We’ve all been on first dates where it feels like we are pulling teeth to get any information or personality out of someone. By the end of it, you’ve become an apprentice detective from the amount of questions you’ve hurled at your date (that are rarely reciprocated) and vow to never see Dave/Steve/Jake/et al again.
Just like on a first date, your meet and greet with your potential new professional pet sitter is your opportunity to get to know and hopefully establish a relationship, but with who will be a trusted advisor in your pets’ care. Unlike a typical first date, though, your potential pet sitter should be a better communicator than Dave/Steve/Jake/et al, and should be the one interested in YOU and YOUR pets. And, hopefully, you get a good sense if that pet sitter is taking their job seriously and really listening to what you need.
So, what exactly does a professional pet sitting meet and greet look like?
First Initial Greeting
Now, contrary to most first dates (or not, you do you boo!), the meet and greet is designed to take place at your home, with you and your pets, and whoever else has access to the home. This is to ensure we meet whoever we may come into contact with or discuss pet care, and to make sure we are getting to know our work environment…your home!
Your pet sitter should arrive promptly and introduce themselves right away, usually to your pets first! Don’t be alarmed if it seems like they come inside quickly, they may be trying to avoid any pets escaping. Some pet sitters take the care to remove their shoes or ask if you are a shoeless household; it’s important to us to maintain the routine you typically have in your home care.
Depending on your pet’s personality, we may spend the first few minutes just loving on them, letting them sniff us, or following any cues you give to help your pet get to know us. Your professional pet sitter should be proficient in pet body language so they can appropriately say hello in the least intimidating way possible.
Tip: this is a great time to explain to the pet sitter how your pet usually acts when you come into the home. Most pets act differently the first few times we service your home, so having a baseline is a great way for us to gauge your pet’s comfortability as we go along.
Question Time
Whether you jump into explanations on your pet’s care or we start our questions, your pet sitter should essentially be following you around your home while you’re explaining everything from feeding, to medications, and even what that strange noise is every Saturday and whether or not to worry about it. Our employees have a packet of questions they may ask and write down on, but more seasoned sitters may be more able to inherently know what to ask and be able to remember instructions.
While some of the questions we ask may seem irrelevant to pet care (like ‘what other services are scheduled to be performed on your home?’), they all have a purpose and a history of relevancy throughout our years of professional pet sitting (like making sure gates are closed after landscapers come by so dogs don’t escape out a gate – and also maybe the fact that we’ve greeted unsuspecting landscapers in our pajamas taking the dogs out for their morning potty, oops sorry guys).
Tip: be as thorough as possible during this question time! Again, even if you don’t think it’s relevant, it can help us when we are alone with your pet and something comes up.
Like I mentioned before, use this opportunity to show your pet sitter around the home, showing them everything. Is your pet’s food stored in your pantry? Open it up and show them exactly where it’s located and what the measuring tool looks like. Does your pet have a very specific way they take medications easiest? Try to show the sitter exactly what that looks like. You can absolutely use this time to ask the sitter to try anything out with your pet to make sure they understand!
Wrap-Up of the Pet Sitting Meet and Greet and Entry Testing
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your professional pet sitter probably has a very busy schedule with their other clients that they have strategically planned in their day. As much as you end up liking them, please be mindful of their time. They should have let you know how long they have you scheduled for this meet and greet, but if they didn’t, 30 minutes is generally more than enough time to go over things properly and get to know your sitter. If you have a large animal crew or more detailed instructions to go over that you think may take some more time, let them know ahead of time, and see if they have a cost associated with extra meet and greet time. Do not use the limited time as an excuse to forgo any instruction, as we can only do as well as our clients prep us. We are professionals, so value our time accordingly.
Once we have gone over our list of questions, we will ask if you have any further questions or need clarification on anything. Don't feel pressured! If you think of anything to add at a later time, you can always reach out and let your pet sitter know.
Tip: if you’re wanting to make sure all your bases are covered before beginning with a professional pet sitter, explore other ways to prepare here!
Before your pet sitter leaves, they will ask to test the mode of entry. Whether this is via key, electronic key pad, or lockbox then key, they should always make sure everything is in working order, they understand the instructions, and if there’s any trick to opening the door. In our business, we do not allow garage doors as the sole means of entry because of the risk of power going out, and we prefer lockboxes or electronic keypads (making sure they are fully charged!) so we don’t have to worry about carrying keys around.
After they’ve done that, they will head out, bidding you and your animal family farewell, and you will close the door, sighing against it, and think ‘That was the best first date ever.’
Schedule a meet and greet with your neighborly Phoenix professional pet sitter today, and best of luck on your first date ;) !
-your neighborhood professional pet sitter, Alexis
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