Tips for Choosing a Pet Sitter

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Everything's set for your vacation trip - except the arrangements for the pets staying behind.  Hiring a sitter to come to your home circumvents your pet's travel trauma and interrupted routines that boarding can bring in.  But given someone access to your personal space requires more than trust.  Here are some tips to make choosing a pet sitter worry free:

Start searching early!  Your asking for trouble if you wait until the last minute to find a sitter.  Put the word out early (anywhere from one to two months), and ask friends and co-workers for suggestions.  Interview every candidate thoroughly, and do it at home.  The sitter should want to meet your pet right away and should ask detailed questions about habits, schedules and medical conditions.  You should also ask for references from long-time clients that you can contact.

Watch the sitter interact with your pet!  Nonverbal cues - such as whether a sitter gets down on your animals level and interacts with him without hesitation - will give you a sense of the kind of care you're contracting.  A sitter should be at ease whether your pets are tiny Chihuahuas or huge Great Danes.  And watch how your animal reacts.  If Blackie growls or Fluffy raises her fur, you might want to find another sitter.

Leave Instructions!  Although your spoken directions might seem straightforward, write everything down. You don't want confusion about where you keep the food or extra kitty litter.  Also, write down all the walks or play times you expect, and ask that the sitter take notes detailing what has happened during each visit.  You'll want to know if anything unusual happens.

Make plans for a worst-case scenario!  Even if your sitter does everything right, things can go wrong.  Be sure to leave your contact information, vet's number and any pertinent medical information.  Outline what you want the sitter to do if a trip to the vet is needed and, as hard as it is to think about, decide what you want to happen if your pet needs surgery or to be put down.  The chosen pet sitter must be prepared for and trained to handle any emergency that might arise.

Contributed by The Washington Post, Alexa Hackbarth, March 2004