Guides
Hiring for a pet sitting business: finding people who show up
Hiring pet sitters and dog walkers comes down to reliability, not animal skill. Here is how to screen, test and keep the people who show up.
What to take away
- Reliability is the hiring filter. A skilled sitter who cancels on a booked Saturday costs you the client, not just the visit.
- Ask every candidate the same job-related questions, write down the answers, and keep the notes for a year.
- Check references for pattern, not praisehow many times did this person cancel, and how much notice did they give?
- Pay for a paid working interview on a real visit route before you hand over keys.
- Keep a current list of who may walk dogs solo, who may give medication, and who may enter a client's home alone.
This article covers business systems for pet-care operators. It is not veterinary, legal, tax or insurance advice. Licensing, employment and privacy rules vary by province, state and city, so confirm current requirements with your provincial or state labour authority, your lawyer and your accountant.
Why reliability is the whole job
A dog walker who is excellent with animals but cancels twice a month is a liability. You have promised a client a 12:30 walk. At 11:50 the walker texts that they cannot make it. You now either walk the dog yourself or call the client and apologize.
Skill you can teach in a week. Showing up is a habit the person already has or does not.
So screen for it directly. Ask what time they arrived for their last three shifts. Ask how they got to work when their car broke down. Ask what they did the last time they were sick on a day they were scheduled. The answers tell you more than any question about loving animals.
The roles you are actually hiring
Pet sitting is not one job. It is four or five, and they need different people.
Five pet care roles compared
Dog walker
- Main tasks
- Solo walks
- Shift length
- 20-60 min
- Must have
- Vehicle, data
- Reports to
- Supervisor
Drop-in sitter
- Main tasks
- Feed, scoop, photo
- Shift length
- 15-30 min
- Must have
- Follow instructions
- Reports to
- Supervisor
Overnight
- Main tasks
- Sleep in home
- Shift length
- Overnight
- Must have
- Background check
- Reports to
- Owner
Supervisor
- Main tasks
- Cover sitters
- Shift length
- Variable
- Must have
- Most experience
- Reports to
- Owner
- Dog walker.Midday solo visits, 20 to 60 minutes, often four to eight dogs a day across a route. Needs a reliable vehicle or transit plan, a phone with data, and comfort handling dogs on leash in traffic.
- Drop-in pet sitter.Feeds, waters, scoops litter, plays, and sends a photo update. Often 15 to 30 minutes. Needs to follow written instructions exactly and notice when something is off.
- Overnight caregiver.Sleeps in the client's home. Needs a clean background check, comfort being alone in a stranger's house, and a clear rule about guests.
- Field supervisor.Covers a set of sitters, handles a client complaint, and steps in when someone calls in sick. Usually your most experienced walker, paid more.
- Scheduler and admin.Builds the route, handles booking changes, invoices clients. Can be part-time and remote.
Write a one-page scorecard for each role before you post the ad. List the tasks, the equipment, who they report to, and what the first 90 days should look like. If you cannot fill the page, the role is not ready to hire.
Where the rules come from
Three U.S. authorities set the floor for most of this, and each one is worth reading before you write a job ad.
The [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Animal Care and Service Workers describes what animal-care work physically involves:
- handling
- restraint
- sanitation
- recordkeeping
- customer communication
The work also comes with bite, kick and lifting risks. Use it to write honest physical requirements into the posting rather than discovering them after a back injury.
The U.S. Department of Labor: New and Small Businesses sets out wage, overtime, timekeeping and recordkeeping duties. A walker driving between clients is usually working time, and that has to be paid and recorded.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Small Business Resource Center covers nondiscrimination, accommodations and employment records. Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and keep the notes.
In Canada, the same ground is covered by provincial employment standards, PIPEDA for client and staff data, and the CRA for payroll and GST/HST registration thresholds. Confirm the current figures with the CRA and your accountant rather than working from a number in an article.
Screen, test, then decide
Run the same four steps for every hire. Skipping one is how a bad hire gets through.
Four-step hiring screen
- Phone screen15 minutes, confirm availability
- Working interviewpaid, shadow full route
- Reference checktwo former supervisors, reliability first
- Background check and paperworkcontract, consent
- Phone screen, 15 minutes.Confirm availability for the actual shift pattern, the vehicle or transit plan, and whether they can commit for at least six months. Ask what they would do if they woke up sick on a day with five booked walks.
- Working interview, paid.Have them shadow an experienced walker for one full route. Watch how they handle the third dog, not the first. Pay them for the time.
- Reference check, reliability first.Call two former supervisors, not friends. Ask: how many shifts did they miss, how much notice did they give, and would you hire them again. Skill questions come second.
- Background check and paperwork.Run a criminal record check where the role enters client homes. Collect the signed contract, the emergency contact, and the client-data consent.
For the contract side, Ontario operators should read the Consumer Protection Act before writing one, and every operator should confirm with a lawyer licensed in their province or state. Do not copy a contract from another business.
The first 90 days
Pair the new hire with an experienced walker for their first five solo visits. Check in by phone after day one, day seven and day thirty.
First 90 days: track three numbers
- Visits completedtotal visits finished
- Cancellations under 24 hourslate cancellations
- Client complaintscomplaints received
Track three numbers per new hire for the first quarter: visits completed, visits cancelled with less than 24 hours notice, and client complaints. Compare those against the scorecard you wrote. If cancellations are climbing, the hire is the problem, not the training.
Keep a current authorization list. Who may walk dogs solo. Who may give medication a client has pre-measured. Who may enter a home alone. Who may drive the company vehicle. Review it monthly, and remove anyone who has not done the task in 60 days.
For the full hiring and training sequence, including onboarding checklists and pay bands, see the pet sitting hiring and training guide.
Common questions
Should I hire for animal experience or reliability?
Reliability. Animal handling can be taught in a week of shadowing. Turning up on time, every time, is a habit the person brings with them. Screen for it in the phone call and confirm it with references.
How do I check references without breaking privacy rules?
Ask the candidate to name two former supervisors and get their written consent to contact them. Ask only job-related questions. Record what you were told and keep it with the application. The EEOC small business guidance covers recordkeeping.
What does a paid working interview cost?
One route's worth of wages, usually two to four hours. Compare that against the cost of a missed Saturday booking and a lost client. The working interview is the cheapest part of hiring.
Do I need a criminal record check for every sitter?
For anyone entering a client's home alone, yes in most jurisdictions. Confirm what your province or state requires, and check whether the check must be renewed. Name the authority in your contract so clients know what you run.
