Tips for dog sitters: Communication with the dog’s family

Many times, Gudog dog minders ask us for tips on managing their profiles better, getting more bookings, and providing excellent service. While we are confident (and vouch for it) that Gudog has the best dog sitters, we’d like to offer you some advice. Take note!

Communication is a fundamental tool in any relationship, and between dog minders and dog families, it’s no exception. Good communication is the basis for a smooth reservation process and, of course, a satisfactory and pleasant stay for all three parties: the dog, its family, and the minder.

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1. The best dog minders have an enviable profile

As a dog minder, to be a good host and build trust with families, it’s essential to provide as much information as possible on your minder profile, including:

• Your experience in the field of dog minding, whether caring for your cousin’s dog or your own.
• Where the dogs you host will be located. Whether it’s an apartment, house, what safety measures are in place, such as fences for properties with gardens.
• Whether the dogs will be living with other animals. If you have male or female dogs, cats, or other animals.
• Your experience with dogs. If you have additional knowledge (veterinary, training, certifications, if you have volunteered at a shelter).
• Don’t forget to include photos! As many pictures as you can. To give dog owners an idea of who is on the other side of that well-crafted profile, it’s crucial to have a profile picture where you can be seen, and if it’s with a dog, even better! Use your album to upload photos with other dogs you’ve cared for, share your previous experiences, show areas of the house where your guests will stay, and the green areas where the four-legged guests can have fun.
• In summary, allow the dog’s family to, at a glance at your profile, have enough information to determine if you are the right fit.

2. Anticipate, the key to success

In many cases, problems that may occur before or during the stay of the canine guest could be solved with a good knowledge of the dog in question on the part of the dog sitters. Their character, their routines, every detail is important! For this reason, and because ‘prevention is better than cure‘, we believe it is necessary to ask any questions you may have about the dog. You should do this BEFORE even confirming your availability.

We leave you, just to guide you, some questions that you can ask when you receive a reservation request:

• First of all, check the dog’s file. If your family has completed it, here you will find information about his character, breed, age, whether he is sociable with dogs, cats and children, etc.
• If any of these details are missing, don’t hesitate! The best dog sitters are curious. Ask all the basic information about your next guest.
• You can also ask about routines. What time does he eat his meals or go for walks. This will make the dog less likely to notice the change of home during the stay.
• Ask about the dog’s quirks or curiosities. Some dogs are very easy-going in this respect, but others have their quirks and it is a good idea to find out about them. Dogs that only sleep on the sofa, that bark when they get home, that pull on the lead, etc.
• Don’t forget to ask if they take any medication, have all their vaccinations or are undergoing any treatment.

3. For those who have a dog

If you are lucky enough to share your day-to-day life with a furry companion, this point is of interest to you. In this case, you should be sure that your dog (or cat) will get on well with the guest, to ensure that the stay is comfortable for everyone.

We assume that your companion is sociable and not at all territorial and is looking forward to meeting the new guest – great! But, keep the following in mind:

• Always let the dog’s family know. In your profile you should already have your dog’s profile created and you will be listed as a dog sitter with a dog of your own, but it doesn’t hurt to remember this.
• Talk about the dog’s relationship with other dogs. If he/she has lived with other dogs/cats before, how it went, etc. Bear in mind that some dogs have a certain type of aversion to other dogs (puppies, certain breeds, coat colours, etc.). Talk about all this to make sure that your dogs are a good match ;).
• If possible, have a pre-booking meeting. This would be the ideal scenario because it would guarantee a successful stay. To do this, remember that you must have previously confirmed the booking on Gudog. You can then arrange a meeting prior to the stay. If something doesn’t work out or doesn’t go as expected, just let us know so that we can cancel the booking (and nothing has happened here). As we said, prevention is better than cure.

4. During your stay, maintain good communication

Whether things are going great or something goes wrong, the dog’s family should be kept in the loop:

• Send photos and videos to your family regularly, but not constantly. You can send 2-3 photos a day, or a good morning photo and another during an outing to the park, for example.
• Add comments to your photos. “Here’s Blacky enjoying the sun on the terrace. Today he had a great time playing with Max. Now we are going to rest and in the afternoon we will go for a nice walk”.
• Be on standby in case you are contacted by the family. Try not to take too long to respond, this always brings peace of mind to the family.
• If something is not going well, you think the dog is not adjusting as it should or something is going wrong, you should let the family know. They know your dog best. They will be able to give you advice on how to deal with the situation and remedy it so that you can all continue to enjoy yourselves together.

5. After the stay, your review!

We know how important a good review on your profile is for you. That’s why at Gudog, whenever a booking ends, we tell the family that it’s time to leave a review on your profile. We always do it and we always tell them in detail how to do it.

But, in case the family has forgotten to leave a review on your profile, don’t hesitate to ask them for it! It was probably due to an oversight or lack of time. You can tell them how important it is for you and your positioning on Gudog. We are sure that if they are happy with the experience, they will be eager to shout it from the rooftops.

These are just a few tips for communicating with your dog’s family, but I’m sure you have many more. Can you tell us about them?

If you like this kind of post, we have many similar ideas for future entries in our Blog. There is nothing we like more than helping you to be one of the best dog sitters.