Denise Van Sickel had a bad day at work. She decided it was time to quit her job managing a dental office to pursue her first love, animals. She googled pet careers and discovered the growing industry of pet sitters. She started her own business, Lawrence Pet Friends, thinking pet sitting would make a great part time job.
That was almost two years ago. Today, Lawrence Pet Friends has over 200 clients, three employees and gets five to seven new calls per week. Van Sickel’s day starts early in the morning and she makes her last rounds just before bedtime. She works seven days a week and over all the holidays. Van Sickel also hosts a weekly Saturday morning radio show dedicated to pet care. So much for part time.
“Clients of the four-legged kind always love to see me,” Van Sickel said. “Its so much fun to be around animals all day, but there’s a lot of responsibility involved.”
Unlike boarding facilities and doggie day-cares, pet sitters visit their clients houses to care for their pets while the owners are at work or away on vacation. The sitter also picks up the mail and makes the house look lived in.
This March, Pet Sitters International will celebrate their twelfth annual Professional Pet Sitters Week. John S. Long III, spokesperson for PSI, said the main goal of the week is to raise awareness of the industry. It will take place the first week of March.
“The week was created to recognize the contributions made by professional pet sitters in their community and towards the well being of their clients,” Long said. “PSI will also be encouraging its members to make efforts to raise awareness within their own communities.
PSI offers group rates for pet sitters to get insurance, and gives discounted rates to sitters who pass the PSI Accreditation Program. The company was founded in 1994 by Patti Moran, author of “Pet Sitting for Profit.” By 1995 1,000 pet sitters were registered members. Today PSI has nearly 7,600 members. 26 of those members are in Kansas, four of which are in Lawrence.
Stephanie Shain from the Humane Society of the United States said that some pet owners turn to the Humane Society for guidance when hiring a pet sitter.
“These days people want more out of their pet sitters,” Shain said. “They really want sitters to spend time with their pets, to make them feel comfortable and happy while the owners are away.”
Jennifer Wego-Keith offers such services with All Pets Paradise, a business she runs out of her Lawrence home. She offers in home training to both the pet and the owner in addition to her normal pet sitting duties.
Like Van Sickel, Wego-Keith quit her job in IT to pursue her love of animals. All Pets Paradise has been in business for nearly six months. Wego-Keith said the her biggest challenge is getting her name out.
“Its a long process anytime you start a new business,” Wego-Keith said. “I’m not in it to be rich though, I’m in it to help the animals and their owners.”
Jennifer Lewis, one of Wego-Keith’s new clients, has an eight-month-old springer spaniel named Claire who is training with Wego-Keith. Lewis said she called All Pets Paradise after Claire attemptd to escape. It took the Lewis family nearly an hour to coax her back.
“I can tell a difference in Claire even after just two session,” Lewis said.