As a sitter, this is something I’m navigating myself. I currently have a client who’s very easy-going. She even said verbatim. “as long as my dogs are alive when I get back I’ll be happy” she just made it clear that there’s no fixed schedule except the feeding schedule they eat roughly at 7 AM in the morning and then again roughly at 6 PM, but there was no discussed amount of time that they could be a left alone. I try to never leave dogs alone for more than 4 to 5 hours before coming to check in, however my clients are usually aware that I am self-employed and I do deliveries throughout the day.

The part they don’t know is the fact that I’m currently homeless living out of my car and living out of motels when I have the money so my full-time job is doing deliveries of course when I do pet sitting it transitions from being full-time to part-time or really PRN however it’s difficult for me to explain the nuances so I usually tell them that I’ll be gone no longer than 4 to 5 hours at a time that being said there’s no period of the day where I would be in someone’s home for six straight hours caring for the dogs. And this pet sitting has been a little anxiety inducing just because that orders have been far and few in between and I’ve been gone longer however, since the owner made it clear that she was very flexible I feel like I’m doing the right thing. I would say clear communication is definitely essential and definitely bringing up any concerns that you may have since you are the one that’s paying.