Safe and Secure: Tips for Taking Care of Homes and Pets
Whether you offer house sitting, drop-in visits, or dog walking, it’s important to remember that your clients entrust you with not only their pet, but also their home. In this article, learn tips from fellow sitters to help ensure you’re doing everything you can to keep your clients, their pets, and their homes safe and secure.
Tip 1: Establish a secure way to access your client’s home.
Before you book the service, be sure you and your client are clear on how you’ll safely access their home. Here are some things to consider:
- Do they live in a gated community? If so, what are the community guidelines for pet sitters or guests? Do you need a key fob for the gate? If the gate breaks, what is your backup means of access? Who is your point of contact if your client is unreachable?
- How will you access their home? Some clients might offer you a spare key, while others will share the code for an automatic lock. However you access your client’s home, be sure you test the key/code and verify it works.
- Is there a secondary way to access their home? This is especially important for house sitting when your clients are out of town or unreachable. Mistakes happen and keys can be lost. Be sure you and your client have a backup plan in the event your initial point of access is unavailable. Some sitters recommend their clients get a lockbox to hold a spare key.
Tip 2: Check and double check to make sure everything is secure.
During the service, there are a few simple things you can do to ensure you are keeping your client’s pets and home as safe as possible.
- Always check fence gates before letting a pet outside. You may not be the only one helping take care of a client’s home. Often house cleaners, landscaping crews, or other service technicians have access to someone’s home. They might not think about securing outside gates. A quick walk around the perimeter of the home can help keep the pets in your care safe.
- Keep the key with you at all times. The door might lock unexpectedly behind you, or you might absently set the key down and not realize it. Make it a habit to keep the key with you at all times so you can avoid mistakes like that.
- Do a final check. Particularly with walks and drop-in visits, pets spend a good amount of time alone in the home. Do a walkthrough of areas pets can access to make sure they’ll be safe when you leave. Be sure all trash can lids are locked, no food is on the counters, and safety gates and crates are secured.
- Give yourself some spare time between each client. Have a backup plan in case something happens to your car or your bus is late.
Tip 3: End the service on a high note.
- Plan to return the keys. You don’t want to find yourself with a collection of keys to a bunch of different houses. Be sure you and your clients have a plan for what you’ll do with your key after the booking ends.
- Leave their home better than you found it. Little touches can really help earn that 5-star review. Wash the pet dishes, take the trash out, or even leave a quick list of things you enjoyed about their pets. Little gestures like these make a big impact and set you apart.
Putting these tips into practice can help your clients feel safe knowing their pets and homes are in your care, which can lead to more bookings for your business. To learn more about caring for pets, check out this article.