It’s about time we put together a complete resource list for the amazing dog walkers and pet sitters in this Pet Marketing Unleashed community!
Because, there are SO many freakin’ things to do, enroll in, subscribe to, be a part of it, learn, join, etc. etc. etc. it can be so overwhelming. So, instead of doing individual research to find each one, we’ve laid out a complete list for you below.
And if you have any resources you feel should be added to the list, please let us know! Email us at hello@petmarketingunleashed.com. We’d love to make this list as comprehensive and beneficial for our pet care community as possible.
Here we go! Enjoy!
Podcasts
Pet Sitter Confessional by Collin & Meghan
This podcasting & pet sitter husband and wife duo does a stellar job at showcasing the ins & outs of pet sitting. They interview all sorts of pet biz experts and fellow pet sitter colleagues with the intention of better equipping our pet care community for success. I was a guest on the podcast, too! You can listen to (or read through) my episode here all about website best practices and design for your pet sitting business.
Prosperous Pet Business by Kristin Morrison
Kristin does a brilliant job of focusing on how to help you run your pet sitting business so it doesn’t run YOU (aka, why not take months to travel to Bali while also running a pet business? Duh!!) She shares words of wisdom, tangible tips, & real-time coaching with pet biz owners!
Publicity for Pet Businesses by Rachel Spencer
This podcast is a great one for those pet sitters out there looking to get some eyeballs on their business through the means of publicity! She talks about how to get in the press, find your story that’s worth reading, and how to get press coverage in all sorts of types of publications!
Wear Wag Repeat by Tori Mistick
This woman is seriously one of the coolest out there. Her podcast is filled with other women in the pet industry who are inspired by the joy, fun, & pure love that dogs bring to their lives in an effort to, well, inspire those interested to fulfill their own pet industry dreams!
Memberships and Associations
PSI is the world’s leading educational organization for professional pet sitters and has been around since 1994! They provide so many resources for pet sitters - from education, partnerships, and certifications to providing ways for pet sitters to expand their reach in PSI databases!
NAPPS is a non-profit association created to help pet sitters find resources, learn, and be the best they can be! I had the pleasure of sitting on their 2021 Advisory Board and I must say, these are some of the most dedicated and passionate leaders in the pet industry who truly enjoy making a difference in the lives of pet business owners.
Certifications, Courses, & Education
The CPPS Certification is the only knowledge-assessed certification for professional pet sitters, which essentially means that it requires candidates to demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed for a great pet sitter! By completing their certification, you can display their badge on your website for potential clients to see!
This course allows you to become a certified dog walker and has options for both in-person and online completion. This course is super comprehensive and allows you to learn more about animal behavior, running the business side of things, how to walk dogs, and plan for emergencies. This course also includes a certification seal you can add to your website.
Hiring, Training, and Background Checks
This is such a great resource to help you in training your pet sitting staff members! The software allows you to customize your own training and add in your own! They have both free and paid plans so you can learn the basics without paying a cent! However, their VIP plan allows you more business features like creating logins for employees, time tracking, role-based learning trackers, and an admin dashboard to make sure all of your employees are completing the training successfully!
A really popular option for pet CPR and First-Aid training for yourself and your pet sitting team. You can search their database for available classes near you!
Pro Pet Hero offers online, video-based pet first aid training. Their online certification teaches techniques for common emergencies and how to notice abnormalities in pets. Once completed, you get a certification card you can upload to your website.
A standard and popular background check solution for new pet sitter hires in your business. This is yet another way you can put your clients at ease knowing that any pet sitter coming into their home has been background checked.
Insurance
Kennel Pro offers a variety of comprehensive insurance options for dog-related businesses.
Pet Sitters Associates has been around since 1998 providing insurance options for pet sitters and pet care providers. They also have a nice database, so if pet owners want to search for insured pet sitters, they can find you that way if you’re insured by them!
PCI provides insurance for all types of pet businesses like pet sitters, pooper scoopers, dog walkers, trainers, groomers, and more! They pride themselves on offering a quick turnaround - you can get insurance with them in as little as 10 minutes, and have add-ons like employee dishonesty coverage and daycare coverage.
This is a popular one I see when I design a lot of my clients’ sites. They’ve been offering specifically designed pet sitter insurance since 1992 and provide liability coverage for pets and property in your care, whether it’s in your home, in transit, or your client’s home.
Software
TTP is my favorite go-to pet sitting software that you can easily integrate into your business. You can send report cards, invoice clients, send contracts, message clients, and clients can request bookings and update their info. PLUS, use my link here to get a FREE 14-day trial & 50% OFF your first 3 months!
Scout is a super easy and robust software for pet sitters, including features like fully-automated billing, electronic service agreements, and GPS tracking.
Automatic mileage tracking mobile app for your pet sitting visits! Not only used to accurately track your mileage for clients and pricing your services, but also helps with tax deductions at the end of the year!
Coaches
This woman is like the go-to in the pet industry, especially on the topic of hiring in your pet sitting business and being able to step away for a bit as the owner!
Colleen Sedgwick has an amazing coaching program and mastermind that I hear amazing things about ALL THE TIME! She specifically works with pet sitting business owners and helps you launch, grow, and multiply your biz! If you’re looking for a coaching program or mastermind, I highly recommend checking her out!
Books
Any book by Kristin Morrison!
Kristin has several books specifically for dog walkers and pet sitters - from 30 days to start your business, a hiring handbook, catapulting your business, recovering from burnout, and so much more!
Customer Loyalty Formula by Katy Fletcher
The Pet Care Business Owner's Customer Loyalty Formula: 5 Steps to Launch Your Mobile App in 60 Days or Less and Keep Your Customers Coming Back for More!
The Pet Professional’s Guide to Pet Loss by Wendy Van de Poll
How to Prevent Burnout, Support Clients, and Manage the Business of Grief
Pet Sitting for Profit by Patti Moran
This book came highly recommended inside our Facebook Group, so we thought it would be a great one to share with you, too!
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
While this book isn’t specific to the pet industry or pet sitters, it’s SO dang helpful and probably my favorite business book out there. It talks tangibly about how to set up your finances so that you’re saving for taxes, allocating for expenses, and most importantly, setting aside money for profit so that you have a PROFITABLE business. This book is amazing and a must read for any business owner!
Marketing & Client Gifting
This is such a great resource for pet sitters and was created by a former dog hiker service business owner, Jessica! She offers a membership for pet business owners so you can get amazing customizable Canva graphics for your pet sitting business each month.
Taking it a bit further, Dox Design has a monthly marketing bundle that offers 10 done-for-you marketing assets, access to their complete design vault, monthly video content ideas, monthly caption and caption prompts, and a private FB community! This program is LEGIT!
If you’re looking for Instagram strategy coaching, blog writing, email newsletter creation, or copywriting, Rachel from Tell Your Tails is your gal! We’ve worked with her in the past and she’s amazing!
It’s never easy when our client’s pets pass away. Pet Perennials specializes in offering unique gifts that bring comfort to grieving pet owners, which can be a nice way to support your clients during their difficult time.
For support in creating beautiful, branded social media content and business cards that are easy to customize in Canva, check out our Social media graphic templates bundles & business card templates. The social media bundle includes over 30 templates for Instagram and Facebook + an IG profile optimization guide, and the business cards also include a few different template options that you can customize to perfectly match your business branding.
Branding and Website Design
Pet Marketing Unleashed - for branding, website design, and website templates
Hey, that’s us! ;) PMU offers branding and website design packages for pet service businesses like dog walkers and pet sitters. I’d go as far as to say that about 70%+ of our clients are in pet care! For logo and branding, we have our VIP Days, which allow you to get your branding done in just ONE day, which is a super fast and collaborative process our clients (and we) love! We also offer website designs on Wix. :)
For those looking for a more budget-friendly option, we also offer Wix website templates specifically for dog walkers and pet sitters. And not only do you get the website template but you also get the accompanying course, Unleashed Website Academy, that guides you through customizing your website, optimizing for SEO, writing your copywriting, and strategizing your onboarding process! It’s seriously such a fun and comprehensive program great for new or budget-conscious pet sitters.
Dox Design - for branding design
Again, back to Dox Design! Kaila is one of our closest friends in the pet industry and for good reason. She’s a passionate brand designer specializing in #droolworthy design for small businesses (and she’s worked with plenty of pet sitters, too!). While we also offer branding design for pet businesses, we just love her so much and wanted to promote her, too! And if you get your branding done with Dox, you can always come to us after for your website design.
Contracts, Templates, and other Digital Products
Kristin Morrison is one of the most genuine and experienced pet industry gurus and experts. She combines her expertise with the importance of positive energy to create a life you enjoy. She has products ranging from books, contracts, paperwork, webinars, and more for dog walkers and pet sitters.
Hey, us again! We created our PMU Shop to provide pet business owners with useful templates and courses to get your pet care company ahead of the pack! We offer Wix website templates, email templates, welcome packet templates, a blogging course, and a past recording of our Empowered Petpreneur online summit for pet businesses.
Community (Facebook Groups)
Design Support for Small Businesses - hosted by Dox Design
This group is hosted by one of my best friends in the industry, Kaila, and is all about design tips, getting design feedback, and any other design-related questions you may have about your pet business (or any small business for that matter).
Sitter Confessionals - hosted by Pet Sitter Confessionals
This group is a must for pet sitters - The hosts, Collin and Meghan are all about helping you connect with other pet sitters, share stories, get advice, and more!
Pet Boss Nation - Pet Industry Professionals - hosted by Pet Boss Nation
Candace is a force to be reckoned with in the pet industry. She’s built SO many pet businesses and has so much experience. If you’re looking to grow your pet business, look no further than this Facebook Group, where you can gain insights from peers, learn from pet industry experts, and of course, grow your own pet sitting business.
Wear Wag Repeat Labs - hosted by Tori Mistick from Wear Wag Repeat
I LOVE Tori. She’s such an inspiration and a burst of happiness and positivity in the pet industry. The knowledge in her brain is mindblowing, so joining this Facebook Group is a must! It’s an active community full of AMAZING dog moms and pet business owners looking to grow their pet-obsessed businesses!
P.S. Tori was also a guest writer for a Pet Marketing Unleashed blog post all on the topic of 3 ways to use Pinterest to market for your pet business. You can read it right here.
Publicity Tips for Pet Businesses - hosted by Rachel Spencer
If you’re looking to get your pet business on the map via media coverage or publicity, this is the group for you! She hosts wonderful challenges and posts tangible tips for pet businesses looking to be featured in the media.
Unleashed Petpreneurs - hosted by me, Mikaela, from Pet Marketing Unleashed
Unleashed Petpreneurs is a FREE Facebook group for petpreneurs (pet biz entrepreneurs), which most definitely includes dog walkers and pet sitters! This group is here to foster a safe & supportive community full of fellow petpreneurs - to get advice, feedback, & grow your online spaces together from a place of ease.
While there is a focus on website design and marketing, this is a safe place to ask any questions regarding growing your business or seeking advice for speed bumps along the way. All in all, the goal here is to grow your business from a place of ease so you can have more control over your schedule and day-to-day life.
Well, there you have it! I hope this list helps point you in the right direction as you begin, grow, or optimize your pet sitting business. Be sure to bookmark this page as we’ll always be growing this list to include more and more resources for pet care companies like yours!
