Just an extremely short note from me today. I just realised that I haven’t written anything since returning to San Francisco a month ago. I’ll share my first impressions of 2021 in San Francisco and of our new apartment soon but for now just a little promotional post. :

We got 50% of our longterm petsitting clients through Rover. You can communicate with your sitters ahead of time, check references and arrange a meet-and-greet. I think the greater risk is when people hire dog walkers like they order pizza. Price is also an additional point that may determine the quality of service. I tagged Rover because as a sitter I have had predominately positive experiences. For home & pet owners I recommend that you are discerning and ideally not in too much of a rush to hire so that you can meet sitters / walkers in person and consider your options. Have a list of questions ready to ask and a good list of instructions for your pet’s needs. http://sit.rover.com/p2H3j < this is a referral link.

I wouldn’t recommend them if being a part-time Rover sitter hadn’t been a sincerely positive experience for us.

If you aren’t in a city with access to Rover then you could try TrustedHouseSitters as an alternative. You won’t get paid but I still consider it an option when travelling abroad where I don’t have the same referral network as I have in California and some owners who are away from home simply don’t have the funds to additionally pay for a local sitter. It can be a fair compromise, just remember that once you agree to sit you should be as sincere and conscientious in your approach as if you were paid a full day rate of $50-$90 or a full weekly rate of $250-$…. (whatever your maximum weekly rate may be when you house/petsit closer to home.)

As a home owner you might like the idea of free house-petsitting services but please consider leaving a tip, home and pet guardianship can feel like a hobby to you but it’s quite a responsibility to the sitter. At least the sitter should treat it as such to ensure that everything is taken care of as you would like.

Referral links in this blog post:
ROVER & TRUSTEDHOUSESITTERS As a home- & pet owner you will save money when you use my links to sign up to either of these two platforms. (Or in the case of Rover you can make money if you become a sitter.)

I will receive a small referral bonus if you use my links, at no additional cost to you (you will actually save money). To receive the benefit you need to sign up and use the service within a specific time frame. This changes from platform to platform but is typically within a 10-30 day time frame.