(PRESS RELEASE) 2019 marks a milestone year for the professional pet-sitting industry, as Pet Sitters International prepares to celebrate the 25th annual Professional Pet Sitters Week, March 3-9.
PSI is the world’s largest educational association for professional pet sitters and introduced Professional Pet Sitters Week in 1995.
“This week provides an opportunity to celebrate the value of professional pet sitters who work year round to offer the highest quality pet care and to also highlight what a rewarding —and profitable — career option pet sitting can be,” said Patti J. Moran, PSI’s founder and president.
During this year’s celebration, PSI will host its first online conference. Pet Sitter World ONLINE, sponsored by Business Insurers of the Carolinas and Petsitter 365, is open to professional pet sitters and dog walkers around the globe and includes sessions that cover best dog-walking practices, Fear Free strategies for interacting with pets, preventing lost pets, handling pet loss and more.
“While pet lovers may find it ‘easy’ to enter this industry by posting an online profile on an app or website to offer their services, ongoing education of best business practices and the latest in pet care, health and behavior information is vital. Simply loving pets isn’t enough,” said Moran.
During the weeklong celebration, PSI will also be introducing another educational opportunity for professional pet sitters and dog walkers—Live from PSI (#LivefromPSI). Live from PSI will be a weekly Facebook Live video program hosted by PSI on its Facebook page to share business tips, pet-care information and industry news.
PSI also uses Professional Pet Sitters Week as a time to stress to pet owners the importance of using only professional pet sitters, and Moran feels this message is more important than ever before.
“Using a professional provides pet owners with a peace of mind that other pet-care options cannot,” Moran said. “Pet owners must understand that just because they’ve seen pet sitters in an online directory — or even on a nationally-publicized site — doesn’t ensure they are legitimate, qualified pet-sitting businesses.”
“Anyone can post a profile advertising pet-sitting services, so pet owners should educate themselves on the credentials to look for and questions to ask when selecting a pet-care provider,” she added.
Pet owners can download a free pet-sitter interview checklist from the PSI website, which lists seven important questions pet owners should ask any potential pet sitter or dog walker. The site also offers a free ZIP/postal code search for U.S. and Canadian pet sitters, as well as an international pet sitter search, at http://www.petsit.com/locate.
PSI represents nearly 6,000 member businesses in the U.S., Canada and more than 15 other countries. The association encourages professional pet sitters to celebrate Professional Pet Sitters Week with activities such as pet-sitter networking dinners, special offers for clients, donations to local pet organizations and local media promotions. PSI will be offering free resources and giveaways throughout the week.
To learn more about PPSW or pet sitting as a career, or to locate a professional pet sitter in your area, visit http://www.petsit.com.