, and confirmation that the owner has told them a sitter may bring the animal in. Some practices will not treat otherwise.
- Agree a spending limit in writing, along with how you will be reimbursed. Standing at a counter guessing what the owner would authorize is a bad position to be in.
- Ask for a second local contact who has a key and knows the animal. If you are ill or delayed, that person is the whole plan.
- Photograph the animal on the first day, in daylight, from the side and the front. If it goes missing this is the picture that gets circulated, and the owner's favorite photograph is rarely usable.
- Check that the collar tag and the microchip details are current. Owners often moved house since the chip was registered.
- Note where the carrier, the spare leash and the towel are on day one, not on the day something happens.
While You Are Sitting
- Send one short update a day with a photograph unless the owner asked otherwise. It is the cheapest way to keep an anxious owner from calling repeatedly.
- Keep the routine, including the boring parts. Animals settle around timing more than affection, and the walk at the usual hour matters more than an extra half hour of play.
- Log medication as you give it rather than trusting memory. Two people in a house both believing the other gave the tablet is a common and avoidable error.
- Report the small things the same day: a limp, a refused meal, loose stools, or drinking more than usual. Owners want to hear it early, and a one-line message is not a nuisance.
- Leave the house as you found it and say what you used. A replaced bag of food or a broken toy mentioned plainly is fine; the same thing discovered later is not.
- If the animal frightened you at any point, say so afterwards. Owners generally want to know, and repeat bookings are better arranged honestly than out of politeness.