Choosing the right people to care for your pets

Your pets need care, attention and exercise – even when you’re travelling out of town. But leaving your beloved furry family members with unknown strangers can be scary.

Treat it like a babysitter search

If someone is going to be looking after your pet, treat it the same as when you’re looking for a babysitter for your children – do your due diligence, check out their qualifications and what courses they’ve taken, what certification they have, and if they have pet first aid training. It’s also a good idea to check out the business name online at the Better Business Bureau or similar sites, to see if there have been complaints and if so, the nature of those complaints.

Ask away

Ask questions about how the facility and its staff deals with behaviour management with the animals in their care, as well as how they introduce animals to each other, the number of animals in their care at any given time, and the animals’ sleeping arrangements. Pet guardians should be able to visit any pet boarding facility or daycare at any time, where they can see for themselves the condition of the facility and where their pet(s) will be staying, and know the routes taken by potential pet walkers.

Questions to ask a pet boarding facility/daycare:

• Can you visit all areas of the pet daycare or boarding facility?
• What are the facility’s methods of training/behaviour management (i.e. rewarding good behaviour with praise or treats)?
• What is the maximum number of animals the daycare or walker or boarding facility will take? What is the ratio of pets to caretakers?
• Is there any certification? What kind of training does staff have?
• What happens if my pet gets injured? Or if my pet injures another pet or human?
• How much time off leash will my pet get? How much exercise?
• With group play, how are pets introduced?
• Is the facility or pet walker willing to provide references?