Chat Week Events Reptile & Amphibian Chats Dog Chats Cat Chats Bird Chats Small Mammal/Exotic Pet Chats Subscribe to our free email newsletters about pets and animal issues Email Address:

PHBlackBear: On behalf of Jeff Barringer and all of us at PetHobbyist.com, I am very pleased to welcome Therese Kopiwoda to our Ninth Annual Chat Week.

PHBlackBear: Therese Kopiwoda started her pet sitting career in 2001, when she established LucyGirl Pet Sitting in Austin, Texas. She is also the founder and owner of PetsitUSA.com, established in 2003, which is an online pet sitter directory and industry resource for professional pet sitters, dog walkers, and dog daycares. In addition to running her own business, Therese is the Editorial Director for Wishbones for Pets, a pet sitter sponsored pet charity drive, and past board member of Cyber Sitters United Pet Sitters Conference. Therese has also worked for PetHobbyist.com since 2001. She shares her home with Tequila, a lynx point Siamese; Archie, a border collie; Lydia, an Australian Shepherd mix; and Abby, a Chow/Doberman mix.

PHBlackBear: Therese, would you like to tell us a little about what you do?

Therese: I try to keep busy as you can see from the intro. lol

PHBlackBear: No Doubt!

Therese: I have a fairly small clientele of pet sitting clients these days, maybe about 20, but at one point I had close to 100. Nowadays, PetsitUSA.com takes up a lot of my time, but I still get the chance to pet sit, and talk to pet sitters throughought the country.

Time01: Do you need insurance for in homepet sitting?

Therese: There's no law that requires pet sitters have insurance, however I strongly suggest that anybody who works as a pet sitter be insured. It protects you and the client should something go wrong, whether it be with property or pets. And it shows the client that you are serious about your business...and lends more professionalism

PHBlackBear: What about licensing? Do you have to have business licenses; health department certificates that kind of stuff?

Therese: There is no license for pet sitting as you might find with other careers like vet techs, etc. but some cities do require a business license. You're going into the pet owners home so you wouldn't need a health certificate.

ruffnpurr_nr: What should be someone's first step if they decide they want to pursue pet sitting?

Therese: I would suggest reading some books, maybe getting to know another pet sitter in your area, or ideally, finding a network of professional pet sitters to talk with. Learning from people in the business is perhaps one of the best ways to learn...you can learn from their successes and failures.

Therese: Oh...I should add... Pet Sitting forProfit by Patti Moran is pretty widely considered the "bible" of pet sitting.

Time01: Do you pet sit all kinds of pets?

Therese: I mostly take care of cats & dogs, but I have cared for rabbits, birds, a couple guinea pigs....hmmmm.....I think that's it.

Time01: Thank you, ferrets are fun.

Therese: There are people who specialize in cerrain types of animals though.

Therese: I've not had the pleasure of taking care of ferrets.

diana_nr: I have just started my pet sitting business, what would you suggest is the best, but cheapest, way to advertise? I have a great website (very proud :P), a bumper sticker, and am making flyers, but I dont feel like those are making myself known enough.

Therese: That's always something newbies deal with and there are a number of things you can do. When I started, I went around to vet's offices and introduced myself...had biscuits for bakeries & banks to give out. I also went to apartment complexes and gave them flyers. Rather than just saying, "I petsit" I let them know what was in it for them. Since they rent to pet owners...pet owners who are away from the apartment working long hours...their pets are less likely to destroy the apartment if they were walked during the day.

diana_nr: were they open to doing this for you?

Therese: Quite a few were very open to it. Some vets' offices weren't though simply because they may have vet techs that do pet sitting on the side. However I didn't let that deter me...I kindly asked for the names of the pet sitters in the office and suggested I refer jobs to them that I didn't feel suited for...perhaps pets with medical conditions I didn't feel equipped to deal with.

PHAbymom: Therese, I know in this area there are a couple of people who have started sitting businesses... and hired people to do a lot of the sitting... is this a good way to start?

Therese: Do you mean that the people who start the business haven't ever done the pet sitting themselves?

PHAbymom: No, they do some but grew beyond their own ability to fulfill their clients requests

Therese: There are actually a lot of people that do that. The pet sitting industry is booming, and while it can be a one-man show for a while, once it grows to a certain point, it makes sense to hire employees or ICs. I never did that myself, by the time my business got to that point, I founded PetsitUSA.com and took my biz in a different direction. There are some very large businesses that have literally 100s of clients and are quite successful with it - with many employees. I would not recommend it as a way to start up though.

PHAbymom: Actually, I meant to start out working for someone else, then go on one's own... but that's ok :)

Therese: Ohhhh. Ok, duh! lol That can be a very good way to start.

Time01: Have you ever had to refuse to pet sit for some reason?

Therese: Yes, I have...

Therese: I met with a guy who had 3 adorable pit bulls... The dogs each had their own kennel outside, with no cover...I'm in Texas btw. The runs were beside each other and the only time the dogs got outside the runs was for about 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night. I felt very uncomfortable with that situation and told him I'd rather not take the job. Later I found out he went through pet sitters like crazy. The dogs were sweet but I just had a hard time with them being locked up all the time.

Time01: Totally understand.

PHBlackBear: What is your funniest pet sitting story?

Therese: Ahhh...one that I love to tell...I was taking care of two beautiful black labs...I went to do an overnight at their house with them. I set all my stuff on the kitchen table...keys...cell phone...other things...and went outside with the dogs. As I was walking out, the slider bar on the sliding glass doors fell, locking the door. I felt like I was moving in slow motion trying to get to the door before it locked...no such luck...

Therese: The yard was fenced in by a 6 foot chain link and because I have back problems I couldn't climb it. Oh, and it was locked! stood by the fence yelling "help" until, about an hour later, a woman walking by found me. She had a cell phone and called my brother who came to my rescue!

Therese: The moral of the story...keep your cell phone with you at ALL times! The keys wouldn't have done me any good this time. lol

PHBlackBear: ROTFL - thanks for sharing that Therese.

Time01: Funny now but not funny then I bet :)

Therese: Oh no, not funny at all! The mosquitos were biting somethiing fierce.

PHAbymom: Therese, what kind of pre-planning do you do for emergencies... it seems like cats or dogs always get sick when they're left home.

Therese: Yes, that's a biggie, and something I talk to my clients with at length. Before any pet sitting job, we do what's called a meet & greet, where I'll go to the client's house, meet them and their pets, and have them fill out a contract and other paperwork. Part of that paperwork is a vet release.

Therese: That release spells out just what they want done with their pet, what their vet's name is, how much I can authorize as far as payment is concerned. I also get the name of a friend or relative who can be reached if the client can't be contacted.

Therese: And, I should have mentioned this first, my procedure with emergencies is to call the client first UNLESS the pet is in a dire emergency. If that's the case, I take the pet to the vet first and then call the client. I also get background info on the pet before doing any pet sitting for them.

Leanne_nr: I find very few pet sitters will stay at your house with your pets, they just want to drop in. It's not even the money, they just won't do it. Why is that?

Therese: You're right...not a lot of pet sitters do overnights. I know for a lot of us, we don't want to leave our pets alone at home at night. And, most pet sitters who work full time at this are out of the house most of the day, into the evening, a lot of times. Not doing overnights gives them a little bit of a rest.

PHKellen: Have you ever been injured by a pet while pet sitting? How do you deal with that, if so?

Therese: No, I haven't luckily, but I have known others who have. They've gotten the medical attention they need, and if they felt that pet was a danger, they have to dismiss them as a client. I haven't heard that happening too often though.

PHKellen: Thank you.

Time01: Do you charge by the hour mostly and what is the basic care usually requested by a client?

Therese: I charge by the half hour and mostly that includes feeding, watering, walking, letting dogs out, scooping litter boxes. It also includes bringing in the mail, setting trash out etc. And of course, lots of attention for the pets.

Therese: Some pet sitters charge per pet as well though.

Deerhounds: Is this something you can support yourself doing as a pet sitter, or only if you have a company, employees, etc?

Therese: Absolutely it can totally support someone. I know pet sitters who make 60k and up and they are sole proprietors. They work their tails off, but they do make enough money to support themselves. The thing about pet sitting though that people often don't realize til they get into it is that it's hard work....

Therese: Consider that most dogs require at least 2, preferably 3, visits per day and if you're caring for 3 dogs at a time (different houses) that's a lot of time in the morning, afternoon, & evening. Then add in a few mid day dog walks, a few cat visits, and you're working a LOT. You can certainly make good money but it's hard work.

Time01: Do you do any type grooming if requsted?

Therese: I'm not a groomer, but I'll be happy to brush a cat or dog if the client wants that. I've got some cats that I care for that absolutely love it. But, no, as far as groomer type grooming...no, I don't do that.

PHAbymom: Do you look for a client that wants services on a daily basis because of long work hours or those that travel for extended periods?

Therese: I used to look for the daily clients - those involved daily dog walking. These days though I'm very selective with the clients I take and I only take people who travel. I don't have the time to commit to a daily dog walk anymore.

Therese: There are pet sitters...dog walkers...who specialize in the dailies though. There are some huge dog walking companies throughout the country and that's all they do.

Time01: Are there any pit falls that you can point out for a beginner?

Therese: Yes, running your own business always has pit falls. It can take a while to get started, which can be discouraging....

Therese: Taking clients far from home seems to be another big pitfall a lot of us make in the beginning. I know people who have taken jobs 15-20 miles away just because it was business. then later when they get clients closer in, it eats up a lot of time going on visits to that far away client.

Therese: Also, thinking it's all about "playing with the animals" can be a major pit fall. It can be hard work..rewarding...but hard...testy pets, irritating clients...bad weather, etc.

Leanne_nr: What is the easiest, or your favorite, type of pet or situation to sit for?

Therese: Cats! They don't need to be walked, they just want some food and most of the time, just to sit on my lap. They're pretty easy usually.

Leanne_nr: Cats rule

Leanne_nr: LOL, Thank you.

Therese: I absolutely love cats, even though I'm more of a dog person, so while cats are easy I like the dogs for different reasons. :)

ruffnpurr_nr: It is more of a comment, if that is okay. I just wanted to say regarding dog walking, or dailies as they are called - can be a constant never endeing assignment so while its constant money to count on it can bog your time down and I have now moved to JUST vacationers and limited midday assigments and it works really well for me.

Therese: I'm sure they keep you busy too!

PHBlackBear: We have time for one more question.

Therese: The time spent doing daily dog walking can be down time so to speak, to catch up on marketing, etc.

ruffnpurr_nr: Yes I stay busy with vacation clients and for me doing the same thing every day was a little like a regular job schedule in the corporate world and I like more varied schedules and flexibility.

Therese: I agree completely Jen! I felt too tied down with the dailies.

PHBlackBear: On behalf of PetHobbyist.com, Jeff Barringer, and all of us at PetHobbyist.com, I want to take a moment to thank Therese Kopiwoda for being part of our chat week. Therese, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us on starting your own pet sitting business.

ruffnpurr_nr: Thank you Therese I recommend petsitusa.com to all sitters by the way.

Time01: Thanks Therese very informative chat

PHKellen: Thank you, Therese!

Therese: I enjoyed it, thank you!