Dog sitting is when your sitter makes 3 visits per day to your home, while boarding is when your dog stays at your sitters home.

The best option for all pets, including dogs, is in-home sitting. I cover all the duties, responsibilities, rates and surcharges and anything else to help you choose the best dog sitting company for your dog.

What exactly is In-Home Dog Sitting?

There are a number of different type of pet sitting services. In-home sitting is when a pet sitter stays in your home and performs all the duties you would do for your dog or other pets.

This is the best option for dogs that need special care like puppies, senior dogs or dogs that suffer from separation anxiety. It is also a good option for cats, but cats are pretty good with just a single visit per day.

Below I cover all the details that pet sitting companies in Philadelphia provide for their in-home sitting service. You do not need to live in Philadelphia to get an idea of what to expect from in-home sitters in your city.

If you are not sure if you want dog sitting, in-home sitting or boarding, then read my article Definitions of Pet Sitting for detailed descriptions on those pet services.

Hopefully, you already have a dog walker or pet sitter. If you do, then you know you can trust them and they already know your pet.

If you are hiring an in-home pet sitter for the first time, then your sitter will need all the details about taking care of your dog.

Common duties \ descriptions

Here are the most common duties that in-home sitters offer:

• • Expect at least AM and PM feedings and walks, but ask if mid-day walks are included in the price. Not all companies offer a mid-day walk. You’ll have to pay extra for that.
  • Make sure to ask how long the walks are, especially if your dog takes forever to do his or her business. You may have to pay for longer walks.
  • Meals: feedings and walks should be at the times your dog is used to so he remains on a normal schedule.
  • Make sure you are hiring someone to sleep in your home. Some companies only offer pet sitting, but their services page calls it in-home sitting.
  • Most sitters will also water plants, bring in mail, turn lights on and off, take out the trash, etc.
  • Besides meals, they will also make sure your dog has fresh water, administer medication.
  • For larger companies, you should be able to pick your preferred sitter, especially if he or she already knows your dog.
  • Keep in mind, sitters have other dog walking and pet sitting appointments throughout the day. Most note that arrival time is between 7:00-8:00 for both night and mornings.

Rates & surcharges

There are some companies that simply list their rates and what you get for that. Others have surcharges for everything possible. Here are examples of some of the surcharges.

• Major holidays will have a higher rate.
• Additional dogs: expect a per-day surcharge.
• One company in Philly does not include a mid-day walk even though they have the highest rate. Instead, they charge you for their daycare service. Keep that in mind.
• Puppies: You will definitely have a higher rate if you own a puppy.
• Surcharge for reserving a spot in less than 24 hours.
• You may not get your deposit back if you cancel in less than 24 hours.
• If you want more than 3 walks or longer walks, then expect to pay extra.

Take a look at my In-Home Dog Sitting Rates For Philadelphia to see the actual costs and rates to give you an actual idea of pet sitting costs.

Deposits

Asking for a deposit is normal to make sure you get a spot and for the company to keep if you cancel within days of the sitting dates.

• A non-refundable deposit usually equal to one day of sitting.
• The deposit is applied towards the total cost of sitting,
• Some companies require the balance in full within 48 hours of the start of the sitting.

Reservations

It’s always important to reserve your spot well in advance. There are way more dog owners than companies that offer dog boarding or in-home dog sitting.

Schedule as far in advance as possible – 48 hours is usually the minimum to schedule. Some companies ask you to make holiday reservations 90 days, or more, in advance.

Cancellations

I know from my experience that cancellations stink. I’ve lost potential clients more than once when I turned a potential client away because I was already booked – and then I get the cancellation.

Most companies require 24 hours to cancel any services or your deposit may not be refunded. You will need to give at least one week notice if you cancel a major holiday reservation.

Instructions

This is one of the most important aspects of pet sitting or boarding. Some dogs are easy and the notes are “Please feed him and walk him 3 times”. Other dogs require more work.

Make sure to have a list of anything you feel is important for your sitter to know. Here are some examples of things to communicate with your sitter:

• Detailed instructions on how to care for your dog, especially feeding notes and any issues with walking your dog. Aggressive dogs or dogs that go after squirrels are a problem. Let your walker know all of that.
• Location of the leash and collar/harness, toys & treats, bed or crate, etc.
• If your dog requires medication then make sure to have detailed notes on where the meds are, how much, how often, etc.
• Also, leave the contact information for your vet.

Take a look at this article from Canine Journal on Dog Sitting Tips for Parents for some great points.

Final Thoughts

Try to find a company that has flat rates with minimal surcharges. If they do a good job, stick with them for the life of your pets. Also, give them some positive online reviews, testimonials, referrals, and bonuses at Christmas or New Year’s Eve.

The post In-Home Dog Sitting: Dog Sitters That Stay At Your Home appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

It is not a requirement to have pet sitter insurance to run a dog walking or pet sitting business, but it is highly recommended. You also want to consider getting a bond if you have employees who have access to your clients’ homes.

There are four main pet sitter insurance providers that service the US. Those insurance companies are covered below.

Pet Sitter Insurance Details: What is it and why do I need it?

Pet sitter insurance, or any kind of insurance, is not a very interesting subject. Most people would rather do almost anything else than get into the details involving liability coverage. So let’s get into the details.

You may need pet sitter insurance if you own any type of pet service business. This includes, but is not limited to, dog walking. pet sitting, dog daycare, grooming, pet taxi, dog training, pet portraits, and pooper scoopers.

Basically, if you are bringing pets to your location, or entering clients homes, to care for an animal, then you are involved in some form of a pet sitting service.

The topics you need to understand are liability, bond, and licensing. The bond and the “licensing” are straight forward topics which I cover towards the end of the article.

General liability insurance protects you and your business for injuries or property damage while working as a pet sitter. The insurance pays for legal representation and settlements for accidents or negligence caused by you or your employees.

The most important part protects for injury and property damage. and is specifically for any issues regarding the pets or the owners’ property.

Examples of negligence or accidents are lost keys, broken house items, medical expenses for the pet in your care, injury caused by a dog to other dogs or people, etc.

Here is a good article if you are thinking of starting a pet-related business. They cover insurance, bonding, and other aspects of a pet business. Also, take a look at my series How to Start a Dog Walking Business (5 articles in total).

Insurance & Liability

As a pet service provider, you need insurance for liability reasons. Some common reasons to have pet sitter insurance are:

• In the event, a pet in your care gets sick or injured
• If a pet in your care injures another pet or person
• You accidentally cause damage while in a clients’ home
• You forget to put a dog in a crate or room and damage results
• The keys to a home are lost and you need to call a locksmith

And there are many other reasons to have liability coverage.

There are 4 main pet sitter insurance agencies that cover pet businesses in the United States. They are listed below with as many details that I could find on them.

I also provide links that have more information if you enjoy reading about insurance. Otherwise, just pick the cheapest one if you are just starting your business.

Also, take a look at the page I found for comparison charts of pet sitter insurance providers for the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

But before that, you need to know about the “Care, Custody, and Control” aspect of liability insurance.

Care, Custody, and Control

This is a vital part of pet sitter insurance that is not always offered.

This protects you for accidents that happen while pets are in your “care, custody and control”. It covers the primary place of business which is important for pet businesses like dog daycare, boarding, and training.

Most insurers include this coverage though not all. Each company in this article does. If you are getting insurance from a company other than ones in this article, then check to make sure that this coverage is included.

Pet Sitters Associates (PSA)

PSA offers insurance for its members, and you can have your business listed in their pet sitter directory. Their membership and insurance cost $190 per year. If you need to be bonded then that is an additional $100.

Take a look at the Pet Business Insurance page for details on the plan. There are various add-on options that may, or may not, apply to you.

On that page, they have links to articles on how to start a few different pet service related businesses.

Or go directly to their Membership Application page for additional liability costs such as daycare or obedience classes. The page is set up as a worksheet that calculates all your policy options.

Business Insurers of the Carolinas

This is the insurer used by National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS) and Pet Sitters International (PSI), which are both large and well-known pet sitter associations.

They provide:

1. General Liability
2. Care, Custody and Control coverage
3. Bonding
4. Workers Compensation
5. And more…

You can get their insurance and bond directly thru them or from NAPPS or PSI.

NAPPS is a non-profit pet sitting association. Besides providing pet sitter insurance, they have a lot of resources for their members. The membership costs $135 per year which I assume includes the cost of insurance but contact them for all the details.

Check out this 12-page NAPPS PDF file that covers the bonding and pet sitter insurance in detail.

PSI is, in their own words, “… the world’s largest educational association for professional pet sitters.” Well, that’s impressive!

So similar to NAPPS, they also provide insurance and educational resources for their pet sitter members. Their membership costs $145 per year.

Note: I could not find details of their liability amounts.

Kennel Pro

Kennel Pro list offering pet sitter insurance for a lot of different pet businesses, but I believe that is standard. It appears they have been a specialty insurance company since 1933, so that makes them the oldest of the 4 companies on this list.

You have to request a quote, but it looks like their Silver package is $425 per year (OUCH!) I assume, the longer you have been in business, then the more you can charge. They must have a track record that justifies the higher rate.

But their Silver, Gold and Platinum coverage plans are specific to different pet service companies. It may be worth looking into the packages if their coverage is the best option for your business.

Pet Care Insurance

They are covered under an insurer named Veracity, a company that was formed in 2012. As the new guys on the block, they appear to be the cheapest at $129 per year. (I’d go with this one.)

Here is their pet sitter insurance page with the details of the coverage, testimonials, FAQs and informational videos.

Towards the bottom of the page is a table of the actual coverage details of the insurance. And then there is more information and links below that. They have a lot of information that will help you.

Bond

You do not need bond with your pet sitter insurance if you do not have employees. This is only needed if you have employees AND they are found guilty of stealing from one of your clients.

If a pet sitter is convicted, the insurance company with whom you have the bond will reimburse the client for the loss.

Don’t get this if you are just starting out in the pet service industry. As you grow and hire employees, then you should seriously consider this coverage.

The one reason you may want it is that it makes clients feel “good”. It provides a level of security and trust for the client.

License

There are no dog walker or pet sitter licensing agencies. If you see a company advertise that they are “Licensed” then it means one of two things.

First, they are possible including that title because they have taken some kind of training that assists them in their business. Pet sitters may take training classes or get certifications for pet CPR & First Aid, dog behavior and training, or classes involving starting a pet business.

Secondly, they may be referring to their business license. The business license is just a requirement for local government and has nothing to do with experience or expertise with animals.

Simply put, ignore the word “Licensed” in any part of a pet sitters business credentials. It’s great if a pet sitter has any training or certifications, but it’s not a necessary requirement.

If you are a dog walker or pet sitter, then you need a good reason why you are including that term as a credential. If you don’t have one, then don’t use it. Better yet, just don’t use “Licensed” as a credential

Summary

Here is my advice: Get insurance!

Insurance is protection for you when things go wrong. I’m good at what I do, but I have had 2 different dogs get away from me. I was lucky. Both situations ended with a healthy dog. Even though neither situation was my fault, things happen. And they happen in a flash.

If you are just starting out, go with the cheapest pet sitter insurance. Don’t bother with bond until, or if, you have employees. Also skip the memberships, unless you have the money to spare.

Comment below or email if you know of any other pet sitter insurance companies so that I can add them to the list. Or to share any stories relating to your pet business and how your insurance has helped you.

The post Pet Sitter Insurance: Pet Sitter & Dog Walker Business Requirements appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

This article is the final listing of sitting rates: Below is a table of single visit and overnight pet sitting rates for 26 companies in Philadelphia. You should also look at my articles on dog sitting rates and cat sitter rates depending on whether you have a cat or dog. I found a total of 45 businesses that list either dog sitting, cat sitting and\or pet sitting as a service.

The reason I split pet sitting into 3 articles is that some companies list the services as sitting for dogs, cats or pets. My dog sitting rates article lists 26 businesses, a lot of which are below but not all. My cat sitter rates article lists 39 companies, and again there are differences with the companies below and in that article. Most of the companies below offer dog, cat, AND petting. Two companies only list rates for pet and cat sitting. Two only list pet sitting. And one company lists cat and dog sitting but not pet sitting (which they obviously do.)

The company Little Characters have rates for pet sitting and cat sitting. I would think they also provide dog sitting, but you would have to check with them if you need sitting for your dog. Two companies below ONLY list pet sitting rates (overnight or daily). They are PHL Pets and Tails of Philly. I would assume that “pet sitting” would involve dogs and cats, as well as other types of pets. You’ll want to double-check with them as well. Every other company listed below are also in both my dog sitting rates and cat sitter rates articles.

Overnight Pet Sitting Rates 

• “Min” values: This is the minimum or standard rate for each company. It may also be a discounted rate for a certain amount of visits per week. If you see a dash under this column, then that company doesn’t have a dog sitting rate for that visit time.
• “Max” values: This is a higher rate that usually includes fees for night or weekend visits. If you see a dash under this column, then the “max” dog sitting rate for that company is the same as the flat rate under the min column.
• Companies with the highest rates: The highest rates may be for companies based in center city where driving and parking is difficult. Everything downtown cost more. If they do not service those areas then I’d say that they should lower their rates. One reason for high rates may be because they prefer one visit time length over another. And so they make the less desirable times a higher rate. I do the same.

Service Areas

Here are some of the service areas that I found for each site. It’s a messy bulleted list, but it was not easy getting the service areas and figuring out how to put it all in this article.

If you see a “+” sign and a number, then that is the number of additional surrounding neighborhoods that the company services. If you know you live close to the service area listed, then they may also service your area. Here is a zip code map for Philadelphia if you are new to the city.

• Center City: Center City Pets, Fetch Pet Care
• Fairmount: Fairmount Pet Service. Fairmount +2: Pet Posse, Philly Bow Wow.
• Fishtown: Mary Pawpins
• Manayunk +2: City of Paws
• NE Philly: NE Phila Pet Sitting
• Northern Liberties +2: Bow Wow Meow
• Rittenhouse: Rittenhound
• South Philly: Paws & Claws
• West Philly: Fresh Prints of West Philly
• Companies that service MANY neighborhoods: Happy Tails of Philly, Little Characters, PhilaPets, PHL Pets, Queenies Pets, Tails of Philly, Top Tails, Walk This Way, Woof n Stuff, ZDogWalkers
• Unknown (I couldn’t find which neighborhoods these companies service): For Paws Philly, Madeleine’s Paws & Claws, MJS Pet Sitting, Pups on Passyunk

Philly Overnight Pet Sitting Rates (as of 9/4/19)

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing any of the pet businesses listed on this page other than my own. I do not personally know any of the owners. This is simply a listing of overnight pet sitting rates that I compiled for people needing that service.

Additional Pet Service Rates

I have an article on the rates and cost for every type of pet service. The article is called Pet Service Rates but it also includes other subjects like Philly dog parks, pet-friendly hotels, 24-hour emergency vets, and adoption locations. Check it out if you are interested in other pet services located in the city.

The post Overnight Pet Sitting Rates for Philadelphia appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

Below is a comprehensive list of cat sitter rates for companies for companies in Philadelphia, PA. Most have a standard cat sitter rate, though some have higher rates for different reasons. I link to their service area page if they have one. Otherwise, the link goes to their rates page.

The table lists 38 companies that have websites and that list their cat sitter rates If you can’t find a company in your area, there are cat sitters that do not have websites. Most of the time they will have Facebook business listings. You should also try sites that list local businesses like Yelp, Merchant Circle, Google Business listings, etc.

I used a dash ( – ) in the table for two reasons. The first obvious one is if a company does not have a cat sitter rate for a particular visit time. In that case, the dash would be under both the minimum and maximum columns. I also used a dash under the “max” column if they just have a single rate for the visit time. I did not want to clutter the table with repeating numbers. Take a look at my rates under Fairmount Pet Service. My 15 & 20-minute visits are a flat $12 and $15 respectively, but my 30-minute visit ranges from $$18 to $21.

Cat Sitter Max & Min Rates and Additional Fees

• Table “Min” values: This is the minimum or standard rate for each company. It may also be a discounted rate for a certain amount of visits per week.
• Table “Max” values: This is a higher rate that usually includes fees for night or weekend visits or visits during “off-peak” times. Or the higher rate may be if you do not meet the minimum # of visits per week for the discounted rate.
• Additional fees: Part of the “max” number are surcharges for nights and weekends. Also common are charges or fees for more than one cat, off-peak visit times and administering medicine. If you have more than one cat, the extra fee that some companies have is for 2 or more cats. But most either do not charge for additional cats or have a surcharge for more than 3 cats.

Service Areas

Here are some of the service areas that I found for each site. If you see a “+” sign and a number, then that is the number of additional surrounding neighborhoods that the company services. If you know you live close to the service area listed, then they may also service your area. Here is a zip code map for Philadelphia if you are new to the city.

• Center City: Center City Pets, Fetch Pet Care
• Fairmount: Fairmount Pet Service. Fairmount +1: The Pet Nanny. Fairmount +2: Pet Posse, Philly Bow Wow
• Fishtown: Mary Pawpins, Pawty Time
• Germantown: Just 4 Paws
• Manayunk: Manayunk Pooch Schoochers. Manayunk +2: City of Paws
• NE Philly: NE Phila Pet Sitting
• Northern Liberties +1: Four Paws Dog Walking. Northern Liberties +2: Bow Wow Meow
• Rittenhouse: Rittenhound
• South Philly +1: Bark Park
• Washington Square: Litter Paw
• West Philly: Fresh Prints of West Philly, P.U.P.S. West Philly +2: Super Steps
• Wissahickon: Wissahickon Walkers
• Zip code 19147: Pant Dog Center
• Companies that service MANY neighborhoods: Happy Tails of Philly, Little Characters, Phila Pet Care Co, PhilaPets, Philly Fit Dog, Philly Puppy Love, Queenies Pets, South Paw, Spotwalk, The Cat Peeps, Top Tails, Walk it like a dog, Walk This Way, Woof n Stuff, ZDogWalkers
• Unknown (I couldn’t find which neighborhoods these companies service): For Paws Philly, Madeleine’s Paws & Claws, MJS Pet Sitting, Pups on Passyunk, The Dog Enthusiast

Philly Cat Sitter Rates (as of 9/4/19)

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing any of the pet businesses listed on this page other than my own. I do not personally know any of the owners. This is simply a listing of cat sitter rates that I compiled for people needing that service.

Additional Pet Service Rates

I have an article on the rates and cost for every type of pet service. The article is called Pet Service Rates but it also includes other subjects like Philly dog parks, pet-friendly hotels, 24-hour emergency vets, and adoption locations. Check it out if you are interested in other pet services located in the city.

The post Cat Sitter Rates Philadelphia, PA appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

I wanted to create a quick and easy reference for all the steps that you should consider when starting a dog walking business. The steps range from your first decisions when first starting, to managing the business after you have many clients.

I have summarized the main points from the previous five articles with a brief explanation of why each point is important. At the end of the article, I add some final thoughts on how to start a dog walking business and start making money.

Also, I have a more detailed pdf file for download with the basic steps on how to start a dog walking business. I also will have an eBook and online course on how to start your dog walking business. They both will be very detailed and with many insights that I did not include in this series of articles. They will both be available sometime in 2019. Here are some basics steps to follow:

1. You need to determine whether or not you will offer services other than dog walking.
   1. Most companies offer additional services. The most common are pet sitting, boarding, and pet taxi.
2. How far are you willing to travel? What kind of transportation will you use?
   1. The farther you travel, the fewer visits you will be able to do, so get a map and get a rough idea of the limits of your service area. I need to get to my dogs in about 5 minutes. Any longer and I will be on the late end for the last dogs.
3. Hours of operation
   1. What times of the day are you not available or do not want to work? This will determine whether or not you can offer various services. Dog walking is in the middle of the weekday. Pet sitting involves weekends, holidays, mornings, and nights. Boarding is similar to pet sitting – 3 walks per day plus feedings. And you have the dog with you when you are home.
4. How much will you charge for your services?
   1. This is when you research the competition to see what other services are offered in your area and what other companies charge. You have to meet or beat the rates of established companies. You can raise your rates after a couple of years.
5. Professional Experience, Requirements, and Certifications
   1. Do you have any pet experience? If not, can you get some? Try volunteering at rescues or shelters. Also, you need to look into getting a pet CPR certification and Bond and Insurance. Your competition most likely has all those things – so should you.
6. Getting Clients
   1. There are various methods that you need to do right away so that you can get clients and start making money. The easiest are flyers and talking to people you meet. After that start using online techniques: get on social media and get your business listed on various sites.
   2. You’ll need to come up with a business name and logo but get the clients as soon as you can.
7. Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Tips & Tricks
   1. There are do’s and don’t and things to watch for when walking dogs. You need to identify problems before they happen. The tricks come with experience, but definitely check out my article specifically on this topic.
8. Gear and Supplies
   1. You will need great footwear, poop bags and treats, foul-weather gear, etc.
9. References, Reviews, and Testimonials
   1. You need your clients to not only act as references for you but to also create online reviews for your business.
   2. You can then use those reviews as testimonials on your website.
10. Management
    1. There are a number of daily and weekly things that you need to manage: walk and sitting schedules, payments, emailing clients, etc. I use an Excel spreadsheet but you can use Google Sheets. It’s easy to forget how much someone owes you, whether or not they overpaid or underpaid, etc.

I hope that list helps you out. But always remember that the well-being of the pets you care for comes first. If you have that as your main focus, then you will be able to handle anything. And that is easier said than done.

There will be difficult times, I guarantee it. You can do it. Just imagine every pet as your own pet and you’ll figure out any problems that arise.

Here are links to the previous five articles:

• How to start a dog walking business
• Setting up a Dog Walking Business Pt 2: Research the Competition
• How to Start Your Own Dog Walking Business, Pt 3
• Starting a Dog Walking Business Part 4: Tips and Tricks
• Starting a Dog Walking Business Part 5: Testimonials & Management

Here’s an infographic of the main points and feel free to contact me if you have any questions:

The post How to Start a Dog Walking Business: Summary, Final Thoughts appeared first on Fairmount Pet Service.

When you are first starting a dog walking business, you most commonly get your first clients from people you know, by posting flyers, and thru talking to dog owners directly. That well will dry up fast. You have to remember that people move or their requirements change. Which mean you lose clients. Your best method is to have people contact YOU by finding your website.

Online Reviews

I assume that most people are like me and seeing a high review rating is a major factor for buying a product or a service. Are you more likely to contact someone with a 4.5-star rating or someone with 1 star or no reviews at all? You MUST get your clients to give you 5-star reviews on sites like Yelp, Google Business Listing, Facebook, etc.

I first simply asked my clients to give me some online reviews. To make it easy for them, I emailed them the links to my business profile. I mentioned whether they would have to create an account for some of the sites. And I put the top review sites at the top of the list and I think one or two did a review or two. I needed many reviews on many sites.

I’ll tell you exactly how I got my clients to take time out of their day to go to up to 10 sites and add reviews (sometimes after having to create an account): FREE WALKS. I offered $2 per review, 5 would get you a free walk. I had to give them an incentive. Is it wrong to do that? Maybe, but I did it anyway. And I would do it again if I had to. That’s how important reviews are.

Website Testimonials

I used the actual text from the reviews as the content of the testimonials on my site. I used a photo of the pet and the name of the pet and owner and I put the review in quotes. I also added links to some of the sites that had the reviews. Once you do that, you have reviews and testimonials.

Just remember, you can’t ask your clients for reviews until many months have passed. They need a solid track record from you so that they can actually give you a shining review. For this reason, if one of your clients needs a last minute walk or visit, do it. They’ll remember those kinds of things when you do finally ask them for reviews.

References

You will need your first client to act as a reference for your second client. Then you need your first two clients to act as references for your next few clients. And so on it goes. It will probably work out that you ask your first few clients a handful of times or so. I didn’t like bothering them, but it was a huge help to my business.

The strange thing is that I never get asked for references anymore. I assume it is all the reviews and testimonials, plus the age of my site. I rank on the first page of Google for a few search terms. So eventually, you won’t need them anymore, but in the beginning, you do.

Management

I use Microsoft Excel for many management type functions. You could use Google Sheets if you don’t have MS Office. When you start getting a lot of clients, a notepad won’t cut it. I have three main tabs:

• Weekly dog walk & pet sitting schedule
• Weekly $ sums of all the walks and visits for each client
• Client contact information

Daily and Weekly Schedules

I have a 7-day sheet that has 15 to 30-minute time slots from as early as 7:00 am to 8:30 pm. On each day I put the name of each pet that I need to visit at the time I should get there. This way I can see my entire schedule for the week and I know where I have openings and where I do not.

Holidays are a common time for new clients to contact you. The weekly schedule allows you to see which days and times you have available for new requests. You need to know how many walks and visits you can do on any day. Once you have that number (17 max for me), you can scan your schedule to see if you can take on new clients. Quite often, I book up around holidays and I have to turn people away.

Weekly Payment Sum

My second sheet lists the total pay for each client for the entire week. It’s as simple as keying the dollar value of all the walks or visits for each day and summing the entire row for the week.

For example, if I have a client who regularly does five 15-minute walks per week at $12 per walk, the sum of the week for that client is $60. It’s a great way of tracking money for the week. Just enter the amount paid at the end of the week and make sure the #’s match. Depending on the amount, people may leave more than they owe and you can carry that to the next week as a credit. And sometimes people short you, usually by accident. Just leave a note and add the difference to the following week.

Client Contact Information

My third main sheet lists all my clients by service type. I make sure to have their cell #, email address and home address. I’ll also enter alarm codes if they have an alarm, and the pet name(s) as well. It’s easy to forget the pet names for pet sitting clients as you can go a few months without visits.

All this is so I can contact the client at any time if I need to and to help with scheduling. Most often, I need to contact them about upcoming holidays and whether or not they will need visits. And I can just copy and paste their name and pet’s name to the $ and schedule tab as needed.

Website Management

If you have a website, you’ll have to renew your domain name every year. That should be done automatically by your host company when you pay them for the upcoming year of hosting. You also want to continue doing link building, creating and sharing posts, uploading photos, writing blog posts, etc. Always remember to add keywords to everything online thing you do.

I’m not going to cover it here, but you need to learn Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I am by no means an expert on SEO, so I won’t cover this absolutely extensive subject here. You’ll have to learn about that yourself. But you should always be working on making sure your site appears on page 1 of Google when people in your area search for services you provide. The importance of that is the reason why I put the name of my neighborhood in my business name.

Raising Rates

If you started out with lower rates than your competitors, eventually you want to match their rates. Your increase will apply to any new clients that contact you. For existing clients, you can “grandfather” them in for as long as they stay with you, or you can give them notice towards the end of the calendar year that the rates will change on January 1^st. How you handle rate increases for existing clients is up to you. I recently gave my clients a full month’s notice. Most replied to my email and were all fine with it. I did lose one client though I don’t think it was for the rate increase (long story and not applicable here).

Hiring Walkers

This is tempting but it comes with its own set of problems. I’ve had a couple of great walkers, a few okay ones and three “regretful hires” (I would prefer to use different descriptions for them).

My best walker was a pet sitting client. Now that is someone you can trust. My advice for hiring walkers and sitters is to go slow – really slow. Don’t get greedy and see the dollar signs with a bunch of walkers and sitters. You have to make sure each person you hire is top-notch. Your company’s name is on the line, not to mention the well-being of the pets in their care. Plus there are more management areas when it comes to employees. You’ll need two sets of keys, you have to figure out their pay (I did 80/20), you need to email your walkers about their schedules, etc.

I tried to only hire people with experience, except for one of the bums (messed up on that one). Also, you must meet all new clients first, and then have your walkers meet them afterward. The new clients will not see you as the main person if they only meet your walker. I did not do that and a person I fired stole some of my clients. Oops! Don’t make the same mistake I did. You’re the boss, you meet the clients first, and hopefully, it all works out for you.

Insurance Claims

Hopefully, you won’t ever have the need to make a claim to your insurance company. Your goal is to NOT ever have to do that. I only had to do it once when I left a crate unlocked and a puppy chewed an expensive pair of shoes. The company you are insured with should have guidelines on how to file claims it but the goal is to not have to file claims. The better you are at your job, the better your clients will think of you. And recommendations are the best way to get new clients.

That’s the majority of the boring management stuff you have to think about if you plan on starting a dog walking business. I could also mention keeping on top of reordering poo bags and business cards, and there are probably a few other minor things to do. But for now, these are the important management areas that you need to think about on a daily or monthly basis. My final article will be a recap of this and the preceding articles with some closing thoughts. As always, contact me with any questions you have ~ hope to hear from you.

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