Email

An Open Letter to Pet Owners During the COVID-19 Crisis

Now’s Your Opportunity to Repay Your Pet Sitters and Dog Walkers

Published March 18, 2020

Pet Sitters International (PSI) was founded in 1994 and over the years we’ve received countless emails and phone calls from pet parents raving about the pet sitter or dog walker they’d found:

“I haven’t traveled in nearly a decade, but now that I have someone I can trust with my pet, I can!”

“My pet sitter alerted me to a potential health issue, and I was able to get my pet to the vet in time to avoid a life-threatening issue!”

“I don’t know how I would work these long hours without the peace of mind my dog walker provides!”

We hear stories like these daily and they often conclude with this sentiment: “I don’t know how I could ever repay my pet sitter for the peace of mind they bring!”

Professional pet-sitting and dog-walking businesses have provided trusted, reliable professional pet-services for tens of thousands of pet-owning households.

And now, pet owners have an unprecedented opportunity to repay the pet sitters and dog walkers they’ve been able to rely on all these years.

How? By continuing to use your pet sitter’s services (or continuing to pay them) during a time when travel bans and work from home orders have brought pet-sitting and dog-walking businesses to a virtual halt.

Your local pet-sitting and dog-walking businesses typically operate on very small margins and a significant loss of revenue can cause them to go out of business.

Your pet sitter likely won’t tell you this. Their primary concern—as always—is the wellbeing of your pets and on the service they provide to you—their valued client.

Though you booked your pet sitter months in advance, they likely quickly waived their cancellation policy and offered you a refund when you cancelled your trip last-minute amid coronavirus concerns. What your pet sitter didn’t share is that the anticipated revenue from your trip was needed for them to cover important business expenses, such as insurance—or maybe even their health-care premium or mortgage.

When you canceled your daily dog walks since you are temporarily working from home, your dog walker likely politely thanked you for letting them know and said to give them a call when you were ready to resume service. What your dog walker didn’t share is that virtually all their clients are canceling, and they are worried they will no longer be in business to offer dog walking once your normal work schedule resumes.

How can you help?

  • Continue to use your dog-walking service, even when you are working from home. This keeps your pet on his regular routine and keeps your dog walker in business!

  • If you’d like to walk your dog while you are working from home, do this but continue to pay your pet sitter. Remember, you had already budgeted for these dog walks and if you are working from home, you still get paid (but your pet sitter doesn’t).

  • If you do have to cancel scheduled pet-sitting visits due to a cancelled business trip or vacation, consider letting your pet sitter keep the deposit (or full payment)—or ask that they credit it to a future visit instead of asking for a refund. This will help them keep revenue when they need it the most.

  • Inquire about other services your pet sitter may be offering—such as cat enrichment visits, litter box cleaning, pet transportation or pet-food delivery—and utilize these services when you may not need vacation sits or daily dog walks.

  • If available, purchase gift cards from your pet sitter to use in the future (or inquire about a pre-pay option for future visits).

  • Remember, now is also a great time to leave positive online reviews for your pet sitter or dog walker and share their social-media posts with your friends, family and colleagues!

  • No visits planned during this time? Consider sending your pet sitter or dog walker an encouraging note (with a tip, if possible)!

  • If you've been forced to reschedule trips (or have future trips already planned), contact your pet sitter as soon as possible to get these new visit requests on their schedules.

Now is your opportunity to repay your pet sitter or dog walker for all that they’ve done for you and your pets!

Your pet sitter or dog walker is likely such an integral part of your pet’s regular schedule and, in many cases, feels so much like family, that you may not even think about what they offer as a business. But your pet sitter is more than your trusted pet-care provider—he or she is also a small business owner, and business owners have been hard hit by this pandemic.

In weeks—or months—you will be able to resume your regular work schedule and re-schedule trips you’ve canceled.  When this happens you will need the services of your local professional pet-sitting or dog-walking business—but will they have remained in business during the interim?

Please continue to support and use the services of your local professional pet sitters and dog walkers. People’s livelihoods (and your continued access to reliable pet care) are depending on it!

Comments

Cynthia Rubino

May 17, 2020  |  9:k AM
I have been a PSI petsitter for over 15 years. I went from turning new clients away to unemployed overnight. The day the Payroll Protection Program became available to sole proprietors I applied. All you need is your schedule C from 2019 and some time to do the online application. I called my bank a couple of times to help me fill it out correctly. The purpose of this loan is to stay in business and be able to pay yourself for 8 weeks. 75% of the loan is automatically forgiven if used for payroll. I was approved and am enjoying a nice paycheck every week while visits are starting to trickle back in. Am I the only one who did this? Stay safe! Business will come back.

Rose Connolly

April 23, 2020  |  4:k PM
biz is very slow but I am staying strong
and will be rebuilding my biz..I believe
in what i do 100% and refuse to give up !

Belise

April 22, 2020  |  11:k AM
How do dog walking/training businesses survive during COVID-19?

Eva

April 21, 2020  |  10:k PM
I have experienced what Frances has (her post on March 29); fortunately I’ve been in the business long enough that I’ve established some great relationships with many of my repeat clients. It’s not just a business to make a living for me; I adore the pets I visit and love what I do, and I make sure I take extra steps to let pet owners know this (as a result, several clients have reached out to me to help; I took a couple of advances, but I’m hanging in there due to saving for the down-times (I learned the hard way after 9/11). Hang in there everyone, and best of luck!

Jan Alber

April 21, 2020  |  2:k PM
I have been a pet sitter for 3 years and have a very small clientele. All my clients have canceled their vacations. This virus has essentially killed my business. I am blessed to have great clients and I am in touch with them on a regularly basis. I am going to close my business for now. I hope when this situation is resolved, I will be able to rebuild my business.

Sylvia Gothard

March 30, 2020  |  5:k PM
I love my job as a CPPS. I have wonderful clients and their "kids" are very important to me. At this time of financial loss to so many, I cannot even think to ask my clients for their consideration in reimbursing me for cancellations. We are in this together. I just want them to know that in a time of need I am available to help and if need be will donate my time and services.

Frances

March 29, 2020  |  9:k PM
I'm a professional dog sitter and have been doing it for over 8 years. I appreciate this post because many may not realize how many of us sitters rely on the income our clients pay us for. What I have been amazed by is how many of our clients have reached out to check up on us and offer help. I started taking pre-pays for future services. We had loyal clients drop off financial gifts with no strings. And we have done some social distance dog walks, wearing gloves and masks.

What I want to convey to other dog sitters is that if you work hard and bring quality and excellence to your work, your clients will remember you, even during the rough times. For us, our clients are our family once their dog is a part of our pack. Our jobs are not just about caring for canines, it's about making their humans lives easier. I'm grateful to our caring clients and I encourage all in the canine service industry to commit to being of loving service to all their clients.

Lisa MacElderry

March 24, 2020  |  9:k PM
My sympathies for everyone's pain. When this is over, please consider taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Principles include a 3-6 month emergency fund, getting and living debt free. We teach this course and live it. Start out with getting The Total Money Makeover book. Hang in there all.

Ana

March 22, 2020  |  1:k PM
Google has disabled the ability to review businesses at this time, so we can't even ask clients for reviews anymore :(

Cindee Battin

March 20, 2020  |  9:k PM
In two days I became unemployed. I am solo. I’ve had to get creative. I called my 8 best and most caring pet parents. I offered a 10 percent discount on any prepaid visits. 5 took me up on it and three didn’t even want a discount.
My midday walks disappeared as well as big vacations. They just didn’t want the risk, even with safety garb on. I have been Petsitting since 1997 after a 14 year teaching career. I wonder if I made the right choice.

Helen Milchling

March 20, 2020  |  7:k PM
What a wonderful letter. Luckily I am a one person operation and do not have to worry about employees. My husband just retired the 3rd of March. We now have the added cost of buying health insurance for me. To say the least it's not the best time to lose all my vacation revenue and most of my daily too. I have several customers who are keeping my services. I am appreciative but also worry about their finances.

Maureen Smith

March 20, 2020  |  7:k PM
After working Wednesday (3/18) I made the difficult decision to shut down. I was increasingly uncomfortable entering homes, including one with a newborn. I have health issues, we’re older, so I made the choice to look out for myself. With no insurance getting sick is not an option. (Not everyone cleans like I do!). I assured my clients that as soon as given the all clear we will absolutely get back to work.
On a lighter note, if this is a preview of retirement I may rethink that!! Hang in there everyone. No one is alone in this!

Kathleen Harpley

March 19, 2020  |  8:k PM
A client of ours brought this article to my attention. I didn’t know you had posted this. It brings tears to my eyes knowing that their are clients who value what we do for them and realize they are not the only ones who are impacted.
Thank you for making this public because I just didn’t feel right putting this out there. I do what I do because it’s my Passion my Life AND my Livelihood in this order. I have been in business for 24 years and believe I will be able to weather this “Storm”. Prayers to all. Thank you PSI.

Bianca Bleier

March 19, 2020  |  3:k PM
Is there anything we can do to survive this? Any financial relief for us? My biggest fear was an injury to myself, that would cause me to have to look for a new line of employment. This is a global crisis, one no one could prepare for. How do we survive this financially? It's just me. I am a single mom of 2 elementary aged children. I receive child support and I have rented space out in my home. This year was already a very difficult one for me with money and now my own earnings have come to a complete halt.

Jeanne P Crockett

March 19, 2020  |  12:k PM
Thank you, PSI, for supporting us and helping us cope.

Doralee Halperin

March 19, 2020  |  11:k AM
This memo lays out the impact of the corona virus pandemic on pet sitters very well. I would hope our clients will figure this out but, as a previous commenter said, I cannot bring myself to post this on my website. I presume that my clients who are working from home are drawing their salaries but I do not really know their financial situation. No one really knows another’s situation unless they are told directly by that person. So, I will stay in communication with my clients letting them know I am available to the best of my ability to do so safely (I am over 60) and I will provide information from trustworthy sources about the pandemic and continue posting pictures of pets and info about pet care.
Be safe everyone!

Susanna

March 19, 2020  |  9:k AM
I see many of my fellow pet sitting business owners applauding this letter, and those similar to this, but I could never send this to a client. I could never ask them to worry about me and my business during a global crisis of this proportion. I feel it is in extremely bad taste to request clients to continue utilizing their walkers because they’d already budgeted for them. It is not their responsibility to save my business. I have closed my doors due to cancellations, and for the fact that I do not want to enter anyone’s home during a viral pandemic.

Jan Kissinger

March 18, 2020  |  10:k PM
Thank you PSI for the urgency of these important articles for our clients as well as educating the pet sitting public. Often they don't realize (as a single solo sitter) that 9 cruise, vacation & business trip cancellations (overnights & visits)in 12 days for March & April can easily derail a business. To date I'm thankful for the weekday walks.

Renée Stilson

March 18, 2020  |  7:k PM
Thank you PSI for being proactive, as always!

Gerald koons

March 18, 2020  |  6:k PM
Our business has been impacted we mainly do dog walking we are only servicing 2 clients at this time. We do offer pet sitting but only to our dog walking clients and I have made a practice of banking all that money for the most part from pet sitting. We will be ok but we'll have to start drawing from those funds staying healthy is the main focus here. Hopefully if everybody does their part this thing will be behind us in a few weeks God bless.

Lauren Paterson

March 18, 2020  |  6:k PM
This virus has impacted my business.Since I don't deal much with the people I haven't closed down my business. I had a client call and cancel because their trip was canceled. I didn't charge them despite my contract saying that I don't refund vacations that are booked because I take limited amount of dogs and sometime turn other business away. But I understand non of us was expecting this.It was at a bad time too because I was depending on that money coming in for new construction to my place to better my business. I just hope this is over soon, that a vaccine is made like the one there is for canine corona and client's can get back to needing my business again.

Denise Kametler

March 18, 2020  |  5:k PM
My pet sitting business has stopped completely
I have not one client calling me
Help!

Cathy Vaughan

March 18, 2020  |  5:k PM
Thank you PSI for this awesome open letter !