Retirement to Dog-sitting Business

[tmbf57]

Originally Posted by Reddog53

Good afternoon,

Retiring next year and already thinking that I will not be able to be home with nothing to do for most of the day.

Has anyone retired from full-time employment to start a formal or informal business of dog/house-sitting? If so, did you find it enjoyable? Are you licensed and insured?

I have extensive experience with dogs, cats, rabbits, and horses.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Best,

Reddog53

There is an online service that vetts providers called rover.com, you may want to check them out. That is how we found our wonderful dog sitter. They seem to be very well run as they require payment up front and you must book your provider for the desired dates. So far we have really liked this service.
their site states that: "All new sitters pass a basic background check , All sitters provide a detailed profile and personal information, All sitters are approved by our team of sitter specialists "


Our sitter is wonderful and our pup seems to love her. The site tells you its rules upfront (regarding vaccinations, pet history, ect) and the payments go directly to the sitter through an online app. You might give them a look.

[suziq38]

There are a lot of dog lovers out there. If you are good and knowledgeable with dogs, you will be busy. Check out insurance, though. Get information from Pets Mart or other people as to how much to charge.

[LoriNJ]

This sounds like a fun post-retirement job! I would love to lavish attention on other people's pets. I sure lavish a lot on my own! I'm also experienced at things like giving meds, giving injections, SubQ fluids, etc. Hmm. Maybe I will think my retirement plans....

[bigdogmom13]

Originally Posted by LoriNJ

This sounds like a fun post-retirement job! I would love to lavish attention on other people's pets. I sure lavish a lot on my own! I'm also experienced at things like giving meds, giving injections, SubQ fluids, etc. Hmm. Maybe I will think my retirement plans....

Haha, you and me both. Between dogs getting chemo and cats with sub q fluids, meds for thyroid disease, AND a cat with diabetes needing insulin plus blood samples for glucose monitoring (yes, every day, twice a day) I'm pretty experienced, LOL!! (Three relatively healthy cats at the moment, thankfully.)