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Beth Stultz-Hairston, PSI

As a professional pet sitter, you carefully screen potential clients and conduct a thorough initial consultation to ensure you have all of the information you need and that the pet-sitting assignment is a good fit for you and the client.

While mutual trust is vital in the pet sitter-pet parent relationship, at some point you’ll encounter pet owners who lie, or at least omit the truth.

So, what are some things pet sitters have discovered pet owners being less than honest about?

1. Their pet’s behavior.  While they likely have no bad intentions, some pet owners are not forthcoming about their pet’s behavior. Without an accurate understanding of a pet’s behavior, you are unable to provide them with the best care and you may also be putting yourself at risk. Often, you can ensure you receive more accurate information by asking more specific questions. For example, don’t simply ask “Is your dog aggressive?” Most pet owners don’t want to think of their pets as aggressive even if they have shown aggressive tendencies in the past.

Instead, ask questions about specific behaviors:

• Has your dog ever bitten or scratched a person?
• Has your dog ever bitten or gotten into fights with other pets, either in the home or outside the home?
• Does your dog bark or growl at strangers entering the home?

Understanding a pet’s behavior extends beyond asking about aggressive tendencies. You’ll also want to know how they react to the owner’s absence and how they react in other situations. Again, refrain from general questions and instead focus on specifics (e.g. Does your cat have any specific hiding places? Does your dog pull on the leash when you are walking her?).

2.  Others that have access to the home. Job sharing and pet sitting when others have access to the home are often hot topics in the pet-sitting community. While some have no issue with job sharing or pet sitting in a home where house cleaners, adult children or even neighbors will be coming and going, many do not want to assume the liability that results from these situations—and often turn down these assignments. However, we often hear from members who don’t discover others have access to the home until they are already in the middle of the pet-sitting assignment.  

How you respond to job sharing and/or others having access to the home (whether you know in advance or find out when the assignment is already in progress) will be a business decision you should make in advance—and this is a policy you should make your clients aware of upfront.  Many pet sitters find it common for clients to have house cleaners or other service professionals in the home during a client’s absence. Because they will not be sharing pet-sitting services, they simply request to know the days and times these service professionals will be in the home to avoid surprises.  While most pet sitters we hear from do not want to share pet-sitting duties with a friend, family member or another sitter, some do take these assignments but ask clients to sign a waiver indicating the pet sitter will not be liable for anything that may occur since others have access to the homes and pets (if you want to go this route, be sure to have your waiver reviewed by a legal professional).

If your policy is that you will not share any pet-sitting assignments, be upfront with your clients, but make sure the reason you provide is accurate. We have heard from pet sitters who tell clients that they cannot job share because having someone else in the home will void their pet-sitter insurance. This is likely not the case (check with your insurance provider to be sure), and you don’t want to give a deceptive reason to the client. Simply say that your business has a no job-sharing policy because while a pet is in your care you want to ensure that they receive superior pet care, and you don’t feel that you can do this when others have access to the home and pet.

3.  Their departure and return dates.  Have you ever arrived to an assignment and had the distinct feeling that the clients didn’t actually leave the night before (or that morning) as they indicated they would when they booked your services? Instead, the cat’s overflowing litterbox and empty food and water bowl make you feel as if the client tried to skirt around your every-day-cat-visit policy by lying about when they’d actually be leaving town? It’s unfortunate—but it happens! As a professional pet sitter, your most effective way to combat this is to be proactive: Be clear in your policy regarding every day visits and educate clients on why it’s so important for even pets they consider “low maintenance” to be visited at least once every 24 hours. (You may want to share information from this blog post on why every day cat visits are a must.)

If you are worried about clients who may not be returning when they say they will, your business policies can go a long way in preventing this. Most pet sitters have a policy that clients must contact them (by call or text) when they return home. Accidents and delays happen, so this is a great policy to ensure that pets do not go without care because the client is unexpectedly unable to return home. This is also a great way to combat a client who may be less than honest on when they plan to return home.

Many pet sitters leave a note or card on the last visit asking for the client to let them know when they arrive home. If they don’t hear from the client, their policy is to come by (and charge) for another pet-sitting visit. Having this policy in place—and making sure clients are aware of it—demonstrates to clients how serious you are about ensuring their pets are properly cared for, and also gives them added incentive to be truthful about their return date and time.

4. The reason for their last-minute trips. Have you ever had a client who had a grandmother pass away 3-4 times in the same year? Or a client that calls on the Friday of Labor Day weekend with a “family emergency?” Or, maybe the client who calls in a panic about having to work late, but then you see Facebook photos of them at a concert? Whether it’s because they simply have a disregard for your time, have an issue with lying in general, had another pet sitter that fell through, or are too embarrassed to admit they dropped the ball on securing pet care, some clients will lie about the reason they are requesting last-minute service. 

How you handle these situations will, of course, be your decision—but it’s also important to have policies in place to refer to when you get these types of client requests. Do you charge a last-minute booking fee or require upfront payment for last-minute requests? If so, have these polices in writing and stick to them when these (less than honest) last-minute requests occur. Ultimately, you’ll also have to decide if this type of client is one you want to keep.

Are there any other lies you’ve been told by current or potential clients? How did you respond? Let us know in the comments below.