Customer Reviews

The Dog Sitter's Handbook: A Personalized Guide for Your Pet's Caregiver

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was extremely disappointed in this book. I am a professional pet sitter and I was looking for a handbook for a dog-sitter. Given its title, I believed I had found it. Not! This was a complete waste of my money. There is absolutely nothing useful in this book that even a beginning pet-sitter wouldn't already know.

This is a great book to hand to the Dog Sitter when you leave on a trip or vacation. I like the whole idea of this book and it is something I will use over and over. The author's knowledge of dogs is extremely accurate and her lively text is informative and helpful to the Dog Sitter AND dog owner! I especially appreciate the pages devotged to explaining your dog's peculiarities and just what the sitter needs to do when you are away. Also great tips on how/why dogs behave the way they do and good info on medical emergency care. All in all...a SUPER book to get for yourself and all your dog loving friends. You owe it to your dog!

I read some of the other's reviews of this book. And it apparently was not what they were looking for. I can't understand why that is. What could be more important than a book that details your customer's fears regarding your services? Its a treasure trove of ideas for shaping your business and laser targeting your USP.

If your pet sitter isn't asking about your pets needs and behaviors before agreeing to care for your pet, you're in trouble. As a pet sitter, having a client hand me their Dog Sitter's Handbook would be useless. Not only do I not have the time to read it, but I would already have asked all of these questions of the owner directly. The only use I can see to this book is if you are hiring a "free" pet sitter such as a neighbor or friend. Even so, it would be a lot easier for them if you wrote everything concisely on a single sheet of paper. And don't forget emergency phone numbers and directions to your vets office.

My only complaint with this little book (and the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) is that it is too small for the purpose. The information provided is excellent and would help a Dog Sitter tremendously, especially the fill-in-the-blank pages that really personalize this book. This great book deserves to be much larger in format instead of a super small 'gifty' size...but it's still no reason not to purchase this book and use it over and over again! I have dog-sat in the past and wished I had a little something to go on. This is just the ticket! I do recommend it highly...just don't expect a full size 'handbook' as the title indicates.

I think this book included a lot of information the sitter should know that I had not yet thought of. I think it is good for someone who is pet sitting the way they would baby sit, not as a pet sitting service, but sitting occasionally, which is how many people do sit. There are many books out there for "professional" pet sitters who have a pet sitting business, but nothing else for those who occasionally sit. I feel this book caters to those people where none others do. And it's a helpful little book for anyone to read who is watching your pet. I would recommend it if you are having someone come to watch your pet, or for someone who is going to watch someone's pet and can offer it as a gift to the owner. Handy and helpful.

This small book was written to comfort owners. Thinking about having a sitter come into your house to care for your pets is a stressful thought - what if they forget something? What if they break/steal something? What if they forget to come? But basically if your pet sitter isn't asking for all this information in this book on his/her own without the book then you are in grave trouble.

Professional sitters cost more than the "kid down the street" because they DON'T forget to come, they DON'T steal, and they DO know what questions to ask so that nothing is forgotten (and if there is an confusion, they know just who to contact to fix it with no delay). They also don't get bored around the 2nd or 3rd day and decide not to show up anymore (and lie about it).

Your sitter is not going to read this book if you leave it for them. Unless it is a professional, and then they will just read it to laugh at how usless it is. Do you really want your sitter spending his time reading instead of playing with your pets? If you want, buy this book so you know what the pet sitter will ask before they arrive (and to weed out any fly-by-night bad ones). Then hire a true professional. Plan to spend 60-90 minutes with the pet sitter answering his/her questions at the Meet and Greet. And if you are still not feeling near "worry-free", turn down that sitter and choose another.