It takes a special kind of person to become a dog sitter host with Barking Mad
Who are our dog sitters?
It goes without saying that all of our sitters, without exception, are absolutely dotty about dogs. Some of them are active retired people who have had dogs all their lives, but now prefer the freedom and flexibility of dog sitting for other people’s pets. Others are younger, with a family at home who love to have visiting dogs to stay, rather than a full-time pet of their own. Many of our hosts also work from home and love a canine companion. These host families have great fun together when the dogs come to stay. And some of our sitters are families who have a dog of their own who loves canine company!
At Barking Mad, we believe in only recruiting the best dog sitting families who are committed to providing first-class care for our customers’ dogs.
We take the recruitment very seriously and always meet our dog sitters and interview them in depth over a cuppa. We get to know them really well – we have worked with many of our pet sitters for a great number of years and consider them part of the Barking Mad family.
Most importantly, our dog sitters need to be true dog lovers! We are looking for people who are genuinely passionate about working with dogs and have experience looking after them. Our sitters all have secure property and an outside space where they can take the dog. None of our host families have children under the age of five, nor any pets of their own that wouldn’t be appropriate for visiting dogs.
We organise dog holidays as an alternative to kennels and have created local communities of dog lovers, by offering the opportunity to ‘host’ somebody else’s dog whilst they are away, which can be a real antidote to loneliness. Our dog sitter hosts provide a loving home environment for doggy guests, caring for them as if they were their own, whilst following their owners’ instructions. Hosts receive full professional support, with administration, insurance and transport all taken care of.
Having a dog to stay obviously provides a loving canine friendship but just as important is being able to tap into the social benefits of joining a community of like-minded people. The opportunity to get involved in local shows and events such as coffee mornings and dog walks, is a wonderful extension of the need to have a dog back in your life.
There is a real feeling of belonging and of making a valuable contribution amongst the Barking Mad community. Whether you are on your own and would love the opportunity to get out more, or recently retired and needing something to productively fill your free time, we would love to hear from you.
We constantly inspect our dog home boarders
Once a dog sitter joins our team, we don’t just leave it there and hope all goes well. For us it’s an ongoing process. All of our carers are carefully inspected by us each time we deliver or collect a dog to their house.
We’ll tell you all about our hosts
Our entire process is personal to you. We work with you to choose the right dog home boarder for your dog to make sure your dog’s routine is maintained. We run through our host’s profile, our customer reviews and what your dog’s holiday home, garden and destination is like.
Our sitters are dedicated to your dog
At Barking Mad, we do the hard work so our dog sitters don’t have to. We think it’s important that our dog sitters concentrate on looking after your dog.
That means they shouldn’t be exposed to, or distracted by a constant flow of potential customers and dogs coming and going. We take care of all the enquiries, bookings and transport, so our sitters can focus their full attention on your dog.
This means that our hosts are also protected from having to deal with money, insurance and paperwork, so that the enjoyment of looking after visiting dogs remains their number one priority.
Our fantastic dog sitters are the heart of our business and we simply couldn’t do it without them.
