Pet sitting and dog walking pays for Aussie animal lovers

Retirees and other animal lovers can boost their income by helping to meet surging demand for pet sitters and dog walkers.

Don’t Fret Pet’s director, Jenny Brearley, says pet sitters should meet owners first.

Pets that were pampered during the pandemic are fretting as their owners return to work and travel, creating an opportunity for animal lovers looking to make some extra money.

Demand is booming for services such as pet sitting and dog walking, driven by a 13 per cent surge in pet ownership in the past two years to more than 30 million animals.

Dog boarding and minding service Don’t Fret Pet’s director, Jenny Brearley, says she has seen a significant rise in the number of dogs suffering separation anxiety after being used to 24-7 company during lockdowns.

“We are seeing an enormous rise in people going away and needing care for their dogs. – we are turning people away as we don’t have enough dog minders available,” she says.

Pet sitters shouldn’t just do it for the money. Love is a prerequisite.

“To ensure that our dog minders are with us for the proper purpose, we pay them a small daily allowance,” Brearley says.

Don’t Fret Pet director Jenny Brearley says her pet sitters do it for love rather than money.

“While many dog sitters out there charge hefty fees and mind multiple dogs at a time, people who mind dogs for us do it for the love of it and only take in one dog at a time or two from the same family.”

Mad Paws CEO Justus Hammer says more people are becoming pet sitters and dog walkers because of increased flexibility in their own work life.

“During the pandemic we saw pet ownership grow from 61 per cent to 69 per cent of all Australian households now having a pet,” he says.

“Getting an animal-loving pet sitter to look after your dog for the day or take it for a walk while you’re in the office is a great way to ease the stress on both the dog and its owner.

“Our platform allows users to set their prices so the income opportunity is endless and we have plenty of sitters on our site that are making up to $3500 per month doing something they love doing.”

Hammer says pet sitters should conduct meet and greets with new bookings so the animal, owner and sitter are all comfortable.

He says good pet sitters keep clients updated with photos of the pets during their stay.

Brearley says owners like to know their pet is in good hands.

“Remember that the security of the pet is the most crucial aspect of care,” she says.

“Providing good service to the pets’ owners is very important so that they want to have their pets minded again by you. “

Originally published as Pet sitting and dog walking pays for Aussie animal lovers