Rover / Wag  vs. Professional Pet Sitting companies

• Who is the pet sitter?

• Is anybody trained the pet sitter?

• What kind of commitment the pet sitter has?

• Does anyone check the pet sitter for quality control?

• Is there a backup if something happens to the pet sitter while I am away?

Professional companies, such as House and Hound Care, live & breathe pets. 

We pour our hearts and souls into our businesses and spend a lot of time hand-picking each member of our team to ensure that we have the best pet care providers on our team.

Our sitters are not just looking to make an extra buck, they truly enjoy and love working with animals and choose to spend their days being surrounded by them. They understand our clients’ needs. 

We have an extensive hiring process that includes an application, followed by a phone screening, and an in-person interview.  We look for sitters who are very experienced with animals, compassionate, and trustworthy. Once selected for employment, we use a company called Truth Finder to perform a background check.

 While companies like Wag and Rover state that they have a thorough vetting process, this is not the case. It is very easy to sign up to pet sit on these sites and you can be up and running right away. There is no one interviewing these sitters to determine their experience levels and no training involved. Many pet owners end up with a sitter who does not have the same level of experience as those who work for a professional pet sitting company.

Once we hire a new pet sitter to bring onto our team, we make sure that our House and Hound Care sitters learn how to properly care for your animals. I have been offering pet sitting and dog walking since 2004. I have seen just about every situation and know what to do and what to look for to ensure your precious family members are safe and cared for in the best way possible. Our training process is in place to make sure that our sitters not only meet but exceed, our customers’ service expectations.

Wag and Rover are essentially tech companies with a lot of capital offering a platform for anyone to sign up to take care of pets. These companies do not offer the same amount of localized, professional training. Practically anyone with a smartphone could create a profile on one of these sites and become a “pet sitter” overnight without any training or education. If you pull a simple google search, you will find many lawsuits and stories related to poor care resulting in lost or injured pets. While there are some high-quality pet care providers on these sites, there are also just as many individuals with little to no experience. Is that a risk you are willing to take with your pet? You want a company that is invested in every individual that they hire, rather than just allowing anyone to sign up to pet sit or dog walk.

Our pet sitters are working for a local pet sitting company, committed to your pets, and not just looking to pick up some extra cash here and there. 

When you sign up for pet sitting services, we complete a consultation with you and your pet sitter. This gives you an opportunity to personally meet your pet sitter, review your pets’ routine, and ensures that you are both comfortable with your pets and each other. Moving forward, we try to maintain as much consistency as possible. Our pet sitters form relationships with the pets that they care for. They get to know their individual quirks, health issues, etc. So, you can rest easy knowing that your pet care provider understands your pets and how to best care for them. Our system allows you to give your pet sitter detailed instructions about your pets’ care that they can pull up right on their phone or add additional notes to a specific request. In addition, our company and our pet sitters are fully insured and bonded. 

Who oversees pet sitters on Rover and who do you talk to if there’s a problem? How could they possibly keep track of the quality of service being provided? What if some of their pet care methods are questionable? If you read the fine print on Rover, they clearly state that they do not take responsibility for the level of service provided. Instead of being able to call a local company and speak with a manager or owner, you would be stuck trying to contact a corporate office to voice your concerns.

Let’s say you have found a fantastic pet sitter on Rover but their car breaks down but you are on vacation and there is no way you can get home to care for your pets. With professional pet sitting companies, you are always covered. You have a consistent reliable pet sitter who knows your pets’ routine inside and out. However, if they have an emergency, we have a whole team of trustworthy qualified pet sitters who can jump in and deliver the same quality service.

Why take a risk by hiring a tech company when you can hire a local, trusted, professional pet sitting service? We hope to work with your furry family member in the near future!