574: Why the Industry Needs Professionals More Than Ever
Brought to you by: Pet Sitters Associates. Use ‘Confessional’ at checkout
Do clients really understand what it means to hire a professional pet sitter, or do they think you’re just another neighbor kid with a key? In this episode, we dive into the ongoing need to educate the public about the professionalism, training, and dedication that sets true pet sitters apart. We discuss how to use every interaction — from inquiry calls to social media posts — to highlight your certifications, insurance, and high standards of care. By clearly communicating your value, you not only set yourself apart, but also raise the bar for the entire industry. Whether you’re celebrating Professional Pet Sitters Week or just looking for ways to stand out, this episode gives you practical strategies to help your community understand and appreciate the work you do.
Main topics:
• Educating pet care clients
• Professional vs hobby pet sitters
• Importance of certifications & insurance
• Marketing professionalism to the community
• Celebrating Professional Pet Sitters Week
Main takeaway: “The public doesn’t know what we do, so we need to let them know.”
Too often, professional pet sitters are lumped together with hobby sitters or the neighbor kid who pops in to feed a cat. The truth is, being a professional pet sitter means having proper insurance, training in pet first aid and CPR, and following clear policies and procedures that protect pets, clients, and ourselves. Our work goes far beyond cuddles — it’s about safety, professionalism, and peace of mind. This Professional Pet Sitters Week, take a moment to share your credentials and explain what makes your business different. When we all take pride in our profession, we elevate the industry and set higher expectations for care.
Links:
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0038
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Pet sitter confessional, professional pet sitters, beneficial owner information, professional pet sitters week, pet care industry, pet sitting standards, pet sitting liability insurance, pet first aid and CPR, pet business insurance, pet care education, pet care conferences, pet care certifications, pet care marketing, pet care community, pet care professionalism
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin
Meghan 00:02
Hi, I'm Meghan.
Collin 00:03
I'm Collin.
Meghan 00:04
We are the hosts of pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. We appreciate you listening today, and we would also like to thank pet sitters associates for sponsoring today's episode and our executive producers. They are Adriana, Barbie, Beck Erica, Jan Janie, Jenny, Julie, Catherine, Keith Liz and Lori Lucy and Sarah Savannah, Scott, Theresa and Yvonne. Thank you for finding value in the show and for supporting us at the Great Dane level. If you don't know what the Great Dane level is or the dachshund, you can go to pet sitter, confessional.com/support, to see what those are. Learn more about them and all of the ways that you can help the show.
Collin 00:42
We also have a little bit of news for our friends in the United States running their dog walking and pet sitting businesses, there has been an ongoing back and forth with the beneficial owner information filing requirement, and just on March 2, the Treasury Department announced that there was a suspension of enforcement of the corporate transparency act against US citizens and domestic reporting companies. Basically, not only will the Treasury Department not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, it will also not enforce any penalties or fines against the US citizens or reporting companies for their beneficial owners information after this point. So the boi that beneficial owner information is no longer and if you'd like the full readout on exactly what this says, check out the links in the show notes to see the announcement from the US Treasury Department. This week
Meghan 01:37
is the 31st annual professional pet sitters week. It was started by pet sitters international 31 years ago, and it is to celebrate all of the professional pet sitters around the world. So shout out to you for your hard work and dedication. We
Collin 01:52
know that this is an industry fueled by passion, but it has its ups and its downs and its struggles. It's hard work, and not a lot of people know about a, the hard work, or B, the professionalism, and that's actually what we want to talk about today, because I was having a conversation with some people who are kind of close to the dog walking, pet sitting world, and when I mentioned what I do and the things about conferences and all this stuff, they were blown away. They had no idea, no idea that professional pet sitters actually existed. And it made us realize that there is still so much work to do in educating people about what it is that we do.
Meghan 02:33
Yeah, 30 years later, there are still sectors of not only the pet care industry, but obviously potential clients that don't know what we do. It's more important than ever to educate people on social media and your website, and just when you do boots on the ground marketing of hey, this industry exists, and we are professionals. This is not just a hobby for us. We take this to the next level. There really is a growing need for professional pet sitters. Yeah, there's
Collin 02:57
more pets than ever. We've seen this over the last five years alone, and not just more pets than ever, but people are really seeing their pets as family more than ever. And because of this, there's a massive demand for quality pet care. People are looking for a level of care for their pets that they really weren't even looking for 15 years ago. Along with this, there's been a rise of hobby sitters in gig apps, meaning that there's a lack of training and standards, and that puts both the pets and the people at risk. Now we know that there will always be bad actors in the industry. These are people that will always be doing something that is doing it the wrong way, right? They don't want to do things, you know, up to standard or up to code, which makes it harder for the rest of us to actually do our work and actually build a reputation that people can respect.
Meghan 03:45
Yeah, because the reality is anyone can call themselves a pet sitter. That is a fact, but not everyone is a professional. Clients deserve to know the difference. They deserve to know that there's specific pet sitting and dog walking liability insurance. They should know that you're background checked and bonded and pet first aid and CPR certified. They should know that you're not just gonna throw some food on the floor and walk away, but you're gonna send them an update with pictures and videos at the end of every visit. They deserve to know this, because they deserve peace of mind there the public doesn't really understand what we do. No
Collin 04:17
back to that conversation that I had. It wasn't just one person was actually two people in industries that were very closely related. Again, they were they were just kind of just outside of the world of dog walking and pet sitting, and they were in completely different silos. And my conversations with them, they asked what I did, what Megan and I do in our business, and neither had any idea of what was going on. And they were blown away, especially whenever I talked to them about the professional organizations, the conferences, the insurance, how we went through the policies, the procedures, the cancelation things, it actually made me really sad, because here they were in their own silos, in their own industries, talking about professionalism and wanting to raise the bar and raise the standards, and yet they hadn't done any. Have to work to see what else was going on. And if these people are like that, these people who are in their own professional industry, were like that, how much more so than the general public's understanding of it is what we do?
Meghan 05:11
Well, generally, people use their friends, family and neighbors for pet sitting or dog walking, just a quick pop in while they're at work, or if they're just in, a quick weekend away, a neighbor will come over as a courtesy to care for the cat. And because of this, when we say, Oh, we're pet sitters, or we provide pet sitting services, they assume that we're just doing this for the fun of it, that we're basically a charity, that we're doing this because we just want puppy cuddles and Kitty kisses. And while that is a perk of the job, this is actually paying our bills. And we are a business. We do pay taxes. Some of us have employees. This is our career, yeah, and
Collin 05:43
because we use the same term as their friend, family, neighbor or acquaintance, they equate us to be the exact same. It also doesn't help that there is really no industry wide standard of education or requirements for how to get into this. And other apps and gig economies have really dominated the conversation with allowing anybody into the industry. And while we think it is really nice that there are more people trying to do the service than ever, it really muddies the water with what it definitionally means to be a professional
Meghan 06:13
sitter, because the average person can often be confused on the terms that we're saying versus what they think they mean. It really is on us the responsibility to educate, not just assume people know what we do as a pet sitter. It does
Collin 06:27
fall to us, because we are the ones interacting with our community. We are the ones getting the phone calls, the emails, the inquiries through our software. And when people have misconceptions, a great way to start that conversation is when somebody says, I need a pet sitter. Ask them, have you used a professional pet server before? And if they say yes, please have them describe what that service was like and what they think that means, so that you can say, Okay, I hear what you're saying. Here's how I offer services, and here's what comes when it actually means from from my perspective, and where I'm coming from, and why this is good for you, and what you get from this. That kind of dialog typically doesn't happen because we're really busy in our days. We've got a lot going on. We can get frustrated, and one more person is asking for the cheapest bid to walk their dog, and that's not us, and they're not a good fit. But it does mean that if we can give them a little bit more information, a little bit of insight into the way the industry works. They'll be better set up for the next time they encounter a professional pet sitter
Meghan 07:25
well, and even if somebody says no to that they've never used still explain to them, because we analogize it to a cheeseburger. Of the person that is calling wants just a plain no cheese, no frills, no ketchup, no onion, nothing. They just want a plain burger, but what we offer is the deluxe. We not only will give your cat food, we will scoop the litter box, we will brush them, we will play with them. We will get your mail, your your packages, water your plants, bring in your trash, all this sort of stuff. So sometimes there can be this misalignment here of going, okay, as the professional, I'm not going to just feed your cat, but I'm going to do a once over make sure there are no injuries, or that there are messes around the house, or there's throw up. I'm going to go basically above and beyond what you think the standard of care is,
Collin 08:11
and cat visits are a really great example for this. How many times do we get contacted for somebody who wants every other day visits? Or, Hey, I'm going to leave for a week, and you just come by on Wednesday and throw some food down. And we step in and we say, actually, we don't believe that it's a high quality of care when you do this aspect, this is part of education and what it means to be a professional pet store, because you are telling them, here's actually my recommendation for how I will care for your cat and why it's better and that they should be wanting this level of care. It's
Meghan 08:44
kind of taking their ask and going a few steps further in it, of taking it to the logical conclusion of, oh, well, I have actually found a cat behind a washing machine before, and it was stuck. So we actually don't provide every other day cat visits, and that's why we want to make sure that your cat is safe, we kind of obviously always want to cover our butts, but ultimately, we're also looking after the best interest of the cat. And because we are professional, we are looking three, four steps ahead and going we either have seen this before, or we have heard other pet sitters encounter this, and that's why that our standard of care, our level of care, is so much higher, that's not to say that everybody's going to jump for joy when they hear you say these things. Some people aren't going to agree. They're going to look elsewhere. They're going to want to pay $7 a day for somebody to come over and throw food on the floor and that's it, or just do a quick potty once a day. We know that these clients are out there because they contact us, but hopefully, as more education is done over the coming years, these clients and these requests will become less frequent, as people know that a great quality of care is an option, something all professionals should have, is specific pet business insurance. So we want to tell you about our friends at pet sitters, associates as a pet sitter. You know how much trust goes into caring for someone, for a family member? Burst. But who's got your back for over 25 years, pet sitters Associates has been helping pet care pros like you with affordable, flexible insurance coverage, whether you're walking dogs, pet sitting or just starting out, they make it easy to protect your business. Get a free quote today at petsit llc.com and as a listener, you get $10 off your membership when you use code confessional at checkout, that's pets@lsc.com because your peace of mind is part of great pet care.
Collin 10:25
So we really are talking about this educational aspect of that. It is important that we continue to do so, and that it is beholden on us to educate our clients and community. But, but how do we exactly go about doing that? And obviously, one of the best opportunities here is when talking with a potential client, take time to explain why you're a professional, not just your credentials here, but why you believe it's better and the quality of care that you're able to give because of your professionalism. You do have to link these two together, of your bonding, your insurance, your background checks, your training, your specific niche of animal education, or your certifications, and then say, I believe this is important, right? It's basically saying, in a world where anybody can call themselves a pet sitter, I think it's important to do these things because you matter, because your pet matters, and I want to make sure I'm taking the best care of them possible. It's no
Meghan 11:17
longer just enough to say you have experience. I've seen advertisements from 10 year olds who say lots of experience with cats and dogs. So that's not enough anymore. You need to have other credentials to back up what you're saying. Obviously a great way is to use social media and marketing to highlight your experience. You can post a picture of your pet first aid and CPR certificate and say, Hey, did you know professional pet sitters are trained. We are certified. Here is my certificate that I completed, and here are some ways that I can help your pet if needed.
Collin 11:47
Brag about your credentials, brag about your knowledge. If more people do this, more people are going to see this and just come to expect it as standard. So leverage your website, leverage your blog, to answer frequently asked questions blog about why it is that you do what you do, and the level that you go to to make sure that that quality of care is there. You can also think about hosting free events, right, or maybe just any events where you can talk to and educate people about this through pamphlets. You know, maybe if you get certified to teach pet first aid and CPR, do that in your community, offer those to your clients, or pet safety workshops or anything like that, where you can pull from your resources, your experience, in your training and background, to showcase that for people. Maybe, if you even have an opportunity to host a lunch and learn with a chamber of commerce or another business networking event, take them up on that opportunity to talk about what it is that you do.
Meghan 12:44
And I guess that's a good point. Here is, while you are highlighting yourself and saying, Hey, I am a professional, you are also, at the same time elevating the industry right a rising tide lifts all boats. You are not just helping yourself and your business, but also pet sitters in your city and around the world. When you talk to vets and groomers and trainers, they need to know what we do too. Again, we're not just the neighbor kid down the street. We are. This is our career. It does seem that the pet care industry is kind of siloed. Vets don't often talk to groomers, groomers don't often talk to trainers. And so we as pet sitters can kind of come around everyone in the pet care industry and say, Hey, not only are we here, but we are professionals, just like you. You went to school to be a groomer. Here are some trainings and certifications that we have had.
Collin 13:29
Again, that siloed nature of this, it's really endemic, and it really is problematic, because many of us want to partner with a groomer or trainer or Veterinary Clinic and hand them flyers and business cards, but they don't know what to do with them. They don't really know what makes us different than the previous person who came in handing out flyers and business cards. From their perspective, there is no difference. And so more than just dropping stuff off, it's about educating them about why we do what we do and how we do it, our background, our training and expertise. That is really important, because when people go to recommend you, especially a professional like a groomer or trainer or vet, when they go to recommend you, they are putting their reputation on the line. We don't appreciate that often enough of they don't want a bad reflection on them, and so oftentimes they don't, they don't refer out to anybody, because they don't know what it means to trust somebody with this kind of service. So taking those few extra moments and explaining all that, all that is entailed in this, I guarantee you, you're going to be really you're going to find that they're really impressed with the lengths that you go to for your service in your business, I feel
Meghan 14:38
like we talk a lot about pet first aid and CPR certification, but there are a lot of other ways to continue to educate yourself, even once you get that done. Education doesn't have to stop. Once you start a business. You can look into industry podcast, oh, hey, like ours Hey, or attending conferences and workshops like with naps, or psi Florida pest. Services Association, Texas pet sitters Association. There's an entire list of industry conferences on our website, at pet sitter, conventional.com/conferences you can invest in coaching and mentorship. There are so many pet business coaches out there. And then yes, certifications, fear free certification, pet first aid and CPR, the PA, CCC, certification, like I mentioned a minute ago, there's the option to join professional organizations, psi, naps, IB PSA, the difference between a pet sitter and a professional pet sitter really is training and commitment. How committed are you to your level of care that you're going to provide your clients now doing
Collin 15:37
things like joining a professional organization, like naps, psi or IB, PSA, it doesn't just immediately make you qualified or anything like this. It does mean that now you have access to more education, more opportunities about both the pet care sign and also in running your business side, and both psi and naps offer an accreditation course to take where you can be a certified professional pet center. So it really is about opening up the opportunities to you and your business and then pursuing those and how far do you want to take that? What kind of resources do you want to be exposed to? As we grow our business, there's always going to be one more thing we had never thought about, or one more thing we need to learn about. That's why investing in Megan mentioned that the coaching, the membership programs, the mentorship programs, whether that's an industry specific person or somebody outside of that, how can you get help, to get your hands around, how to run your business better, to provide the level of care, to prevent burnout, all of these things are actually really intricately tied together and really need to be taken and considered seriously.
Meghan 16:41
Education for your business doesn't have to include just the pet care industry. It can be just business books or business conferences that you want to learn how to be a better leader and a better boss, a better CEO or CFO, whatever your role is in your company. There are resources out there for that. So
Collin 16:58
this week, and really every week, we really want to celebrate you, the professional pet sitters that make the industry so amazing and wonderful. So we want to encourage you to take time to recognize your work. Take a look back from where you started to where you are now. Look around at your business, at the quality of care that you're providing the clients that you have around you. If you have a team of employees, celebrate them as well and their hard work and dedication. Megan and I truly believe that pet sitters and dog walkers do not get enough credit for the amount of work, for the professionalism and the dedication that they provide to people, day in and day out, 365 days a year, regardless of what's going on.
Meghan 17:38
So this week, think about sharing a social media post on why you love your job. What about it? Is it the poop that you love to pick up? Is it the cat? Interesting choice. Is it the cats you love to brush? What exactly is it? Ask clients for reviews, or maybe share some reviews from the past of your clients who love your work. Use this week as an excuse to say, hey, my clients love me. It's okay to do that this week. Treat yourself and your team. If you have one, maybe send them a local coffee shop gift card or a special note to say thank you or shout them out on social media. You could also run a client appreciation campaign with loyalty reward or a fun contest. Maybe you want to say, hey, here's some trivia. Take your best guess at why I love Great Danes. Whatever you choose to do this week. Take this chance to highlight the professionalism that you have and that other pet sitters around the world do as well. There is a huge need for education in this area, and it starts with you. It starts with all of us, really, if we can just do our small part to say, hey, this industry is something bigger better than you ever thought it was. The public doesn't know what we do, so we need to let them know. Keep learning, keep investing in your skills, and ultimately, keep talking about it. The industry
Collin 18:48
didn't make it this far without investing and without researching and educating and learning and trying to grow, and the industry certainly won't make it another 30 years if we don't do the exact same thing. So while we are talking about what we do, we need to continue to raise the bar in our level of education, in the level of education for our employees and the teams that we are growing so that we can have better educated public I think one of the best things that Megan and I encounter is when we have a highly educated client that reaches out to us and they know exactly why they want us for the professionalism. They want that experience, and they only get that when we're talking about it, and then they can get into that groove. And they know, and it gives them so much peace of mind, and it really makes for a wonderful working relationship. So for the industry to grow and expand and to continue to elevate it's going to take every single one of us growing and elevating ourselves and our business.
Meghan 19:46
Think about one thing you can do this week to educate your community. How are you going to celebrate professional pet sitters week? We would love to know and celebrate with you. You can email us at Pet Sitter confessional@gmail.com, or look us up on Facebook and Instagram at. Pet Sitter confessional, thank you again for listening today and to pet sitters associates for sponsoring today's episode and our lovely executive producers on our Patreon page, we will talk with you next time bye.
