What do dog walkers do when they’re sick?

What do dog walkers do when they’re sick?

I launched the dog walking, running and pet sitting business Run That Mutt in 2008. Since then, I’ve helped several hundred other dog lovers start their own dog walking businesses. One question I receive fairly often is: What do dog walkers do when they’re sick?

Obviously, if you have a business partner or employees, you should be able to cover for one another.

You would want to explain this to your clients ahead of time, of course, so they are aware of who could be entering their homes. You should introduce your business partner or backup employee to your clients in advance so they know who the backup person would be if you are ever sick. Then, on the day you are sick, you should also notify the clients to let them know the backup person will be walking the dogs that day.

If you are sick, some of your clients might prefer not to have a backup person walk their dogs. This is a reasonable request. Some dogs just don’t do well with unfamiliar people.

But most dog walkers don’t have employees.

Personally, I prefer to keep my business small. I don’t want a business partner or employees at this time for my business offering dog walking in Del Mar, Calif.

When I am sick, I take a day off. My clients know there is not a backup person. I give them as much notice as possible, and people understand and plan accordingly. Some might stay home with their dogs. Some will ask a neighbor to drop by. Some dogs will go without a walk that day, and they are just fine.

In-home child daycare providers get sick every now and then too. Many of these daycare providers do not have employees, and they have to cancel their daycare services from time to time because they don’t want all the kids to get sick. Life goes on. Parents plan accordingly, often staying home with the child or calling on Grandma to help that day.

Getting sick is part of life. It happens to all of us, no matter what our professions are. No big deal.

What do pet sitters do when they’re sick?

Pet sitting gets tricky because the owners are out of town. If I am sick, I am still responsible for those animals.

Thankfully, I have never been so sick where I had to cancel a pet sitting appointment. I have been sick, but I was still able to care for the pets as usual. If for some reason I were unable to take the dogs for walks or so sick where I could not get to the client’s house, I would contact the client and honestly explain the situation.

There are also a few options for these types of emergencies:

• Use your spouse (or a significant other, family member or friend) as a backup during emergencies. You would only want to do this with the client’s permission, of course. And you want to make sure your pet sitting insurance covers this backup person ahead of time.
• During your meet and greet with the client, ask if anyone else in town has a key to his home. If so, ask for that person’s contact information. Then, in an emergency, you could potentially arrange for that person to stop by and make sure the pets are OK – with the client’s permission, of course.

Overall, it’s always best to be honest with the client, explain the situation and continue to touch base. If you are sick, you may be able to continue checking on the pets as usual, but maybe the visits will be a little shorter (make sure to give a discount). People are generally understanding if you are honest.

For more information, get my ebook on how to start a dog walking/running business.

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