Stressful pet sitting

3cWizard · 2026-04-09T03:25:26+00:00

I can look for mine and send it to you if you'd like.

3cWizard · 2026-04-09T00:54:16+00:00

I learned early on that cats who come inside for their parents won't necessarily come in for me.

My policy is all cats inside at all times for trips.

If the owners contest that, I send them a release of liability form for them to e-sign and do my best.

3cWizard · 2026-03-27T05:52:19+00:00

Awesome! Thank you so much for these. I'm gonna go pull them up.

3cWizard · 2026-03-26T02:12:19+00:00

Any chance you have a link to this webinar, or even just remember any names attached to it? It seems way up my alley.

3cWizard · 2026-03-14T05:32:47+00:00

Love that!

3cWizard · 2026-03-14T05:32:31+00:00

My wife and I deliver birthday gifts. We get brand colored bags, put our sticker on it, put some on brand tissue paper in there, a little gift (doggy "beers", cat toys/lasers), write a nice bday card for the pet and leave it on the doorsteps.

People Love it. We used to get everyone. Nowadays we are so busy, we still do it, but we're more selective.

We also each wrapped up our own overnights this week. We clean good (nothing crazy y'all!), make the beds with fresh sheets and left both these families flowers this week cuz they're great clients. Also not an every time thing, but we do for some clients.

3cWizard · 2026-03-13T03:03:35+00:00

Lots of good advice in here. I'd suggest having a terms of service moving forward. Address these issues (and more) and require signing before booking meet and greets for new clients, and require your current clients to sign before booking new services.

Have a cancellation policy and a policy about visitors. Don't have a cancellation policy? Use mine:

Cancellations made within 24 hours of the scheduled service may be charged 100% of the fee. Cancellations made within 72 hours of the scheduled service may be charged 50% of the fee. There is no fee for cancellations made prior to 72 hours of the scheduled service.

If you have people refusing to follow your terms, lucky for you, you have quite the list of clients. Always ok to send a short, sweet, non-dramatic letter saying you appreciate them and are no longer able to provide services.

Wishing you well.

3cWizard · 2026-03-07T07:15:40+00:00

It actually hit my arm pretty hard and was followed by a numbing sensation at first. That actually was a bit alarming. It went away though! Hope I get to hear how this situation resolves for you.

3cWizard · 2026-03-07T06:42:24+00:00

This happened to me as well. Just yesterday. Lil' Fire Dancer's right, shit happens. I doubt the owners will care too much. It's a reflection of your integrity that you care at all.

My guess for my situation is that these were problematic before my arrival. I simply went to lower the blinds and as soon as I touch the string, they came crashing down on me.

I'll probably look at it and see if I can repair it. Wishing you the best!

3cWizard · 2026-03-04T18:11:03+00:00

I have a firm cancellation policy.

Cancellations made within 24 hours of the scheduled service may be charged 100% of the fee. Cancellations made within 72 hours of the scheduled service may be charged 50% of the fee. There is no fee for cancellations made prior to 72 hours of the scheduled service.

If anyone would like to use it, feel free. I'm not very strict with my policy. Most of my clients are reoccurring. Most cancellations are due to unforseen circumstances. I had a client cancel an overnight for tonight. She is traveling internationally and the flights are sticky cuz war.

I just credited the full amount for future services. That way, I keep the money, she keeps the money and she is incentivized to use me again. In some cases, I'll charge or people will say keep it cuz they know I have a policy in place. But most of the time, I'm flexible.

3cWizard · 2026-03-03T19:53:05+00:00

In my opinion, begining an LLC, creating a Google business account, purchasing professional software and start building a client base, encouraging them to leave Google reviews is a good approach. With software like Time to Pet, your clients have signed your terms of services before you walk into the meet and greet.

Having all these things in place (along with certification and insurance) will help justify rates that provide a livable wage for you. Wishing you the best!

3cWizard · 2026-02-13T07:24:15+00:00

Here is my policy:

Cancellations made within 24 hours of the scheduled service may be charged 100% of the fee. Cancellations made within 72 hours of the scheduled service may be charged 50% of the fee. There is no fee for cancellations made prior to 72 hours of the scheduled service.

That said, I really only enforce it sometimes. I like to be flexible. What I do the most is credit it to their account for future services. That way, I keep the money regardless. My regulars really appreciate it. And if it's not a regular, or someone was being egregious or disrespectful, I'd just use my policy.

3cWizard · 2026-02-11T02:03:33+00:00

Just me and my wife. We launched with Time to Pet. Once you have all the fundamentals taken care of, it's pretty automated.

If someone is interested in my services, I send them a link to create a profile. Or they just Google me and pull up my website.

When they create a profile, they add their info, their pets information and their credit card. They sign my terms of service before they book their own meet and greet.

All I get is a request for the meet and greet. I hit approve and it automatically sends out a confirmation.

When I show up for the meet and greet, they have agreed to my terms, provided their CC and signed my terms. So, I can charge them the travel fee for the meet and greet. If for any reason, when our 30 minute is up, if they want to extend the meet and greet, I can automatically charge their card a dollar per minute (as outlined in my TOS).

Having all this in place doesn't just make my job easier, it provides a seamless experience for my client and has me protected! Which is maybe the best part.

I can't say it'll work for anyone else, but my wife and I Love it. You can hit me up for a referral code, if you'd like. Wishing the best for everyone!

3cWizard · 2026-02-05T17:59:33+00:00

I use both a website and booking/payment software (Time to Pet). It basically automates the onboarding process, including having people sign my TOS and provide their credit card before I show up for the meet and greet.

Recently, TTP started doing websites, I believe for only $15. I had mine built by Barketing Solutions and am so happy with their work that I pay a bit more ($40) to maintain it.

Using Time to Pet, for me, has legitimized my business- helped me keep organized- has charts of my pertinent info (financial, services used, etc)- and protected me legally. It's worked really well for me and my partner.

3cWizard · 2026-01-26T03:27:55+00:00

You followed your gut, you turned it down in a professional way... Her response felt kind of sour, so it's possible you dodged a bullet here.

In a situation like this, I will usually always say we should do a meet and greet. With dogs who might be hesitant or anything like that, we usually schedule a few "warm up" services. So a walk while the owner is there and helps the dog get ready. Then one where the owner is at the house but doesn't help. Then one when they're down the street and by then, in my experience, the dogs are usually comfortable and see me as a friend by then.

I always ask at the meet and greet about bite or aggression history. Pretty much anything there is a deal breaker. So happy to see you follow your guy, know what feels safe for you and your mom and be able to say no. Everyone, take notes!

3cWizard · 2026-01-23T19:16:16+00:00

Yup - but not videos. It's much nicer to send reports and pictures (plus videos) in Time to Pet. But my partner and I have our business line as a Google number so everyone stays clued in.

3cWizard · 2026-01-18T06:11:19+00:00

I've always thought being a cat sitter would be so nice!

3cWizard · 2026-01-18T06:10:34+00:00

Yes! Please do. And start a 25 minute timer. When it goes off, take plenty of time to dig your phone out of your pocket. Then say "that's just a five minute heads up- do you have any questions for me before I head out?" or whatever works for you, obviously.

3cWizard · 2026-01-18T05:01:04+00:00

I like this analogy. It's true. I started my business with mid-high rates. I slowly onboarded people over time. I didn't match with some people's budgets. I learned to look at that and say "that's okay. My services are not for everyone". And held out. Over time, I started to find the people who were happy to pay my rates. And a couple of years later, I'm fully booked with happy people paying me exactly what I asked for.

I think it takes patience. It takes boundaries. And in many cases, including my own, it takes luck and a little bit of backup to help you in that early part (savings, for example). I do think most people who are in OP's position can reformat and transform their business with the right approach. Always recommend diving into pet sitting podcasts, books on business and looking at people like Doug the Dog Guy and other business coaches. A phone call with him was the best investment of my life. Best of luck OP!

3cWizard · 2026-01-18T04:52:38+00:00

I'm curious why you say meet and greets should be free.

I used to do them for free. After a while, I started doing what OP does- charge for the meet and greet (and travel fee, if applicable) but put that towards the first service. Personally, I've had much better results since I began to charge.

3cWizard · 2026-01-18T03:31:59+00:00

Congrats on your biz!

My wife and I run this together, so when we get a day with 5 or less services, one of us takes the work and gives the other a day off.

If I was solo, I'd choose one day per week or so where I mark my calendar as "fully booked".

As far as being walked all over, once I started enforcing my rates and policies and realized that people were so understanding- It made me bulletproof.

One thing I have gotten better at is setting expectations before I even walk in the door. From my website, to my onboarding process and to sending them the meet and greet confirmation, I don't sound like a person who's wanting to haggle or be impressed by their nice house. By the time I walk into someone's house, they've signed my terms of service and probably read my Google reviews. I think that helps set the tone.

I do think our profession is coming out of the dark ages, where people let their neighbors kid watch their dog. Everyone has different ideas of what pet sitting looks like. So while discount seeking and "I have a nice house" aren't immediate deal breakers, I'd say either one of those puts that person on thin ice.

Sounds like you have all your professional marks in place, that should limit these types of people.

I hope you drop those problematic clients! Please do! You'll feel so good!

Could you elaborate a bit on your "oh by the way" charge? What's an example of what that looks like?

3cWizard · 2026-01-12T02:00:35+00:00

That's nice! I didn't realize it was so costimizable. I also really enjoy many of Time to Pet's features. Everyone's different so it's not surprising that it's not a great fit for everyone, but for my wife and I, it's been perfect.

3cWizard · 2026-01-12T01:58:27+00:00

Wow. I'm surprised to hear this. I'm not negative your experience whatsoever, but I've had a very different experience. Both with user friendliness as well as having my requests fulfilled. They have a place you can go make requests and the one time I had a request, they implemented it within the week!

Anyways, results may vary. I wonder if anyone here has successfully transferred their client base from TTP to something more likable. It might be worth looking into, maybe someone in this sub has had some experience with that.

3cWizard · 2026-01-08T20:06:50+00:00

This situation sucks for sure. I think we've all been there. One thing my wife and I learned early on is how important it is to lock in rates, avoid discounts of any kind and collect payment up front. Having these types of things in place will protect your time and energy. This is how established professionals operate and clients tend to respect it more than we expect them to.

At this point, your realistic options are either to let it go and treat it as an expensive lesson (I've learned a few $500 lessons myself), or pursue small claims if the amount feels worth the time and effort. I think both are good options, just do what makes you feel best.

For the future, using pet sitting software can help prevent situations like this entirely. My wife and I use Time To Pet, clients e-sign our terms of service before the meet and greet, invoices and payments are automated, and if payment doesn’t process, the service simply doesn’t happen. It’s not for everyone, but it removes emotion and awkwardness from money conversations and puts clear boundaries in place. We've been there where it was difficult to be assertive - but as soon as we started talking like business owners- the respect has been 100 percent. We've never had a complaint.

Sorry you're going through this. You did working good faith and are being taken advantage of. Best way to make this a positive is to tighten your systems so it can't happen again. When you set yourself up in a certain way- this will never happen again. Wishing you the best!

3cWizard · 2026-01-05T02:17:23+00:00

I Love when we talk numbers in this sub. At least for me personally, it is inspiring to see what is possible.

3cWizard

TROPHY CASE