• Pet owners provide all equipment necessary for their pet’s care. Depending on needs, they will provide food in appropriate quantity, food bowl, litter and litter box, leash and collar, carrying case, etc.
• Pet owners provide their pet’s immunization record booklet, pet passport, a veterinary phone number, and an emergency phone number to contact in case of emergency while their pet is taken care of.
• Pet owners reimburse any necessary and unexpected additional cost, caused while their pet is taken care of by another site member. For instance, emergency veterinary treatments, food supplement, etc. Discuss this beforehand, in order to agree on what will be considered necessary costs and what ill not be.
• Members share all important information to prepare contact between their pets, in particular pets’ immunization, sterilization, etc.
• Make sure to communicate all necessary information about possible special needs or hosting restrictions.
If your pet has a special behavior, for instance related to hygiene or noise, be honest and help the other member in preventing any possible inconvenience while taking care of your pet.
• If a pet is not familiar with young children, we recommend testing its behavior and reactions, beforehand.
• A member who takes care of another member’s dog, guarantees to always keep it on leash during outdoor walks. We recommend to give a hosted dog access only to a fenced garden, and under supervision, to prevent any possible escape.
• A hosted cat should not be given outdoor access. Make sure all doors and windows are secured, in order to prevent the cat from leaving the house and possibly getting lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood, or to disappear while trying to get back home.
• Before any service exchange, the contract provided on the site must be completed, adapted, and electronically validated by both parties. It will allow you to agree clearly on everyone’s commitments and responsibilities, and to keep each profile's indicators updated.
• MyPetSitting is a platform offering its members the opportunity to organize service exchanges directly between pet owners. The site does not hold responsibility for any complication or difficulty faced during arranged service exchanges. Please read carefully our Terms and Privacy Policy before using the site.
• MyPetSitting network is guaranteed by a double security. The home address provided is checked by a postal mail, the code received must be entered to validate all members profile on the site. Fees credit card payment also guarantees all members identification.
• Help us improve the site quality and our exchange offers reliability. Please report any abuse or share with us your suggestions and personal exchange experiences.
• Take part in our photo contest and send us your best exchange experience souvenirs. Selected photo will win a free annual membership to MyPetSitting, and their photo will be published on the site’s photo album.
• A new caretaker, a new home, all change of environment generates normal stress for pets. Owner or host, your trust and staying calm are the greatest support to help them in this new situation.
Even when they are used to living alone and had little contact with other animals, you will be surprised by their ability to adjust, if they are accepted as they are in welcoming surroundings.
• Before you leave your pet with another member, exchange all relevant information, its habits, meals, walks, etc. It sometimes nibbles your fingers harmlessly? Let its temporary caretaker know about it, so he can correctly interpret its behavior. It frequently tries to run away? Talk about it so he will be extra careful about that.
• Owner or host, risk zero does not exist, an accident can happen anytime, including at your place. Take all appropriate precautions to prevent it from happening.
• We recommend subscribing a liability insurance coverage for any possible injury or damage that your pet may be cause. Feel free to ask this as a condition to take care of another member’s pet.
• To answer to your requests, you are offered the possibility to arrange for another member to come and feed your pet in its home, at your own place, when you’re away.
We draw your attention to risks and responsibilities linked to consigning your home key to another site member.
To avoid such risks, MyPetSitting recommends turning to this option only when your pet can be fed directly from outside your house, with free access through a pet door for example.
In any other circumstance, we recommend you arrange for your pet to be hosted in another member’s home, during your absence.
• When you confide your pet to another person, especially the first times, make sure to stay about 30 minutes before leaving. Your presence will be comforting in this new environment, and your confidence will help it understand it is safe.
When you come back to bring it home, do the same, stay a while to ease the transition and reduce the stress caused by those changes.
• When placing your pet in someone else’s home, make sure to leave a personal object, its basket or its favorite cushion, a blanket, a toy, etc. It will ease its adjustment to a foreign environment and will help it to feel safe there.
• In a new home, the first days, it is common for a pet to hide and eat little. It will take some time to adjust, leave fresh water nearby, offer some food, and maybe close the door of the room, just the time it quietly eats something. If it is a cat, make sure to leave a litter box nearby. With time, it will gain confidence, come out and relax gradually.
• Hormone based sprays and diffusers are very effective to reduce pet stress during travel or facing changes in its daily environment. They are particularly helpful when hosting temporarily a pet in a new home. Ask your veterinarian for more information.
• Pets also have their own personality, some are more sociable, territorial, shy, dominant, etc. Accept their nature and help them relax by cuddling them. After the first 24 or 48 hours, take a toy and play with all animals together, playing is a great way to relax the atmosphere.
• At first, it is natural for some animals to want to keep their distance from one another. The arrival of a new pet in one’s home might also be uneasy for the pet living there. Ease tensions if necessary and in a comforting way, also place limits if a pet becomes too aggressive toward another.
• Every day, take a moment for cuddling and playing with them. Trust them.
• Whenever possible, preferably arrange service exchanges with a few designated members. Your pets will get to know each other and will become familiar with those persons, their family and their environment. They will recognize this temporary situation, it will be easier to care for them, and a more pleasant experience for all.
