483: Being More Than a Pet Sitter with Sarah Schloerb
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How can you make your business more than pet care? Sarah Schloerb, owner of Sit Stay NJ, discusses the importance of professionalism and how she leverages her experience in the veterinary field to offer specialized services. She emphasizes the significance of building a robust network with local pet care professionals to enhance service offerings and prepare for possible industry legislative changes. Sarah's also shares her efforts in community education through pet first aid and CPR classes, and her role in founding a league of pet care professionals aimed at advocacy and education. Sarah's passion for providing tailored and compassionate care to pets shines in all she does, making it clear that her work is both a personal calling and a professional endeavor.
Main topics:
Building out a network
Learning from vets and groomers
Dealing with rejection
Honesty and teamwork
Main takeaway: Don’t force your services on clients, instead ask, “What are you looking for in a pet care provider? And how can I be that for you?”
About our guest
Sarah Schloerb, the heart and soul behind Sit Stay NJ, has carved a niche in the pet care industry with her exceptional dedication to pet wellness and owner peace of mind. As a lifelong animal lover, Sarah's journey into professional pet care began as a part-time endeavor that blossomed into a full-fledged passion after she transitioned from her job at a veterinary clinic. Today, she leads a team of compassionate pet care professionals in Northern Bergen County, New Jersey, specializing in services for reactive, anxious, and fearful pets—a testament to her expertise and certification in Fear Free practices.
At Sit Stay NJ, Sarah and her team offer a comprehensive range of personalized pet care services, including daily dog walks, in-home overnight sitting, pet taxi, and even wedding attendance services for your furry companions. What sets Sarah apart is her commitment to not just meeting, but exceeding the standards of pet care. She actively contributes to the community by providing pet first aid and CPR classes, and plays a pivotal role in a local pet care professionals league that focuses on advocacy, education, and collaboration within the industry.
With a mission to ensure every pet feels safe and loved, Sarah's approach is deeply rooted in understanding individual pet needs and fostering trust with both the animals and their owners. Whether it's navigating the challenges of pet behavior or offering a reassuring hand to pet owners, Sarah's leadership at Sit Stay NJ embodies professionalism, empathy, and a relentless pursuit of excellence in pet care.
Links:
Website: https://sitstaynj.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sitstaynj
https://www.facebook.com/SitStayNJ/
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
clients, pet, dog, work, care, visits, industry, veterinary, pet sitters, leash, network, important, absolutely, pet owners, offer, walk, trainer, doggy daycare, overnight, services
SPEAKERS
Sarah S., Collin Funkhouser
Collin Funkhouser 00:03
Welcome to pet sitter confessional. Today, we're brought to you by type two pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters. Today we are super excited to have Sarah Schloerb owner of Sit stay in New Jersey on the show to talk about her time in pet care, how she focuses on the professionalism aspect and how she gives back to their community through some offerings of pet first aid and CPR classes. Sara, before we get to all of that, so thankful to have you on the show today. Could you please tell us a little bit more about who you are and all that you do?
Sarah S. 00:32
Thank you so much for having me Collin. My name is Sarah, I am the owner and chief petting Officer of stay NJ We are located in northern Bergen County, New Jersey, which is a suburb suburb of New York. I've been offering pet care since 2023, kind of as a part time, hobby sitter. And I would board dogs in my home. And then I transitioned into offering overnight care in client's homes. In 2020, I lost my job working at a veterinary clinic and decided that it was the perfect opportunity to see if I could turn my hobby and passion into a full time job. So I was off and running in the middle of COVID to walk dogs. And since then I've had a daily dog walks and drop in visits, vacation pets living we offer overnight pet sitting still, I do pet taxi. And we've recently added wedding attendance services as to our list of offerings. So it's been pretty exciting the past couple of years. So I kind of have a niche and specialty for reactive and anxious and fearful pets. And I kind of got into that just because of the veterinary world and I was fear free certified there and just decided to transition that over into pet care. Where
Collin Funkhouser 02:05
are you getting a lot of requests specifically for that, or is this kind of a passion project for you to be able to offer those kinds of services to those pets,
Sarah S. 02:14
it was a little bit of both. So I myself have a reactive dog. So I kind of understand living in that world as a pet owner with a dog that will get along with other dogs. And since my clients found me and then referred me to other clients who have reactive dogs, it just kind of became my thing. And I'm very passionate about it, I really enjoy getting these dogs that have struggles to trust me. And it also adds a layer of trust with their clients as well, when they see that their dogs who obviously can't go into boarding situations because of their behavior. You know how they're thriving at home, in my care? And in the care of my sitters? It's, it's really, it means a lot to me, well,
Collin Funkhouser 03:09
it can feel I think, something we often forget from the outside. And obviously, you know, with you and your own reactive dog, you have this experience of it can really feel like a closed off world for that pet owner of a sudden, I'm I'm really cut off from a lot of different things.
Sarah S. 03:27
Yes, and you know, being able to travel and then not knowing where your dog is gonna go is, you know, doesn't make travel fun. And I think we've seen, at least I've definitely seen since COVID. A lot of behavior issues in dogs, and where, you know, the boarding facilities are looking to refer out to ciders, who have experience with reactive dogs. And I've kind of built a network of trainers and boarding facilities that I refer to and that refer back to me when they have difficult clients.
Collin Funkhouser 04:06
How have you gone about building out that network of making those connections with people who align with your beliefs and how you operate?
Sarah S. 04:16
I've really just reached out to anyone and everyone in my area, either through Facebook Messenger stopping by dropping off cards just really trying to get in front of whoever the I guess kind of decision maker is in the building to talk and I just say hey, you know this, my name is Sarah, this is my business. This is what I'm doing. I'm looking to network with other business professionals, pet care professionals in my area, so that we can build a network to refer to. We have I've actually started a pet cared league along with two other business owners in my area. And this is what we've kind of made our mission to be able to build a network, of groomers of trainers of boarding facilities that we know and we can make Oracle personnel recommendations too. Yeah,
Collin Funkhouser 05:21
sir. Talk to us about that. That League of New Jersey pet care professionals, because I saw that aspect of that you were involved in and that you were on board for that. And the involvement at the local level, I think is incredibly important. And it's one aspect that we as an industry, have yet to really dig into, and kind of make more commonplace in across the country.
Sarah S. 05:48
I agree. Starting in 2021, it really all started with a Facebook post. We have a New Jersey, professional pet sitters Facebook group where we, you know, hey, I'm looking for service in this area. Does anyone cover this town? Does anyone offer this service? My colleague Sherry put up this post, instead, I'm looking to network with some other pet care professionals in our area, who is interested in meeting up, and about six of us met up on Sunday afternoon at a Starbucks. And we really just sat down. And we talked and we realized that our industry is not only very isolating, sometimes, not a lot of people understand what we do. So we've been meeting quarterly since then, to discuss best practices to you know, share contracts and SOPs and, and you know, be a support system for one another. And we decided in 2024. To make it official, we just got our LLC, we're in the process of getting our nonprofit paperwork completed with the government, and you have a a mission of education, collaboration, and advocacy. So we are really looking to educate pet owners in our area, as well as pet care professionals about the benefits of using professional pet care providers collaborate within our industries and across industries into grooming and training, boarding and veterinary care, in the hopes of preparing to advocate for our industry at a legislative level. Hmm. So there's, there's really a lot that we can do. And we kind of say that the pet care industry is the Wild Wild West, anybody can call themselves, a pet sitter, anyone can be a dog walker, and there's very little oversight in our area anyways, as far as that goes. And that's kind of scary to some of us, you know, we don't know who's going to be walking into your house to take care of your pets. And we are really looking to kind of find a way to regulate this a little bit. For the benefit of everyone,
Collin Funkhouser 08:22
what you focused on there was building out this network so that if the legislative bodies in our area to decide that, hey, let's take a closer look at this, let's see what kind of regulations we need to put in place. What a lot of times happens is the legislators have no idea about what's going on. Right? So what do they do they want to talk to somebody about the industry, they want to reach out to somebody who's more knowledgeable. So to be a presence as this, you know, nonprofit League of professional pet sitters, you're going to be approached at some point when somebody's like, hey, talk to us about what's going on here. Because we need to get something on paper to have some some rules and regulations around us. And to think we as the industry need to have things ready to take to them. Because if we don't, they're gonna go out on their own and kind of come up with something and then we have to live with it. So if we want to have a voice in this, if we want to have input, we better have something prepared and kind of sitting on our desk so that when they come up, we can go, we've been waiting for you. Here's what we think.
Sarah S. 09:33
So absolutely. We had our first official meeting this past Saturday, and we had about 15 sitters show up, which is wonderful turnout for us. And we really pulled the group and we said what are you looking for? If you were to join this league? What do you want to see come from it? And a lot of it was you know, we really do we want to see regulation. We want to see it Education, they also want to see it, we can all we all know, the dog portion of it, we don't all know the business portion of it, you know, we would love to be able to have other business professionals from insurance, the industry insurance industry from, you know, be a CPA or an accountant come in to teach us how to run our businesses, so that we can really, you know, be a resource for the business professionals to you know, we are all, we're all business professionals, we are all small business owners. And we can't know everything, we can only strive to learn more every single day, right?
Collin Funkhouser 10:41
Yes, yeah, and having that resource that's external to ourselves. Because I, when you started talking about why the league was important to you, you mentioned that the industry is isolating. And, and I love how you said that, because we may feel isolated. But that is actually by the very nature of the kind of work that we do, the kind of work that we we operate in and the business that we run it is it can be self isolating, unless we step out and make an intentional effort to do something else. And to break out of that. And so to be connected with others, where you have a voice and how things go and have input about what you need. Because groups like this in CRM, you know, use you've seen this have you get out of it, what you put into it, and what you contribute to the overall group.
Sarah S. 11:39
Lately, and we've seen, we've kind of been following what's been happening with the Florida group and with Texas, and, you know, it's that's really what has inspired us to make something local happen in New Jersey. Now there's nothing else here. There's, there's a small groomers association that we are looking to network with also, there's, there's a small Trainers Association, but we really would like to have this be a, you know, a whole pet care professionals, all of us in this together, having a say and having a voice and advocating for the pets in our care. And for our clients as well.
Collin Funkhouser 12:18
Well, and as you're doing there, it is important to reach across industries of not just being pet sitters, or not just dog walkers. But bringing in the groomers, the vets, the trainers, and behaviorists, the nutritionists, all of those to be included too, because we want the best care possible for the pets, and we want to be a resource for our clients. And that takes reaching outside of our own knowledge and, and reaching out to other people, other groups of people working with pets to go, you know, we need you here. And we want to talk to you about how we're operating because not only can we learn from them, but we can teach them a lot of what our life is like in running our businesses because they don't, they don't always know I don't know if you've had conversations with vets and groomers who kind of go wait, I'm sorry, what do you do? Like tell me because I don't?
Sarah S. 13:10
Yeah, I definitely have i offering pet taxi services, I do end up in vet's office often. And I have to say, Well, I'm the pet sitter, and this is what I'm hearing, I kind of get look sometimes and they don't really necessarily understand and add coming from a veterinary background. Or, you know, I'm more than comfortable being in the office, obviously. But I can. My clients are comfortable also with me taking their pets for a veterinary visit. If they're in a board meeting and they can't, you know, be on the phone with the vet at the time. They know I'm going to ask the right questions and then they get the right information. And the vets are comfortable giving it to me because they know me and trust me and see me sometimes very frequently with some of my clients.
Collin Funkhouser 13:55
Still, you mentioned your your veterinary background kind of you were in that world before. Talk to us about your transition into the full time aspect of this business. I know you'd said you've been been laid off but you know really kind of what do you think it was that either drew you to the pet care side or that you knew that that's kind of where you wanted to go?
Sarah S. 14:16
I think I always knew that's where I wanted to go. One of my very first jobs as a teenager was was at a pet store. And my mother made me quit because I kept bringing animals home. So involves me bringing home a bunny. I'm pretty there was there was definitely an argument I think I laid down and back of her car so she wouldn't return the bunny and then she made me quit the job so I had always she had always allowed my sister and myself to have pretty much any animal we wanted it with the exception of a dog because She knew that she was going to be the one who had to walk the dog. And but we had guinea pigs and hamsters and gerbils and birds and fish and iguanas and cats. And I think I always knew, I used to joke that I was going to write a book about my life, and it wasn't going to be called My Life covered in pet hair. And I went to school to be a vet tech. And when I was in my 20s, that really didn't pan out for me, I was a little too emotional for me that that side of the pet care industry. So I left for a very long time. And then I, you know, volunteered with some rescues, and I then started caring for pets while I was working a job, I was actually working for Apple at the time, and I would take care of other, you know, co workers pets, when they would go on vacation. And then I ended up back in the veterinary space. I'm in a different capacity not as a technician, and I was there for about four years, and I would care for the pets who were, you know, on medications or getting subcutaneous fluids, while their client while their parents traveled. And I, the veterinarian that I was working at the time, his plan was to retire in about seven years. So I kind of said to myself, Okay, in seven years, I'm going to figure out a way to make petsitting a full time job. And then the pandemic happened. And I lost my job in June. And I really needed to pivot quickly. And I just kind of said, you know, I had a couple of, of overnight petsitting clients who had reached out to me and said, I'm working from home, we've got the kids in zoom school, and we need help with the dog. And I said, I can do it. And I was driving all over the cat. At that time I was, you know, commutes that when there are cars on the road would take me, you know, 30 to 40 minutes for a cut in half because there were no cars on the road. So I drove everywhere and took every job I possibly could. And then as the world opened up again, and I kind of had to close my service area, I really niched down into more reactive, fearful, anxious pets. And that's kind of where I've landed now. And I think I think to answer your question, I think I already knew, I always knew I knew this is what I was going to do. I just had to figure out a way to make it happen. And I think I have
Collin Funkhouser 17:56
well, and then to have you had that mindset of okay, well, I've got maybe some long term plans have, I'll get to this eventually. Right? And then yeah, and then life happened, right? of, oh, now I'm in a situation where I've got to do this a heck of a lot faster than maybe I thought, but it's a it's a good reminder of, of why kind of this long term thinking and it is really important of we don't have to sit down and have a black and white five year plan 10 year business plan, you know, we don't have to have that but to be in that mindset of thinking ahead just just enough so that when opportu because what that means is when opportunities arise because that's really what that that was for you have have now I have an opportunity to go into this is going to be kind of scary, I'm sure and not you know, kind of things thrown at you that you weren't expecting. But if you hadn't been in that mindset, right, it would have I felt would have been harder to now grab a hold of this and really run with it. Have you heard of time to pet dog from bad to them on pet care has this to say
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Collin Funkhouser 19:23
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Sarah S. 19:34
I've always been pretty open to embracing change. And you know, I think one of the things that I've learned from my past jobs is that you kind of adaptability is super important in order to stay ahead of things right you have to be in order to provide good customer service. You need to be receptive to what your clients are Looking for you need to be open to knowing about, you know what's going on in, in your industry and be, you know, ready to shift and, and, and change in the moment if you need to being responsive to what the needs of my clients are what they're asking of me, I've never been, you know, this is my business. And this is the service that I offer. And I won't deviate from that. And I think that's kind of what my clients have have appreciated about me, I don't come in and say these are the services that I offer, it's more of what are you looking for in a pet care provider? And how can I be that for you? Yeah,
Collin Funkhouser 20:39
it's, it's very, very different than here's your menu of options, right, select what's going to be what you think you need, and then I'll deliver that service. Instead coming in, when we talk about partnering with a potential client or partnering with our clients. That's really what it is of going, Okay, I need you to tell me what your problems are. And then as the professional, I will assess as to how, whether I can help you, and then how I'm going to go about doing that. And then that's where you have that conversation of, is that going to work for the client? Is that what they were expecting? What what do they need? Okay, then we have a little bit of back and forth here about how we're going to arrange and actually make this work.
Sarah S. 21:26
Absolutely, and, you know, working with fearful and anxious pets as well, we really need to be having a very open conversation all the time, what is working, what is not, you know, some of these pets, you can't just say, Okay, you're booked in for, you know, daily dog walks every day or for vacation. Since starting this day, a lot of times, it's really working up to getting the pets comfortable with my presence in their house and my presence in their life. And also getting the clients comfortable with the same thing and being very open with my communication with them. This is working this isn't, and sometimes also being willing to say, I might not be the right fit for you. I have a wonderful network of sitters, that I can refer you to someone else who I think might fit your needs better. And I think a lot of my clients appreciate that part as well. Even prospective clients, you know, I do my best to make sure that I answer every email and every voicemail, whether or not it's a service that I'm able to offer, I will give them an additional resource. Hey, you know, you're you're in this area, I know this pet said or I don't know anyone in this area, check out psi, check out naps. Check out pet sitters associates, these are websites where you can find based on you know, pet care providers based on your geographic area, something that's important to me also not just to leave clients unanswered. We
Collin Funkhouser 22:48
have a lot going on in our days. I don't know, I don't know if you're busy with other stuffs here. But it can be maybe, really, you can see that email come in. And I don't know, I've done this before. We're just almost reading the subject line. I'm like, Oh, this is not a good fit. Oh, no, oh, no. And instead of just going well, I'm going to pretend that that didn't hit my desk, I'm making that intentional effort. And big because it at the end of the day, I want to make sure that that person gets the best care possible. And if I can help with that, I know we have done our job. And sometimes it is of what you're asking for me. We we can't provide. But I do know this person who can or has closer to you or actually has some different skills that I think would be more beneficial for you than what we have. And and that is a we have to be in that in that service oriented mindset of this person needs help. And whether with me or with somebody that I know, I need to direct them to the right path.
Sarah S. 23:52
For sure. Yeah, I think that people don't know what they don't know. Right? And a lot of times having those conversations to kind of reset a client's expectation or potential clients expectation. They kind of can look at things from a different perspective and say, oh, you know, I never thought about that. You know, you get people that reach out to you and they say oh, I need some I need overnight pets. And you can kind of say but do you do you really? When you explain you know the conversation? Well, I'm sure yes, I am the only one that does overnight sitting in the business anymore because I have employees and I cannot I cannot afford and clients cannot afford to pay for overnight pet thing at their hourly rate. So I've had to make parameters around what I can do for overnight sitting and currently those parameters are we need to see your pet three times a week for drop in visits or date or walks in order for overnights anything to be available to you and that It's just the only way that I found it to be fair, if you can use the word fair in this situation for, you know, for my clients that I see every week, and that, you know, really sustain me, outside of the busy vacation travel seasons, right?
Collin Funkhouser 25:15
You, you're looking for that, that more of a commitment than the one person who is just going to use you that one time and then not lose you. Right? So then you that way, you are available for that consistent care that your clients are looking for, as opposed to that one off kind of client who just kind of comes in, and then you never see him again, right.
Sarah S. 25:36
And it's always for a holiday week. And then you also have to figure out how to add that midday visit in and you're already packed midday walk schedules. And it's, you know, it becomes logistically a little difficult to manage. And I've tried many that many ways to figure out a way to make it happen. And it just, this is the only way that I found for my business that it works. So and you know, when I when clients reach out, they say I'm looking for someone to sleep in my house, and I have the conversations around other things that we can do. You know, the what we can do during the drop in visit pairing, drop in visits, morning and evening with daycare visits in the middle of the day, so that the dogs aren't bored at home by themselves, which is also where my networking comes in really great, where I can say, hey, this doggy daycare has a really great program, I can come in the morning, do breakfast, we can have our walk head off to doggy daycare, I go back at six or seven, you know, picks Luffy up, we go home, we have dinner and we hang out for a little while and then they're ready to go to bed because they're tired. And the parents, the parents say, you know, you're right, that's a really great idea. I never thought about that before. Yeah, that that'll work. And that works really great for the dogs that have to be created. You know, a lot of times the clients that are reaching out the one overnight care are the dogs that don't have access to the house, whether they're young puppies are dogs that just don't do anything, let alone. And they you know that they're like, you know, that's 22 hours a day in a crate is a long time. But if 12 of those hours or 10 of those hours are spent at doggy daycare, then that's not such a long time and the dogs having a good time and getting socialization and, you know, getting some training while they're there possibly too. It's it's a win win for everybody, and especially the dog.
Collin Funkhouser 27:34
And I know that people make it. And I've certainly felt this before too. I mean, so just speaking from my own experience of sometimes it's I can get offended when a potential client or even existing client doesn't want to use all of our services, right of like, they may want to use us for the mid day dog walks, but then when it comes to the vacation care, they may not want to use us for that they may be looking at other options. And instead of going like, okay, fine, they don't love me, and they don't want to use my services. What can we offer them is that hybrid approach that you're talking about there as well, look, we're going to partner with a daycare that we're that operates in a way that we believe is suitable, and we trust them to do that in that way. And then we can come in and still keep their dog overnight. So it's getting kind of the best of both worlds there. Like you mentioned, you know, really thinking outside the box there of how can again, how can we continue to serve that client in an unexpected way, really,
Sarah S. 28:36
there are people in our industry that really want to keep all the dogs for themselves, and they look at it more of a competition versus collaboration. You know, I and there's a lot of strong opinions about not job sharing, and there's a lot of strong opinions about, you know, what is required in order to be a client and I don't really look at it that way. I have definitely done job sharing with women in my network. And that's one of the benefits of having the network, Hey, I can't do the overnight portion of this, but I can do the mid days who's available for the overnights or vice versa. And to be able to also step in for one another when we need to. And it's really just showing our clients that they can rely on us whether you know for whatever that is, that's a network of people that we know, it's our expertise in whatever the whatever information they're asking from us with or where to go to get that information that they're asking for who's a good for, you know, our golden doodle or who's a good trainer for this, this issue that is being presented? I'm looking for a chiropractor, I'm looking for a nutritionist, hey, I don't know anybody but let me reach out to him. She might know you know, I know her dog gets chiropractic care. Let me see who she goes to hills. You know, that's and then for our clients, they they always appreciate it. You know, they everyone likes to To hear yes. And I think us finding a way to get to yes, is super important. Well,
Collin Funkhouser 30:06
and we have to be okay with whatever that yes is for at the end of it, right like that. And that's where our mindset really can shut off a lot of gates and shut off a lot of possibilities. Because if I'm afraid that if I tell the client about that really cool, daycare boarding place that opened up that I know who runs it, and they're really neat, I'm, if I'm worried that if I tell the client about that, that they're going to say yes to that. And instead of saying yes to me, so I don't bring it up in the conversation. I'm being very disingenuous, and I'm not actually being helpful to that person. And, and instead, going, Look, just being honest, here's what we can offer, here's another option, if you haven't looked into it, or maybe there are medical or behavioral reasons why they're not a good fit for you. And so you do need to refer them out. But we have to be open again. Because at the end of the day, the client is going to decide what's best for them or what they think is best for them. And we have to we have to be okay with that. And
Sarah S. 31:07
presenting all options to them and letting them make that decision and then not being offended by whatever that is. You're absolutely right. It's because there are plenty of dogs, there are more I say more. I say no more, some weeks than I can say yes. Because of the number of requests that are constantly coming in, especially around holiday time or leading up into spring break or the summer. You know, it's I feel like, you know, four out of five times, sometimes I'm saying no, because I don't want to overextend my team. I don't want to overextend myself. I don't want to say yes to too much that I have to say no to others to my regular clients. You know, I it's it's a balance. It's a balancing act.
Collin Funkhouser 31:55
Well, sir, you mentioned a couple times about your your work with reactive and fearful dogs, you've mentioned, you being fear free certified. I did want to ask you about about why that was important for you to get in really more. How are you implementing your free practices in your, in your business,
Sarah S. 32:12
I saw a lot when I was in the veterinary field of just how terrified animals can be sometimes when they're put in uncomfortable situations. And we know when you're in there in the veterinary office, they have to get certain things done sometimes times. And we the practice that I was in, it was very important to us that we tried as best we can to live by the fear free, you know, guidelines to really take our time with the pets to put their overall well being ahead of just what we needed to accomplish. And it was important to me to translate that over into the pet care space, because there are a lot of very anxious dogs. And sometimes when you walk into a house and that dog is running away from you barking and tucking their tail between their legs, it's hard to reassure the clients that you are going to take your time to create a comfortable environment for the dog while you're there understand their behavior, and what it looks like when they're expressing that fear that stress that anxiety while working with you know, positive reinforcement techniques to help the dogs get comfortable and become desensitized to the fears around a stranger being in their house. You know, it's it's not always as simple as walking in the dog door and throwing a leash on a dog and going out for a walk. I'm currently working with a dog that I have done. Now four visits where I just sit in their living room and are working on the dog taking treats from my hand. That's all that we've done so far. And the family has an ultimate goal of being able to travel. But with Maisie being as fearful as she is there, the options for her are very limited. They've actually discussed trying to get her certified as a an emotional support dog so they can travel with her, which I think would be worse for her than trying to get her comfortable with a sitter coming into the house to be able to offer care for her. And a lot of that that time that I spend with dogs is just letting them become comfortable around me lots and lots of treats lots and lots of quiet talk. We you know talk about leaving calming music on for them when they leave and you know, kind of keeping them in a smaller area so that I'm not chasing them around the house. Not that we do that but you know that the dog doesn't have an opportunity to really run The way and hide in an area where I can't see them. Um, you know, we work on limiting their space so that they're more comfortable, you know they're more secure in their environment. We work a lot with, you know, high value treats, a lot of liverwurst, a lot of sardines a lot of liquids smoke, a lot of things that smell really good so that the dogs are intrigued when I walk in the door. Liquid Smoke is one of my favorite favorite things to work with currently, because it smells so enticing to them, like a barbecue. And they their noses are activated instantly as soon as they smell it. And just really sit in the room and get them comfortable with us and then baby step it into putting the leash on and just having them drag the leash around the house, to just getting outside onto a deck to just getting them a couple steps off the deck to possibly going for a walk, while making sure that they're secured that there's multiple leashes on them. Multiple, you know, harness ended Martin Gail collar to leashes so that if one they get out of one, they're covered with another, their safety is most important to me when they're in my care. And unfortunately, that's how a lot of pets get lost. Because they panic, they back out of their harness they back out of their collar, and they're not going to come back to you, when they're that afraid. They take off. And that's definitely not what I ever want to have happen on my watch. Well,
Collin Funkhouser 36:41
and you know, the prep work there, Sarah, that you're talking about is is is so critical. And you know, it seems like everything's important. But no seriously, like the prep work for those kinds of pets is is you can't put a price tag on that for the client. And it can be frustrating when we offer services where in order to get the most out of them, the pet does need to be somewhat socialized, have somewhat you know, the coping mechanisms and self soothing and be in a state of calm while they're in the client's home in order for us to be effective to set us up for success. And it can be very frustrating when clients don't want to put in that work or don't want to do that prep work. How do you have those conversations with the clients to get them kind of on on track,
Sarah S. 37:35
I'm very honest with clients about what I can do and can't do when their dogs are fearful and stressed and anxious. And what my goal is to be able to help them accomplish. And a lot of times those conversations start with me recommending them to see a trainer, and either a trainer or a veterinary behaviorist, depending on the severity of the fears and anxiety that we're we're dealing with. And again, having a network of people that I know, hey, this trainer is very good working with this type of behavior. You know, I'll say to the client, I think you need to start with making an appointment and start with training because that's an important component, getting the dogs socialized. And, and I'm not a trainer, I all everything that I know about fear free is from the veterinary side of things. And then at the pet center side of things. The training component is really what can help the dog get over that hump. It's like therapy, right? So you go to therapy, you talk through things, you're given tools, and you're given exercises to help you work through whatever you're you're going to seeking out therapy for. And sometimes you need a little bit of medication to help you get through that also where, you know, seeing a veterinary behaviorist would be important at that point, you, you know, they might need a little bit of Prozac or a little bit of Trazodone or a little bit of Gabapentin or something that to help them get through that the initial communication piece, the initial part where they're going to learn to trust and they're going to be able to put all the tools that the trainer is going to give them and then I will come in and I will either join the client and with the trainer sometimes to see what the trainer is doing so that I can make sure I'm mirroring those behaviors to get you know, so that everything is consistent with the dogs. Or sometimes they'll just meet again with the clients and say this is what we've worked on with the trainer. These are things that are going well. These are things that are not and a lot of times it's just time and asking for the time commitment from the clients. It's important to all say, This isn't something that we're going to be, you know, off to the races next week. We might need to Take three weeks or four weeks, you know, I might need to come and visit for a month before you're planning on traveling just so that I'm in front of your dog and your dog is seeing me and we're building that rapport right up until you're leaving. You know, there are other dogs where you that's not necessary, but they're, you know, the majority of the dogs that I do work with end up needing a lot of extra care. And luckily, my clients are very receptive to anything that I most things that I present to them, and really want to help their dogs. And you know, when they hear that other people have gone through this, that they're not alone in these types of scenarios, that there are people out there to help. That's reassuring to them as well, I think it could be it's, like we said, that becomes very isolating to have a dog that is not a social, happy, loving, you know, lab that wants to go and meet everybody. We all wish they could be that way, but they're not.
Collin Funkhouser 41:07
Our friends at the National Association of Professional pet sitters or naps have a vision of vision where pet care professionals and pet parents collaborate to make a significant positive impact on the welfare of pets, and the industry through education, certification and community outreach. Together, we can make this vision a reality. Naps is run by its members. For its members. It's a volunteer driven Association. They offer a trial membership and various webinars that showcase the many naps member benefits offered, visit and check out the NATs website at petsitter stuck org for all the membership details and information as you sit there of it is just being honest with them. And that's what cost again, that's hard to be sitting there talking with a client and saying look, where you're where Baxter is right now, we wouldn't be able to successfully come in, get that leash on and get outside or we would be worried about the destructive behaviors or we don't think that this could actually work. But here's then how we move towards that and making that a successful trip and making that a success for you. For the and i What's what we've will focus on with some clients is the long like the longevity of any solution of are we actually are you the client actually interested in working towards resolving this and managing this? Or are you just looking for a quick fix to get out from underneath this so that you don't have to worry about it for the weekend that you're going away? Very different mindsets, and knowing kind of how much time is this person wanting to invest in overcoming this? Or how much money are they wanting to that gives us some idea of how we can take that conversation to the realistic conclusions of of what they're going to have at the end.
Sarah S. 43:01
One of my clients who has been a client, pretty much since 2021. Conas, a mini bernedoodle. And she is extremely, extremely anxious. And she she she urinates every time I walk in the door, that's what Kona does, up until six months ago, now I've been walking CONUS since 2021. Up until six months ago, I was not able to put the leash on her. I had to text mom who luckily works from home. And I would say hey, I'm on my way to come and get Kona she would put on his leash on her and she'd put her out in the fenced backyard and I would come and take Kona with her leash on. About six months ago, all of a sudden Kona decided that she and I are best friends. And I walked in the house one day mom was not home. And I opened up the back door and I said come on Kona, let's go and she went right to the fence where she always waits for me. She sat down and she let me leash her. And it was such a big moment for me. I was like It only took you three years. But we did it. And when I texted mom and I was like, Joanna it's it took three years but I put Conan's leash on and she was so happy. And we don't know what it was but it's it's still working. So you know, it's it was that when that when was huge for me, I needed that
Collin Funkhouser 44:25
remembering to celebrate the little ones along the way to have have of theirs. As long as we're making progress, right? Like it's, it's we need to figure out what's going to be a win for us. And sometimes as you mentioned earlier, you have that dog of just sometimes we're just going to sit there and get them to take treats from our hand. You know, I've been on visits training staff, and you know, the dog is still a little tense and uneasy with us, you know, and and going. Well yeah, but two years ago, this dog was running around with a high pitched alert bark, frantically scrambling to get away from us. And now We'll see how they're sitting quietly, but like just six feet away from us, that's a huge win, like, this is big news for this dog, to have them be able to do that. And it always putting things into context because it can be defeating sometimes when we don't feel like we're getting anywhere. Absolutely.
Sarah S. 45:17
And you know that discouragement, being discouraged in that way can really set us set me back, at least, in a lot of things. Oh, I can't believe I had such a hard time, you know, getting Ralph's leash on today, he was just running in circles and running in circles and throwing treats, and I was trying to do all the things and then you're getting frustrated, which is making the dog more frustrated, and it's not, you know, productive for anyone in that moment. And then to kind of take that step back and say, look at all the times I did do really well with Ralph, and look at all the times that, you know, just to celebrate those little things. And another thing about having a network of people to celebrate these little things with you know, we have a very active chat for me to be able to say, Guys, I put Conan's leash on, they got it right away, and they self delivery to that moment with me, you know, they, they absolutely understood it. And to also have that network of people to say, Hey, this is not working for me who's got something else who's got another idea? Who's got another way that they do things? You know, we, it's, we can't know everything, we have to really know what we don't know. And be able to reach out to get to learn more, right? That's what it's all about learning every day and growing every day of people. And I think dogs speakers that a lot.
Collin Funkhouser 46:38
They have they have a way of teaching us so much.
Sarah S. 46:41
Oh, do they ever?
Collin Funkhouser 46:46
Well, you have this, this phrase on your website that I came across where you said, one of your goals or you you strive to be more than petsitting. And, and I wanted you to kind of to explain that and what that means for you and how you run your business.
Sarah S. 47:05
I've always looked at myself as part of a team when it comes to caring for pets and the pets and with the clients. I really, you know, there's they've got their veterinarians, they've got their groomers, they've got their trainers, they've got whoever else in their pets lives. And I'm kind of like, the cool Lance, right, I get to come and hang out and be all the fun and that's what's been it, that's what's important to me. And I think that my clients really appreciate the fact that it's not just about getting their dog out for a walk, you know, I'm very invested in their lives. And a lot of my clients are my friends, you know, they, we text each other, it's not just, you know, updates through my software, there's, you know, they reach out to me, they wish me happy birthday, they care about me when I'm sick. And the same for me when, you know, I want to be part of that community. And, and be viewed that way. And one of the reasons that I'm you know, we're doing the pet CPR class is because it's important to me that my clients are able to care for their pets, that they are prepared in the event of an emergency. You know, we I'm Hope I'm hosting this pet CPR events along, in addition to being a fundraiser for a local rescue, that is also a pet client have been a client of mine. I took this pet CPR class, even with my veterinary background, it gave me more information than I had, that I had before I took the class, I'm feel a little bit more prepared in the event of an emergency and I want to give that to my clients. You know, you don't have to know, you know, how to do sutures or, or, you know, whatever the emergency is, but to just have a little bit of knowledge and just know that you can act in that in the moment of the emergency just makes you feel like you're doing something and not just standing there and and not being able to react, right?
Collin Funkhouser 49:35
No, it's absolutely of, of use of like, I basically, I want to give my clients confidence as pet owners. Absolutely. And whether that comes through me or these partnerships that I have. I want to make sure that I am invested in their lives. You said that earlier to have I could just show up and do the dog walk and leave. But I don't want to do Have like I want to do so much more. So I'm, I'm invested in these people I'm invested in how that they are growing as pet owners, especially when we understand that that the eight week old puppy that they're going to get today is going to be a 14 year old, you know, geriatric dog, not too soon. And do they have the support then the same support then and excitement that's around them then as they do right now? Or do they do they are they're going to have the skill sets that are going to change and evolve over time? Where are they going to get that? We can be that for them? We should be that for them?
Sarah S. 50:35
Absolutely. We know one of my very first petsitting clients. It's wonderful woman named Marty. She has three chihuahuas, who my meet and greet with them, Stella, actually Brittany, during the meet and greet, she was hanging off the back of my pants. She hit me right in my butt. And I remember Marnie standing there, and Marty was screaming, and she was saying, I don't know what to do. And I just said to her, please stop screaming, it's going to be okay. And I got fell off of me. And we secured her away. And she was like, I guess you're gonna leave now? And I said, No. We just need to figure this out. And it took about five weeks of me getting Stella it took about five weeks before I could get Stella out of her crate into a leash and out for a walk. And then we celebrated that little milestone and now as they're getting older to be Baxter and Bailey, who are super sweet chihuahuas have both gone blind in the past year, Bailey developed diabetes to develop Cushing's. He's been dealing with skin infections, and I've been there with Marnie through all of that. She calls me she calls me after she leaves the vet, she asks me to kind of interpret what the vet has just said to her, I helped her get comfortable doing insulin injections, net, we're now working on doing eyedrops for them. You know, I've, I've been a part of their care team from being bitten the butt to them now, you know, snuggling on the couch with me when I'm there three days a week. And Marni tells me every day how much she appreciates me, and how, you know, she doesn't know how she survived without me and my team being able to be there for her kids. Yeah,
Collin Funkhouser 52:28
that's, that's that confidence, right? I, anybody who spends any time talking to rescues and shelters, will tell you that a lot of the surrenders, a lot of the spreaders come from financial needs a whole heck of a lot of surrenders, come because the care becomes too much for the owner, and they don't know what to do. And to know absolutely, that so many, that's why there's so many senior pops and senior cats that are surrendered, because people go, Whoa, I this is too much. I feel like I'm on hospice care with this pet, I gotta get rid of them, this is too much for me. And, or they're scared, right, they're scared of what that care is going to look like, or how it's going to work out for them. And to know that just by just by being there as being a sounding board and pointing people to directions. That means that that pet is going to be with that person for just that much longer. Because that person has now confidence to care for their needs and to be there for them to show up for them. And we get to be those cheerleaders alongside the cool aunts, right, that are that are bringing all the fun stuff to keep that going and to encourage not just the pet, but also more importantly, the owner
Sarah S. 53:40
1,000%. One of my clients there, they run a sanctuary for seniors Special Needs dogs that have been dumped into shelters and they take them in and it's sometimes a very short term stay. That's hospice care, sometimes their long term residents for years, they just needed, you know, a little bit of TLC to get them into a healthy place. Some medication and some dental work and they live out their lives in this wonderful house with this wonderful family. They currently have 14 Seniors Special Needs dogs and well it's a ton of care. I call it the lid of misfit toys, it's my happy place. I love being able to go there three times a day and let them out and change diapers and do meds and do eyes and you know, do all the care that they need and their people appreciate it. You know, they they they're able to offer to do what they do open their home and provide the care they do because I can be there when they have to go to work when they have to, you know be able to pay the bills.
Collin Funkhouser 54:47
Yeah, we should. We should want to see our our clients I knowledgeable and confident pet owners. We want them to be the best educated the most connected, the most secure in the care that their pet is receiving or needs to get. And to have that as a primary goal as a business like you, you can't help but help people at that point and to see them successful, we should all come back, we should all want our clients to be so well educated about their pet, and involved and invested to. And that's something that we get to to be a part of. And so I'm, I love hearing that. And that mission of being more than petsitting not just not that petsitting isn't important because it absolutely is critical to the lives that our clients want to lead and need to lead. But knowing that we have a much higher role in the lives of our clients and their pets,
Sarah S. 55:46
I feel very honored to be able to do what I do every day and lucky and I count my blessings that I can do this for many years and help many, many paths. Sarah, I
Collin Funkhouser 55:55
absolutely love that. And I'm so thankful for you coming on the show today and sharing us sharing with us that that passion and encouraging us in that way that that we can be so involved and that it is about setting our clients up for success and their pets as well. I know that there's a lot here and that you do so much for those people who want to get connected with you and follow along with everything. How best can they do that? Yeah,
Sarah S. 56:21
so I'm on all the social medias, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook all today. And Jay, you can reach out to me on my website should stay nj.com There's a contact me now link or you could send me an email. Sarah at Stan J.
Collin Funkhouser 56:38
Sarah, I can't thank you enough for this conversation. And I'm really appreciative that you had time to come on the show today. So thank you so much.
Sarah S. 56:47
Thank you, Colin, thank you very much.
Collin Funkhouser 56:49
What does it mean to be more than petsitting it means reaching beyond ourselves thinking bigger and grander, bringing people together and to the table and focusing on community and encouragement and lifting one another up. It means empowering our clients and building a network and supportive structure to make sure that everybody has what they need to run the business that they want, and to live the life that they want with their pet. We want to thank today's sponsors time to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters for making today's show possible. And we really want to thank you so so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. We'll be back again soon.
