Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Pet Sitter

The questions

Open any question to see why it works.

1. 1

   How did you get into pet sitting, and is it your main work?

   Full time sitters and people fitting visits around another job are both fine, but the second group has less slack when something runs late. Ask what else is in their week and when they would be unreachable.

2. 2

   Are you independent, or working through an app or agency?

   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.

3. 3

   Do you carry pet sitting insurance, and whose name is on the policy?

   Ask to see the certificate and check the name matches the person who will be in your house. Cover held by a company that sends different sitters may not extend to the individual, and it usually excludes anyone they subcontract to.

4. 4

   Has anyone run a background check on you, and how recently?

   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.

5. 5

   What training have you done, and when did you last renew your pet first aid?

   Certificates expire, typically after two or three years, and the renewal date tells you whether the training is current or a line on an old profile. Ask what the course covered, since some are online only and never involve an animal.

6. 6

   Which animals or situations do you turn down?

   Someone with no limits has either not worked long enough to have any or is not telling you. Sitters who decline reactive dogs, unhandled cats, or homes with no vet on record are describing an honest sense of their own range.

7. 7

   Can we do a paid meeting at my house before I book anything?

   Watch the animal rather than the sitter. A good sitter ignores a nervous dog and lets it approach, and notices where the litter tray, food and lead live. A sitter who reaches straight for the pet often misreads other signals too.

8. 8

   What is the visit length, and what does a booking actually include?

   Twenty minute and forty-five minute visits are both sold as a visit. Establish what happens inside that window, and whether the time starts when they arrive or includes travel, which some pricing quietly does.

9. 9

   What are your rates, and what triggers an extra charge?

   Ask specifically about public holidays, second animals, medication, late bookings, keys collected on the day, and visits outside standard hours. Holiday surcharges are normal and are the ones most often discovered on the invoice.

10. 10

    How many other homes will you be visiting on the same days as mine?

    The number sets how much your booking can absorb a delay. Ask where you would fall in the order and how wide the arrival window is, because a sitter running twelve homes cannot promise a morning visit before eleven.

11. 11

    What is your cancellation policy, in both directions?

    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.

12. 12

    How far ahead should I book holiday periods?

    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.

13. 13

    Do you use a written service agreement, and can I read it before I decide?

    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.

14. 14

    What would you want from me in advance about my vet and my animal's routine?

    The request list is a good measure of experience. Sitters who ask for the vet's details, a signed treatment authorisation, a second emergency contact and feeding specifics have thought about the day something goes wrong.

15. 15

    What is your backup if you are ill or your car breaks down?

    A named person who has met your animal is the answer you want. Sitters with no backup at all are a risk on a longer trip, and knowing that in advance lets you leave a spare key with a neighbour as insurance.

16. 16

    How do you handle keys, alarm codes and access while I am away?

    Ask whether keys are labelled with an address, where they are kept, and who else in a company can access them. Lockboxes and coded tags are the normal answers, and a sitter who has never considered the question is telling you something.

17. 17

    What is the worst thing that has happened on a job, and how did it end?

    Everyone with real experience has a story: an escape, an emergency vet trip, a burst pipe. Listen for whether they contacted the owner, what they did first, and whether the account includes anything they would now do differently.

18. 18

    What would you refuse to do, even if I asked?

    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.

19. 19

    Can you give me two references, and could one of them be a client from over a year ago?

    Long-standing clients are the useful reference, because they have seen the sitter on a bad week. Ask those clients whether visits ever got shortened and whether the sitter told them about problems or waited to be asked.

20. 20

    What makes a client easy to work with, and what makes one difficult?

    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.