Top Ten Reasons to Pet Sit

10 of the best reasons to pet sit or host in Guatemala. We will look first from the perspective of pet sitters, and then from that of hosts.

1. It's super affordable. Being a pet sitter is one of the best and most economical ways to travel the world, hands down. There are few if any other ways to make such impressive savings on accommodation than pet sitting, and if you're looking to travel long term, pet sitting makes this very possible. Even if you're not travelling for a very long length of time, one other benefit that pet sitting offers is that the savings you do make on the accommodation can be recycled back into the holiday to spend on even better experiences instead. So pet sitting will either save you money or enable you to dramatically improve your experiences whilst on your trip.
2. You'll meet many wonderful pets. Another incredible benefit of pet sitting is of course all the fantastic pets that you get to meet as part of the experience. You get to be a very major part of these pets lives, even if just for a while, and you can be satisfied that they are having a much more positive time with their owners gone than they would if you were not there to look after them. These pets may also help you explore more of the city and experience life like a local, especially if they need to be taken out for walks and so on.
3. Pet sitting is a revelation for digital nomads. Digital nomads (or 'location independent workers' as they may sometimes be referred to) stand to gain a lot from the growth of the pet sitting movement. If you are part of this growing tribe, pet sitting allows you to travel round the world whilst also having a stable place to work – this is especially significant since digital nomads are always at the mercy of WiFi to some extent. The WiFi used at pet sitters' homes tends is far more likely to be fast and unlimited, which is mainly what location independent workers desire. It is likely to be much faster, cheaper and reliable than coffee shop WiFi for example.
4. You get to see new areas. Pet sitting is unique as it really allows you to explore new areas and really live like a local. With pet sitting, you're far more likely to end up in a true residential area lived in by actual locals than a standard tourist trap, as you would generally find with hotels for example. Therefore, you can explore a site of the city or other location that very few travellers will ever get to see. You be around the same cafes, be able to frequent the same bars and restaurants and so on. Your holiday will likely be far more authentic and also probably more affordable, as non-tourist areas also tend to have much cheaper options available to the locals.
5. We have partnered with the best in the business. At We Can Help With, we have partnered with Trusted Housesitters, who are one of the biggest names in pet sitting. Therefore, you can be sure that you'll be able to search the widest range of available homes, meaning that you have more options and locations when it comes to finding somewhere to stay. Because our partners are large and well established, there are also plenty of historic reviews for hosts. This is important as you want to be able to read reviews of hosts and pick those which you think you would be the most comfortable pet sitting for.
6. Cost savings. Moving on to home and pet owners now, one of the major benefits of pet sitting is that you stand to make huge savings on the cost of housing and looking after your pets whilst you are away. Kennels, catteries and so on are not cheap at all, and keeping your pets there for long will dramatically increase the cost of your holiday. Moreover, if you have an exotic or rare pet, then finding specialist care for them can be even harder and more expensive, or simply impossible. With your pets being looked after by a sitter, you can use that money to extend your holiday or simply take more holidays every year.
7. More natural experience for pets. Another large benefit for home owners, is that having a sitter look after their pets in their home is a far more preferable and comforting experience for the pet. Most pets ultimately crave routine and can get very upset when taken away from their homes or radically taken out of routine. A cattery or kennels for example will likely be very frightening, as the poor creatures need to deal with new handlers, new smells, a new location and of course lots of often noisy and unfamiliar animals around them. With pet sitting, you can even speak to the sitter in advance and ensure that they follow the routine that you would normally do as much as possible too, further smoothing over the process for your pets.
8. Your home is also being looked after. With pet sitting you get more than just your pet looked after, you also get someone watching over your home as an added bonus. Because there is so much opportunity to speak to your sitter before the actual sit starts, you can let them know about anything things to watch out for in your home, and for example if there was a small leak, smell of gas or other problem, the sitter would at the very least be able to alert you, and in most cases could probably fix it themselves. It also makes your home less vulnerable to theft, as having a home that looks lived in, with lights turning on and maybe the television flickering, for example, will deter potential theft.
9. Pet sitters are around more. Somewhat related to the point above, a major benefit of a pet sitter is that they are simply around your home more than if you asked a friend or family member to pop round and look after your pets. This is because you know that they will be cooking the vast majority of their meals at the property, possibly working at the property, and of course resting and sleeping a the property, in much the same way as they would a hotel. Pet sitting appeals to those who want to save on their accommodation, therefore they will likely want to cook at your home too, as this save a very large amount of money vs eating out all day. Therefore, your pet will have far more company and at different points during the day than if you more informally had a friend look after them.
10. Great choice of sitters. We have partnered with the largest name in the pet sitting business, which means that you get a huge choice of sitters. You can probably find sitters all year round, and given that there is so much choice, you have far more options when it comes to verifying that the sitters are reliable and safe. For example, the top or most experienced sitters will have plenty of reviews, and because of this you can choose only the most suitable ones to pet sit at your home. You will also find sitters who are comfortable with a very wide range of animals, which will certainly help if you are looking for a sitter for a more unusual species of pet.