What Is A Pet Sitter?
A pet sitter is an individual who looks after clients’ pets during periods when the owners are unavailable. Clients may hire pet sitters for short stints like a single day or weekend, or for longer durations such as a full week or more.As a pet sitter, you may care for pets whose owners are at work and wish to avoid leaving their animals alone for extended hours. You might also take on pet care duties when the owner is out of town for work trips or vacations.Most pet sitters operate as independent contractors. This means you’ll work for yourself, so you’ll need to track key business details like income, expenses, travel mileage, and other records associated with running a small business.
What Does A Pet Sitter Do?
Pet sitting is a great option for a side hustle—especially if you’re fond of animals. The specific tasks you’ll handle as a pet sitter depend on the type of pet you’re caring for.Typical responsibilities of a pet sitter include:
- Taking dogs for walks
- Playing with cats
- Cleaning cat litter boxes
- Disposing of dog waste
- Feeding pets
- Cleaning enclosures for reptiles
- Administering medications to animalsIn general, you’ll need to spend quality time with the clients’ pets. You can choose to care for pets either in your own home or the pet’s original home, and you can select between short-term or long-term pet care assignments. While pet sitting requires a high level of responsibility, it can also be an enjoyable experience.An important note: As a pet sitter, you’ll often have access to the pet owner’s home. They may provide you with a key or access code to enter and exit for pet care. This aspect adds an extra layer of responsibility to the role.For this reason, it’s crucial to leave the house locked just as securely as you found it. Additionally, you’ll need to keep a close eye on keys and other personal items belonging to the homeowner.
How Does A Pet Sitter Get Work?
Pet sitters can find clients through multiple channels. First, there are dedicated platforms that connect pet sitters with people in need of their services. Below is a breakdown of these platforms, plus other ways to find pet sitting work.
Rover
Founded in 2011, Rover mainly caters to dog and cat owners, but it also allows pet sitters to take on care for other types of animals.Owners of small pets like guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits may also seek your services on Rover. When you create a profile on the platform, you can set your own availability, pricing, and the specific services you want to offer.Bookings and payments are processed through Rover. After you finish a service, it takes two days for the funds to appear in your Rover account. From there, you can transfer the money to your personal bank account.Rover deducts a 20%-25% fee from your earnings, but you keep 100% of any tips you receive.
Pawshake
Pawshake offers similar services to Rover but is based in Canada and parts of Europe. Through Pawshake, you can care for dogs, cats, various small animals, and even horses—a difference from Rover, which does not offer horse-sitting bookings.Like Rover, you can customize your Pawshake profile to include your available hours and days, your fees, and the types of pets you’re willing to care for.Pawshake charges a 19% fee on your earnings, and you’ll receive your payout within 8 days of completing a service.
Facebook & Independent Advertising
Facebook community groups and pages are excellent places to promote your pet sitting services. Working independently through self-advertising can also help you earn more, as you won’t have to split your profits with a platform like Rover—meaning you keep 100% of your earnings.However, if you choose to work independently (advertising on Facebook, Craigslist, or similar sites), it’s important to be aware of the risks. Platforms like Rover and Pawshake provide benefits such as insurance coverage, extra security measures, and client screening. For independent work, you’ll need to arrange these protections (like insurance) on your own.
Local Advertising
You can also market your pet sitting business in your local area by creating flyers and distributing them nearby. Another option is to post your pet sitting details on bulletin boards at local shops and restaurants.Remember the earlier notes about insurance and security. Additionally, as a self-employed business owner, you’ll need to track income, expenses, mileage, and other records for tax filing purposes.
How Much Do Pet Sitters Make?
A key advantage of pet sitting is that you get to set your own rates. Your pricing will depend on several factors:
- The specific services you offer
- Your local geographic area
- Your reputation as a pet sitter
- The rates charged by other local pet sittersAnd more. According to Indeed.com, the average hourly wage for a pet sitter in the United States is $15.91. Online testimonials from pet sitters often show that many charge around $20 per hour.Naturally, as you build a stronger reputation as a high-quality pet sitter, you’ll be able to increase your rates. On the flip side, one of the best ways to attract and retain repeat clients is to keep your hourly rates reasonable while delivering excellent service.
Pet Sitter Expenses
While pet sitting can be profitable, it also comes with certain expenses. If you use a platform like Rover to find clients, you’ll have to pay the platform’s fees.If you work independently (without a pet-sitting service), you’ll likely need to purchase liability insurance. You’ll also have transportation costs—such as gasoline for your car if you drive to clients’ homes.Additionally, more driving means higher vehicle maintenance costs: you’ll need oil changes more often, replace tires sooner, and schedule more frequent vehicle inspections and tune-ups.Finally, you may have business-related expenses, like using software such as QuickBooks for record-keeping. Tracking these business expenses is essential because you can deduct them from your taxable income.Deducting eligible business expenses and accurately reporting your pet-sitting income will likely reduce the amount of taxes you owe each year.
Pros and Cons Of Pet Sitting
Pros
- You control your own schedule
- You choose which services to offer
- You’re your own boss
- You can decide how many hours or jobs to take on
Cons
- Pet sitting can be messy (e.g., cleaning waste, spills)
- Running your own business requires extra work (e.g., record-keeping, taxes)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is working as a pet sitter a safe job?
Staying safe as a pet sitter follows basic safety guidelines: let someone know where you’re going, when you plan to return, and how to reach you. If a job makes you feel uncomfortable, it’s perfectly acceptable to decline it.
What services should I offer as a pet sitter?
The services you offer are up to you. You can choose to care for dogs, cats, or other animals based on your comfort level and experience.
Should I work for a service like Rover or work independently?
Many experienced pet sitters recommend starting with a platform like Rover, then transitioning to independent work once you’ve built a solid client base. Working for a service first can help you learn the ins and outs of the pet-sitting business.
Who Should Work As A Pet Sitter?
Are you thinking about becoming a pet sitter? If you like animals, it could be a great part-time job or addition to your other side hustles. But loving animals alone isn’t enough—you’ll also need to be responsible to succeed.Successful pet sitters also need to manage their time well, ensure the security of clients’ homes, and stay alert to the pet’s physical health (e.g., noticing signs of illness).Finally, to thrive as a pet sitter, you must be self-motivated and comfortable running a small business. You’ll need to stay organized to keep track of clients, income, expenses, car maintenance, mileage, and other important details.
Final Thoughts
Pet sitting involves a significant amount of work, but it can also be very rewarding. If you love animals, it’s like getting paid to spend time with furry (or scaly) companions! As long as you’re responsible and reliable, you’ll soon be able to grow a successful pet-sitting business.