I started pet sitting in the summer of 2014. I had just adopted Luna and was in between jobs when I saw an ad for Rover and thought, Wow… pet sitting? That actually isn’t a bad idea. So I signed up!
I had no idea that one little decision would turn into more than a decade of dogs, clients, businesses, heartbreak, growth and a career I never could have planned for.
Looking back, I can see five lessons that shaped the path from that first pet-sitting booking to what I do today. And honestly, some of those lessons were learned the hard way.
My first lesson: I thought I was working for Rover
When I first saw that Rover ad, I made the same assumption I think a lot of people make as I thought I was signing up to work for Rover, not myself. I was in between jobs, had just adopted Luna, and pet sitting sounded like a pretty great way to make some money while I figured out what I wanted to do with my 20’s so I went their website, created my profile and then downloaded the app and started accepting bookings.
Then one day, a client refused to pay Rover’s service fees and left me cash instead and I still provided the service because the dog needed to be cared for. When Rover found out, they weren’t thrilled about that because they wanted to collect the payment on my behalf so they could keep their 20% commission.
I remember thinking, Okay... I understand paying for a referral. So I offered what I thought was a pretty reasonable solution, let me pay you a referral fee for the client you sent me. They wouldn’t do that. They wanted 20% of the booking revenue and threatened to ban me over caring for the client’s dog because she opted to leave me cash.
It didn’t take long for me to realize something I hadn’t fully understood when I signed up… I wasn’t actually working for Rover. I was working for myself.
Honestly, I would have happily paid Rover a monthly membership fee to use their marketplace while allowing me to run my own business independently. But that wasn’t an option. Instead, they were treating me like I was working for them while simultaneously making it clear that I was responsible for running my own business.
If that client came back and wanted to book with me again, it was because they trusted me, not because they trusted Rover. I had built that relationship, provided the care and earned their respect. Yet Rover expected 20% of what I charged simply because they had made the introduction.
That didn’t feel like a referral fee to me. It felt like they wanted a piece of a business they weren’t actually running.
It also bothered me that they would rather I not care for the dog at all than allow me to provide the service without them receiving their 20%. That was my lightbulb moment. Wait. This is my business. This is my relationship. I’m responsible for the dog. And all they did was make the introduction.
It became the foundation for a philosophy I still carry with me today as I don’t believe in taking a commission from someone else’s business just because I referred them a client. If I refer a pet parent to a pet professional, I want that professional to be able to charge what they’re worth, build their own client relationships and grow their own business.
If they choose to work with me, I want them to pay me for the value I provided — not a percentage of what they are worth. Because I learned very early on that there is a big difference between making a referral and running a business.
Looking back, I’m actually grateful for that lesson as it taught me exactly the kind of businesswoman — and eventually, the kind of canine concierge — I wanted to become.
My second lesson: I found my people
Ironically, getting frustrated with Rover ended up pushing me toward something much better: connecting with others, learning from the industry, and eventually building my own path in pet care.
Instead of trying to figure everything out through a marketplace app, I started networking with other professional pet sitters. That led me to Pet Sitters International, and it became a major turning point for me.
I began learning what it actually meant to operate as a pet care provider—not just someone who happened to love animals and wanted to make some money. I found education, resources and, maybe most importantly, a community of people who understood the responsibility that comes with caring for someone else’s pet. And that community taught me another lesson I didn’t fully appreciate at the time: networking is powerful.
Funny enough, about a year ago, I actually decided to rejoin Rover and give the marketplace another chance. More than a decade had passed since I first signed up, my business had evolved, and I figured, Why not see what happens The result has surprised me — but also kind of didn’t.
To this day, I’ve made more money and gained more clients through networking, referrals, and the relationships I’ve built within my own community than I have through Rover. Turns out, I never needed a mobile app to build my business.
A marketplace can put your profile in front of someone searching for a pet sitter. But networking puts your name in the minds of other professionals, past clients, rescue organizations, community partners, and people who are willing to personally recommend you to someone they know.
There’s a big difference between someone finding your profile in a search and someone saying, “I know exactly who you should call.” I’ll take the latter every time.
Over the years, I have bounced between different scheduling platforms, trying to find software that worked with my business instead of making me feel like my business belonged to the platform. Eventually, I found Scritches.
Today, I’m still providing private home boarding, and sure, Scritches isn’t going to market me to thousands of pet parents the way Rover can through it’s marketplace. But that’s okay! Because what I get instead is something that matters much more to me: support for building and running an actual independent business.
I can operate as a licensed and insured pet care provider. I have my own website and booking portal. My clients can book online when they want the convenience, or they can simply call or text me like they always have.
I’m not chasing the biggest directory listing anymore. I’m building relationships, a reputation and a network with the infrastructure to run my business my way. Turns out, finding my people was a lot more valuable than finding my place on an app.
My third lesson: Community Over Competition
At one point, I started Las Vegas Professional Pet Sitters AKA Pet Pros of Las Vegas. My original idea was to build a mobile app just for Las Vegas. I thought, This is it. I’m going to connect pet parents with pet professionals in Las Vegas but NO service fees! Yet, the more people I met, the more I heard the same thing: “I don’t want another app on my phone.” - Fair enough.
So I started paying attention and instead of forcing the idea I originally had, I let the people I was meeting shape where I went next. I eventually narrowed my own pet-sitting services to something that made much more sense for me: private home boarding for Velcro dogs. Dogs who wanted to be with their people. Dogs who didn’t necessarily thrive in a traditional alone at home or boarding environment. And frankly, a business model that worked for me, too. I didn’t have to spend my days driving all over Las Vegas. I could stay home with my own dogs. And then something else happened… I started fostering!
My fourth lesson: Pet Sitting became Pet Care
The more dogs I cared for, the more my interest in pet care grew. It wasn’t just about feeding a dog, taking them for a walk, or giving them a safe place to sleep anymore. I became increasingly interested in wellness, nutrition, enrichment, advocacy, rescue, education and helping pet parents navigate the overwhelming world of pet care. I started realizing that there was a bigger role I wanted to play. Not necessarily as the person doing everything myself, but as the person who could help people figure out who they needed.
The right groomer. The right trainer. The right boarding option. The right pet professional. The right resources. Someone they could talk to when they didn’t know where to start.
And that’s how I eventually found myself becoming what I now call a canine concierge — I’m a certified animal caregiver educating, supporting and referring pet parents by connecting them with the professionals and resources that can make their lives easier and their dogs’ lives better.
My fifth lesson: a lot of names, but only one mission
Oh how I’ve bounced around between different DBAs… I’ve had ideas that worked and ideas that didn’t. I’ve started things, pivoted, scrapped them and started again. But when I look back at the last decade, I realize something: The name was never the important part.
My business was never really about pet sitting. It was always about improving the lives of pets and the people who love them. Pet sitting was simply where I started. My pugs were there at the beginning. Fostering & Rescue became part of the journey along with Dog Mom advocacy. And now, I’m building something that feels much bigger than the business I originally imagined when I downloaded an app in 2014.
I don’t know exactly what the next ten years will look like, and honestly, I’m okay with that. My business name may change again. The services may evolve. The platforms may come and go. But my passion for pet care — and my commitment to the pets and people at the heart of it—never has.
If the last decade has taught me anything, it’s that I don’t need to have the entire path figured out. I just need to keep following the work that feels meaningful, stay open to where it leads, and keep showing up for animals who started me on this journey in the first place.
P.S. Want to learn more about my private home boarding services? You can check out my Scritches website to learn more, meet my boarding pups, and book online if you’re ready to give your dog a home-away-from-home! 🐾