Housesitting/Petsitting

[PawPrint53]

I'm curious if anyone has ever had a house sitting gig after signing up with one of those online sites? Is so, how did it go? Pros and cons? I thought that might be a fun way to explore different areas during retirement without having to spend a lot of money on a place to stay.

[andystkilda]

Yes I highly recommend doing dog daycare/boarding and dog-walking in your immediate vicinity - very low-key 'work' and if you love dogs it is almost not considered work at all. We've done it a couple time and will definitely continue.

Just be careful which dog bookings you accept - if you're not comfortable with large and potentially aggressive breeds don't take those bookings.

[JDM]

My boyfriend and I spent all of 2014 petsitting for people all around the country! We had amazing experiences, met tons of people, and got to hangout with some really great animals. Obviously some places/ people are better than others, but overall it was awesome. We are planning on heading out again this fall. And many of the homeowners have asked us to come back again.

[AlwaysBeenASaver]

My boyfriend and I spent all of 2014 petsitting for people all around the country! We had amazing experiences, met tons of people, and got to hangout with some really great animals. Obviously some places/ people are better than others, but overall it was awesome. We are planning on heading out again this fall. And many of the homeowners have asked us to come back again.

What site would you recommend for getting started in this? I'd like to look into pet sitting in my local area (Bay Area of California.)

[JDM]

There are a bunch, but my favorite is housecarers.com and for international, trustedhousesitters.com. There are many others that you could also check: mindmyhouse.com, sittercity.com, luxuryhousesitting.com. They all have an annual fee, so I would just start with one or two. Goodluck! Be sure to put pictures and references (if you don't have pet sitting experience, than I would put down people who can attest to your character).

[PawPrint53]

Thanks for the information, JDM.

[AlwaysBeenASaver]

Yes, thanks for the info!

[JDM]

You're welcome! Feel free to message me for any questions. :)

[tiger002]

I'd never heard of people who go across the country to housesit, or doing it as a job, but I'd be happy to take care of dogs, even without pay. Maybe even while I'm working to make a little bit of extra money depending on how it worked out.

[SenoritaStache]

This just blew my mind! I guess I've never really tought about pet sitting!! Thanks for this post!!!