Questions to Ask a Pet Sitter
For interviewing a pet sitter or dog sitter before you hand over a key, whether they come to your home or your dog stays at theirs. These questions cover insurance and training, what a visit actually involves, walks and the other dogs yours will meet, how they handle medication and a sick animal, who covers if they cannot come, and what happens to your key and door code.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
How long have you been sitting, and how many clients do you have now?
Why ask it
An easy opener that also tells you whether this is a business or a favor with a price. Someone juggling forty regulars is reliable but stretched; someone with three has time but may not have met a crisis yet.
Are you insured and bonded, and can you send me the certificate?
Why ask it
Insurance covers injury to your animal or damage to your home while they are working; bonding covers theft. Ask for the actual document rather than a yes, because plenty of sitters believe they are covered by a policy that lapsed or that never included pet care.
Have you done pet first aid or CPR training, and when?
Why ask it
Certificates expire and the practical part is what matters. A useful answer includes what they learned to do about choking or bleeding, not just the name of the course.
Will you personally be doing the visits, or do you send someone else when you are booked?
Why ask it
Larger services rotate staff, which means the person your dog met at the interview may not be the one who turns up. Ask to be told the name in advance and whether backup staff hold the same insurance and training.
How long is a visit, and what happens during it?
Why ask it
A thirty-minute visit and a fifteen-minute drop-in are different services often described with the same word. Ask them to walk through it minute by minute: feeding, walk, litter, water, play, medication, lights.
How many other homes are you visiting on the same day, and in what order?
Why ask it
This is what determines whether the evening visit lands at six or at ten. Sitters with a heavy route often keep to a rough window rather than a time, and it is better to hear that now than to watch a camera at nine.
What are your rates, and what costs extra: holidays, late bookings, medication, a second animal?
Why ask it
Holiday surcharges and per-additional-pet fees are standard and usually fine; what you want is the full list before you book. A sitter who cannot produce one in writing will produce it in the invoice.
Can I speak to two or three clients with an animal like mine?
Why ask it
Similarity matters more than the number of references. Someone excellent with cats may be out of their depth with a reactive large dog, and previous clients will tell you about lateness and communication in ways a sitter never will.
What do you do with a dog who lunges or reacts to other dogs on a walk?
Why ask it
You are listening for management: quiet streets, distance, timing walks for low-traffic hours, and no yanking or correcting devices you have not approved. Anyone who says they will train the behavior out of your dog in a week is a problem.
If my dog stays at your home instead of mine, what other dogs or pets will be there?
Why ask it
Plenty of dog sitters host at their own place, and the company is the part you cannot see from a profile. Ask how a new dog is introduced, whether meals are given in separate rooms, and what their upper limit on guests is.
Would my dog be walked alone, or with other dogs you are looking after?
Why ask it
Some dogs love a pack walk and some come home frayed by it. If yours is elderly, small or choosy about company, a solo walk is worth asking for by name, and it may be priced differently.
Will you ever let my dog off the lead, and where?
Why ask it
Recall that holds for you may not hold for someone your dog met last week. Lead-only outside a fenced space is a common starting rule, and whatever you settle on, the sitter should treat it as your call and not theirs.
Would you take my dog anywhere in your car, and how is he secured for the ride?
Why ask it
Drives to a park or back to the sitter's house are routine for some and never come up unless you raise them. A crate or a harness clipped to the seat belt is the answer to hope for, along with a flat rule about never leaving a dog in a parked car.
If my pet hides and will not come out, what do you do?
Why ask it
Common with cats and with anxious rescues, and the wrong answer is dragging an animal out from under a bed. Good sitters describe sitting quietly, confirming food and litter have been used, and telling you if they have not seen the animal at all.
Have you given injections or pills to an animal who resists, and how did it go?
Why ask it
Insulin, thyroid tablets and eye drops all need to happen on time whether or not the patient agrees. Ask them to describe the technique they use, since the story tells you whether they have really done it.
What would you do if my pet stopped eating, or had diarrhea on the second day?
Why ask it
You want a sitter who notices and reports rather than waits to see. Listen for whether they would tell you immediately, and whether they know what a change in water intake or litter output might mean.
At what point would you take my pet to a vet without reaching me first, and who pays?
Why ask it
Set this before you leave. Agree a spending limit, leave a signed authorization with your vet, and decide whether they use your practice or the nearest emergency clinic. Sitters who have no view on this have not thought about the worst day.
What happens if you get sick, or your car breaks down?
Why ask it
The single most important logistical question and the one most often skipped. You want a named backup who has met your animal and can get in, not a promise that it has never happened.
How and how often will you update me, and will you send photos?
Why ask it
Agree the channel and the rhythm, since a sitter who texts once at the end of the day and an owner expecting a photo per visit will both be unhappy. Ask what happens if you do not reply, particularly across time zones.
What do you need from me in writing before the first visit?
Why ask it
A professional will ask for vet details, feeding amounts, medication times, habits and hiding places, and a signed contract. If they need nothing in writing, they will be working from memory on day four.
Do you do anything in the house besides pet care: mail, bins, plants, blinds?
Why ask it
Many sitters include a few of these and some charge for them. It also matters for how lived-in the house looks while you are away, which is worth agreeing rather than assuming.
Who else will know my door code, and where do you keep my key while I am away?
Why ask it
A key with your address on the tag in an unlocked car is a real risk. Reasonable answers include a coded tag, a lockbox on your property, or a temporary door code you can delete when you return.
How would you handle it if something in the house got broken or went missing?
Why ask it
The answer tells you how they respond to bad news generally. Someone who says they would photograph it and tell you the same day is easier to trust than someone who assures you it never happens.
What sort of animal or situation do you turn down?
Why ask it
A sitter with limits is a sitter who knows their competence. Refusing aggressive dogs, unmedicated diabetics or homes with unfenced pools is a good sign; claiming to handle anything usually means they have not been tested.
Are you independent, or working through an app or agency?
Why ask it
This determines who you are actually contracting with and who is liable. On platforms the insurance is usually the platform's and applies only to bookings made and paid through it, so arranging directly to save the fee can quietly remove your cover.
Has anyone run a background check on you, and how recently?
Why ask it
You are handing over a key and an alarm code. Independent sitters can obtain their own check, platforms run their own with varying depth, and the useful follow-up is when it was done rather than whether.
Can we meet at my house first and see how she reacts to you?
Why ask it
The meeting tells you more than the interview. Watch whether the sitter lets your animal approach in its own time rather than reaching straight over the head, and watch whether they ask questions while they are here or only answer yours.
Do you use a written service agreement, and can I read it before I decide?
Why ask it
A written agreement covering visits, payment, emergencies and vet authorisation is a sign of a professional operation. Read the vet clause in particular: it should say who authorises treatment and up to what amount.
What is your cancellation policy, in both directions?
Why ask it
Most sitters have terms for you cancelling and few volunteer what happens if they cancel. Ask what notice they would give and whether a deposit is returned, since a cancellation the week you travel is the expensive scenario.
How far ahead should I book holiday periods?
Why ask it
Good sitters are booked months out for major holidays and school breaks. The answer tells you how in demand they are and when you need to commit, which is usually earlier than people expect.
If you are staying overnight, what hours would you actually be in the house?
Why ask it
Overnight often means arriving at ten and leaving at seven, which is not the same as company for an anxious animal. Ask about the hours in the house and whether they leave during the day.
Would anyone else be in my home while you are looking after her?
Why ask it
Partners, children and other people's dogs turning up is common and rarely mentioned unless asked. Decide what you are comfortable with, say it plainly, and put it in writing rather than leaving it to be assumed.
Tell me about the last difficult pet you looked after and what you did.
Why ask it
You are listening for a specific animal and a specific action, not a philosophy of care. Sitters who describe how they slowed down, changed a route or sat on the floor for twenty minutes are telling you something; sitters who describe how much they love animals are not.
Has an animal ever been hurt or lost while in your care?
Why ask it
Anyone with years of experience has a story. What you are assessing is how it is told: what they changed afterwards, whether the owner was told immediately. A flat never, with no pause, is less reassuring than a straight account of a bad afternoon.
What would you do if he got out of the house?
Why ask it
Listen for a sequence: search the immediate area, call you, contact the local shelters and the microchip database, post locally. Sitters who have thought about escapes usually also mention how they will manage doors and gates to prevent one.
What would you handle yourself, and what would you call me about?
Why ask it
Owners want very different thresholds and sitters are left guessing. Say plainly what you want to be phoned about, including anything you would rather hear immediately even while you are away.
If a vet is needed, would you go to mine or to the nearest one open?
Why ask it
Both answers can be right, and the point is that it has been thought about before it is needed. Ask whether they know where the nearest emergency clinic is, and whether they have transport that can take an anxious or heavy dog.
What happens if you cannot get hold of me at all?
Why ask it
Flights, bad signal and time zones make this likelier than people expect. You want a named local contact who can make decisions, and an understanding of what the sitter would do on their own if a decision could not wait.
What would you refuse to do, even if I asked?
Why ask it
Sitters who will not walk an aggressive dog off lead, will not leave a dog loose with an unknown animal, or will not skip a visit to save you money have working boundaries. The answer also shows what they have been asked before.
What makes a client easy to work with, and what makes one difficult?
Why ask it
This gets you the sitter's honest expectations without them having to lecture you. It usually surfaces something practical, such as wanting instructions in writing or enough food left, and it is easier to fix now than mid-trip.
Hiring a Pet Sitter You Can Leave the House With
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
The Meet and Greet
Hold it in your home, and watch the animal
How your dog or cat reacts to a stranger in their space tells you things no reference can. Watch whether the sitter lets the animal come to them, whether they crouch rather than loom, and whether they ask questions about behavior before touching.
If the dog sitter hosts at their place, see it first
Bring your dog for a short visit before any stay is booked. Look at the fence and the gate latch, where a guest dog sleeps, and how the resident animals take to a newcomer on their own ground. Ten minutes in the yard shows you more than a description of it.
Do a paid trial visit while you are still in town
Book one visit before a trip, go out for the hour, and see what the update looks like and whether the timing held. It is the cheapest way to learn how someone works, and it lets your animal meet them twice before you fly.
Verify the insurance yourself
Ask for the certificate and check the policy is current and covers pet sitting rather than general liability for something else. If they use a booking platform, read what the platform's guarantee actually covers, since most exclude pre-existing conditions and cap payouts.
Write the care sheet before the interview
One page: feeding amounts and times, medication with doses, vet name and number plus an after-hours clinic, your contact details, the backup human, the spending limit you authorize, and where the leash, food and carrier live. Handing this over is also a test of whether they read it.
Before You Leave
- Leave written vet authorization and a spending cap, and tell your vet the sitter's name so they will treat without you on the phone.
- Confirm the times of the first and last visits against your actual flights, including delays.
- Show them where the water shutoff, breaker box and cleaning supplies are.
- Leave more food and litter than the trip needs, and say where more can be bought.
- Test the door code or lock with them present rather than trusting it on the day.
- Tell a neighbor a sitter will be coming, and give the sitter the neighbor's number.
- Note anything a camera will show them doing, since recording someone inside your home without telling them is both rude and, in some places, unlawful.
Signs to Walk Away
- No insurance certificate, or a policy they cannot describe.
- No contract, and no written record of feeding or medication instructions.
- No named backup for illness or car trouble.
- Cash only, with no receipt and no invoice.
- They do not ask about your animal's behavior, triggers or medical history.
- They talk over you, or dismiss a concern about anxiety or reactivity as fussing.
- References are all friends and family, or cannot be contacted.
- They arrive late to the interview itself with no explanation.