Written by Sophie Goddard
From riders to waiting lists, dog-sitting in 2022 is big business, discovers Sophie Goddard.
Before Andrea Dewhurst’s dog-sitter arrives at her Hertfordshire home to look after her dogs – an adorable miniature dachshund and Irish terrier duo – Andrea is checking the fridge for food. But it’s not the dogs’ Pedigree Chum she’s worried about – it’s the dog-sitter’s very specific ‘rider’.
“My sitter’s contract includes a list of items we must have in before she arrives,” Andrea explains. “For example, a certain type of milk (whole, ideally in a glass bottle) and the bread she prefers (Hovis, but will accept any brown seeded). I’m also asked to leave out a block of butter (not spreadable or margarine) and to avoid using certain smells before she visits, which include paint, nail varnish and bleach. But I absolutely love her and she’s great with my dogs, so I just go along with it all.”
For anyone shaking their head in disbelief, welcome to pet ownership in 2022 – when demand for dog-sitting services is at an all-time high. More than 3.2 million households in the UK acquired a pet since the start of the 2020 lockdowns, and there are now around 34 million pets in the UK – the highest there has ever been, with dogs (all 13 million of them) ranking as the nation’s most popular. But as our hearts and homes expand for Fido and his friends, so too must our wallets, with consumer spending on pet-related products and services snowballing to an annual value of £9.66 million last year (a 270% increase from 2005). In fact in 2022, over 70% of pet owners now happily admit to spending more on their pets than on themselves.
As many of us return to workplaces post-pandemic and begin holidaying once more in far-flung locations, it’s hardly surprising that dog-sitting services (along with dog-friendly workspaces, cafes and hotels) are experiencing a dramatic boom in demand, with waiting lists rivalling that of schools and nurseries. Dog-sitting website Rover, for example, has enjoyed an enormous 246% rise in demand since the pandemic began, with an 81% increase in dog-sitting between the first quarter of 2021 and 2022. And with such a huge surge in interest, dog-sitters are firmly in the driving seat, knowing all too well the value their precious services now hold.
It’s something Affi Parvizi-Wayne from London learned first-hand. “We have two cockapoo half-sisters, Honey and Pumpkin. Before having Pumpkin, Honey would stay at a local sitter’s house and prior to her being accepted, we were asked to fill in several very detailed forms (including one dog psychology assessment) along with her vaccination and microchip details. She was then asked to stay a night to see if she fitted with the ‘vibe’ of her sitters– thankfully she did.” Pumpkin, on the other hand? Not so lucky. “After her ‘test’ stay, we were firmly told the next morning she was, regrettably, rejected based on her personality. Thankfully we found somebody else who’ll take them both, but I did find the whole thing quite bewildering.”
Even if your pooch passes their potential interview process, high prices can still prove prohibitive. Doggy boarding starts at £28/night on Rover, with drop-in visits averaging £25 (house-sitting at the pet’s home usually costs more). Extra requests can hike the price up further still. Need a sitter at short notice? Good luck, says Becky Stevens from London, who faced this predicament earlier this summer when a logistics mix-up meant their Romanian rescue, Wanda, was unable to join their family holiday as planned.
Hunting for a dog-sitter with just a day’s notice proved near-impossible, she says. “After dozens of panicked calls, messages and emails, an amazing woman finally responded via a friend and agreed to have Wanda at her Chelsea home. To say Wanda enjoyed five-star accommodation is an understatement. She ate salmon, boiled rice and beef with two long walks daily. But my husband hit the roof at the £800 cost. Still, you can’t put a price on your dog’s happiness, and we’re still using her services now.”
For other dog owners, finding a sitter who understands their pet’s quirks is the trickier part. “As a tutor, I travel a lot with work so often rely on dog-sitters,” says Lucy Alexandra Spencer from Bracknell. “Each time I have to explain my dog needs to sleep at the bottom of their bed and will only drink water if they pretend to drink it first,” she laughs. “I once had a sitter message me saying she was desperately worried about him not drinking. I had to politely ask her to pretend to drink his water first, and bingo – problem solved!”
But while dog-sitting in 2022 is no longer the straightforward walk in the park it once was for sitters (literally or figuratively) the prospect of bringing in some extra cash at a time when – let’s face it – we could all do with it,still proves a tempting side hustle for many. Copywriter Claire* began pet-sitting around her day job after cottoning on to the lucrative rates. “I prefer dogs but tend to cat-sit because it’s low effort and I just need to pop in, feed them and change their litter tray.” Her dark secret that she doesn’t mention to owners? She’s deathly allergic. “I mainline antihistamines before going to the houses and always wear masks, surgical gloves and sunglasses indoors. As long as I don’t touch the cats or sit where they sit, I’m usually OK. And it’s worth it – over the holidays, when people are away, I end up making a fair chunk of change. During the Christmas holidays alone I made £1,200.”
Likewise, London-based marketing assistant Miranda* admits to taking full advantage of her current WFH set-up. “The agency I work for never went back to the office, which means I work from home alone most days,” she explains. “I joined Rover during the pandemic and most days I have a dog (usually only one at a time) with me while I’m working. I enjoy the company and it forces me to get outside for a good walk each day – and the money is really helpful, especially now with bills being so expensive. I haven’t told my boss as I don’t want them to think I’m distracted during the day, which, to be honest, I am – the dogs are cute but can be really demanding.”
For pet owners, too, there are ways of bypassing the eye-watering fees. Sites like Trusted Housesitters offer would-be sitters a chance to stay at (often seriously high-end) properties while owners are on holiday in exchange for their pet and house-sitting services. Currently, the largest pet-sitting platform in the UK, membership costs between £99 and £200 a year (no money exchanges hands for the stay itself) and they’ve experienced a 25% rise in membership since March 2020. Similarly, BorrowMyDoggy, which connects dog owners with those wanting to walk or dog-sit for free (a ‘premium’ membership including insurance starts at £12.99), has cited a 25% membership growth since the beginning of the pandemic.
Gemma Treharne, from Cornwall, joined Trusted Housesitters in 2018 as a way to enjoy a change of scenery. “I’d treat my house-sits as a mini holiday and fit them around freelance work, enjoying a week or so in a postcode I could never afford. I’ve met some really interesting people, though there’s no avoiding the demanding types,” she says. “One woman in West Sussex told me explicitly not to use her bath after 10pm, not to stream movies or TV, and to feed her dog organic porridge and a boiled egg at exactly 10pm. Other owners were unbelievably relaxed. One couple didn’t bat an eyelid when I told them their spaniel had enraged the farmer next door by running into his field of livestock (the farmer actually threatened to shoot the dog).”
Of course, trusting somebody in your home is never entirely risk-free, as Toby and Holly Hughes from Reading discovered. “Because our miniature dachshund puppy, Perrie, was shy, we arranged a ‘meet and greet’ with a sitter before booking,” says Toby. “It went well, Perrie took to her instantly, so we booked. But within a few minutes of leaving, our Ring doorbell notified us that a second person had arrived. We watched, confused, as an unknown man walked in and headed upstairs for a shower (the security camera in the hallway alerted us). He’d even brought his own towel and shower gel! Concerned, we immediately turned the car around and confronted them (we’d agreed it would just be the one sitter with Perrie), but they weren’t remotely apologetic and didn’t offer any explanation before leaving. As well as missing our night out at the theatre, the experience left us deeply unsettled.”
No matter how pressing the situation feels, finding the right sitter is something pet owners shouldn’t rush, says Claire Stallard, animal behaviourist at national pet charity Blue Cross. “As life gets back to normal and demand and cost for sitters increases, we’d urge people to really do their research to find a good sitter. Ask local dog walking or community groups for recommendations and always meet potential sitters before booking to see how they get on with your dog, checking whether they are insured, DBS-checked and positively reviewed by other pet owners.”
A sitter is often the best choice for new or younger dogs, especially when compared to boarding kennels, which can prove more stressful, suggests John Smith, pet expert and founder of Yappy.com. “Red flags that your dog might not be happy with their sitter include a messy lawn, destroyed plants or multiple holes dug in the ground,” he says. “This, along with stains from an otherwise toilet-trained dog or signs of damage from chewing or biting, suggests anxiety. Agree to regular updates with your sitter upfront and monitor food intake (many dogs separated from owners initially eat or drink less, but a good sitter will clearly communicate this).”
Thankfully, despite the current canine-crazy climate, positive dog-sitting encounters seem to outweigh the negative. For Hannah Jones from Warrington, the opportunity to dog-sit for a local Irish blue Staffordshire bull terrier, Hugo, following the loss of her two beloved family dogs last year, has proved life-changing. “I take Hugo out most weekends, along with overnight stays and holiday care,” says Hannah, who met Hugo’s owner via BorrowMyDoggy at the start of the year. “He honestly brings my family so much joy after losing our dogs and gives us the perfect balance of enjoying the company of a dog without the full-time commitment we can’t provide at the moment.”
For others, dog-sitting provides the perfect romcom-worthy meet cute. “At the end of last year, I began looking after my neighbour’s miniature dachshund, Buddy, when my neighbour had to go into the office,” Serina from London explains. “I grew so fond of the dog that I made him special treats for Christmas, which prompted my neighbour to suggest we meet for a coffee sometime to speak about more than dog arrangements. That one coffee led to another, and we started seeing each other regularly. Long story short, I not only fell in love with the dog but with his owner as well.” Did the romance go the distance? It did – at least the one with Buddy, who Serina still dog-sits weekly. And happily, there wasn’t a rider in sight.
*names have been changed
Images: Getty
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