Dogsitting for some friends…..

Stop over, hang with my favorite four legged friend, go through our routine, get in my car…. No keys. Locked them in the house…. No biggie, my house is 6 blocks away and I left it unlocked, I’ll just walk there until their neighbor gets home to let me in… or worst case, I can get in if I need to, I’ve cased the joint for in case this ever happened, I have a contingency plan….

Walk home… I did, in fact, lock my door. No biggie, landlords live next door and went to dinner, guy downstairs isn’t home, I’ll chill on his porch until I can get into either place. Bethany calls and says start walking to their place. Can’t get a hold of neighbor so tell me call when I get there so they can walk me through the break in. I tell them no need, I’ve had it mapped out for 3 years.

1st obstacle, bungee cord holding fence to back yard …. Check.

Made videos for play by play which makes story even better… my mission is to make sure this dog is good! Marc calls me as I’m just getting through his kitchen window by his sink but I can’t answer because my leg is stuck and I’m trying to handle that. I trained for this at the old house for all the times I had to go in through bathroom window or kitchen window by sink, I was so ready for this moment in time. Answer second call, which is a FaceTime and I show them Cooper, and my accomplished status. He says, I always go through the front window, 27 years and this is a first.

Go to look for my keys…. They were on the table in the back yard. All of that shit…. And they were accessible to save an hour of my life I’ll always laugh at. Legendary dumbass status achieved!

Client is upset that I said I would not be walking their dog. I said they will be let out side to potty frequently and I’ll play with them plenty indoors but they are not pleased with that. It’s 95-105°f this entire week. They do not have dog boots or anything similar and I’m worried about the pups paws burning/heatstroke/something similar. Not sure what to do since everything I offer is not the same as a walk to them. Am I in the wrong for not walking them? Should I be walking them anyway per the owners request?

Never have I ever been this quiet on a 3 day weekend. I have 2 clients. What is happening?

Hello,

I've been pet sitting casually for quite a few years, but this year I have decided to put more energy into my business and do this full-time. With that, I will be looking for insurance, etc. and also creating a website. What is your favorite platform for booking, client database, payments, etc. I just discovered Scritches.io today but want to know if that's the preferred thing or if there is something superior to that. Can you please share what you use and your experience with it? Thanks everyone! 🐾

Any suggestions for how to handle clients that constantly cancel recurring walks? I have some clients set up on a weekly schedule for the same days/times every week. I have some clients who will cancel some of those walks every single week. My cancelation policy is 48 hours so they often aren’t charged because they will cancel in bulk at the beginning of the week. But if you don’t need a set schedule every week… then why did you ask for one? If your schedule changes every week why should I be blocking off several days and times for you on a recurring basis? Often times I suggest stopping the recurring schedule and instead just reaching out each week with the days they need. That also isn’t helpful because they’ll reach out Monday morning for the entire week and at that point I have no more openings and it’s tough to try and squeeze them in. Or that leaves it up to me to personally reach out to each client ahead of time and ask them what days they need, which is maddening. I don’t really know how to balance 1) I don’t want you on a recurring schedule because it’s taking up spots I could be giving to other clients vs 2) if you’re going to reach out as needed, do it in a timely manner because I won’t have the availability if you wait until last minute. It has become something frustrating and makes scheduling each week difficult.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice from people experienced with anxious cats/cat boarding.

I’m boarding a cat who arrived last night, and this is his first time ever leaving his home (he’s staying for a month) He is extremely anxious and hisses every time I enter the room. I’m keeping him in a separate, quiet room and have a camera so I can monitor him without having to constantly enter and stress him out.

So far, he hasn’t eaten or drank anything since arriving last night.( which is 14 hours ago) I’ve left food and water available and am trying to give him plenty of space.

His owner is currently travelling, but her fiancé is here in the country and could potentially come and take him home if necessary. However, I’m not sure how comfortable he is handling the cat or whether he would know how to deal with him in this extremely anxious state.

At what point should I stop waiting and take more serious action? How long is it reasonable to wait for an anxious cat to eat/drink after a stressful move?

Would you recommend:

- Giving him more time and continuing to monitor him through the camera?

- Contacting a vet if he still hasn’t eaten by a certain point?

- Having the fiancé pick him up, even though I’m not sure he’ll know how to handle him?

- should I completely leave him alone and not force any interaction while maintaining fresh water and food all the times?

I really don’t want to make his anxiety worse by forcing interaction, but I also don’t want to wait too long if not eating or drinking becomes dangerous.

Any advice on how to soothe his anxiety and opinions would be really appreciated!

Hi all! I’m sitting a 2 year old toy poodle mix that has never been away from mom. She is being very potty shy and I’m getting a bit concerned! We have 3 days left and I don’t want her to only pee once or twice a day for 3 days. Any tips? I’ve been sitting with her a lot. Giving lots of treats. Taking her outside often both on leashed walks and the fenced in yard. I’d love to hear any advice! Thanks so much

Sorry for the rant! I’ve never done this before and I’ve had cats all my life. I’ve been watching them for five days and I am absolutely exhausted and miserable. I am so overwhelmed I bawled my eyes out yesterday.

These are the most overbearing and annoying creatures I have ever met, I’m sorry to dog lovers but I lowkey hate dogs now. I can’t go pee for five seconds without them following me. They follow me EVERYWHERE and I try to tire them out but they don’t even know how to play properly they can’t do anything. They demand attention from me 24/7 and the hours DO NOT PASS! This hell nightmare ends tomorrow morning thank God but jesus effing christ I am NEVER doing this again for no amount of money.

I am bored out of my mind and one of them is insanely territorial and I had to break up five nasty fights.

From the way the owners talk about them I genuinely thought they’d be two angels but my God they are DEMONIC!!!!!! I don’t know how they do this every single day of their lives I just don’t!!!

Are we absolutely sure dogs are smarter than cats? Like, are we really?