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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It from WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Yesterday, around this time we are talking about taking a summer vacation, but not all destinations are pet friendly, so today we're discussing how to give your non-human family member a great staycation. Let's talk pet-sitting basics, the do's and don'ts, feeding schedules, how to cat or puppy-proof your home if the pet in question is coming to you, and how to deal with the humans who are compensating you for your time.

Joining us today is the CEO of Brooklyn Barks, a pet care and pet-sitting company that serves much of Central and South Brooklyn, as well as Williamsburg. Rachel Bowers is our guest and she's worked with all sorts of critters, including but not limited to birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas, and lizards. Hi, Rachel.

Rachel Bowers: Hi, good morning.

Alison Stewart: Listeners, we'd like for you to join this conversation. What tips do you have for pet sitting? Have you taken care of someone's pet while they were away? What kind of animal do you have? Do you have a dog, a cat, a lizard, a fish? If you are a pet parent, what have been some of the helpful instructions you've left for the sitter? What's something unique to your pet's routine that has to happen while you're away? If you have a good pet-sitting story, you can share those too.

Our phone lines are open. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. You can call us up and get on the air that way, talk to us, or you can always text to us at that number as well. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Social media is also available, @AllOfItWNYC for both Twitter and Instagram. Let's start with some basics. What interview question should you ask a prospective pet sitter?

Rachel Bowers: That's actually a really great question. Pet setting is a little bit more complicated than a lot of people think. It is. It's not just snapping on a leash and going out for a walk. It's been glorified and Hollywood eyes, I like to say, to our walkers. It seems like it's very easy, but then when you get into it, it's actually pretty difficult. There's a lot that you need to know. Each dog, first of all, is different. They have their own individual personalities, their needs, their wants.

Then there's also breeds that you need to take into consideration. What kind of medications they're on, what can they handle? Can they do stairs, are they able to be on the street with other dogs? Also, how to put the gear on. It seems crazy, but there's so many different types of gear to walk a dog on that sometimes it's a little bit complicated and even we have to Google things. You really want to know everything about the pet, and even more important is to develop a relationship with the pet before you even go on that first walk.

Alison Stewart: Sounds like you recommend a pre-visit.

Rachel Bowers: Definitely. At least the meet and greet to be on the safe side. You want to really get to know the client. Even if it's your friend and you know the dog, and you've come over a bazillion times, and you've sat and watched TV with your friend and the dog seems to know you, it is a huge difference between your friend or your family member not being there and the dog being alone and you coming into the dog's house and then taking the dog out. It's very, very different and the dog can react differently. You need to prepare for that and set the dog up for success for that.

Alison Stewart: You actually bring me to the question, what are the pros of asking a friend and what are the cons of asking a friend to pet sit?

Rachel Bowers: I definitely do both. As someone who has the company and can easily ask for pet sitters to come over and watch my zoo, it's great, it's also good to have friends come over because they also know your animals. However, friends aren't always reliable. Something comes up, they get sick, and/or they may not know everything about your specific creatures. I have a bird. Not everybody knows birds or they're comfortable with birds, so I need to find someone who is specialized in birds.

With my animals, my dog, she's definitely a work. She's not an easy dog to walk, and she definitely can manipulate someone, and I have to make sure that the person who's taking her out knows her and she knows them and that it's not going to be like a little kid who's like, "Mom lets me get away with this," and, "I can eat cookies at midnight." It's like, "No, no, no. These are the rules. We are following the rules that are set in the house, and everything's going to be fine," and have that relationship so she's not going to be upset and freaked out that a new person's coming in or try to bully that person.

Alison Stewart: Let's take a call. Patricia calling in from Fairfield, Connecticut. Hi, Patricia, thanks for calling All Of It.

Patricia: Hi. I love your show.

Alison Stewart: Oh, thanks.

Patricia: I have a very phobic dog. She is too stressed out to go on walks. She likes her routine, so I have a friend who has gotten to know her and has been dog-sitting for years. She comes and spends the night in my bed so she can snuggle the dog. Then she takes her out in the backyard and just sits and watches her play, and she's gotten to really know all her quirks because she's been coming around for quite a while.

Alison Stewart: Patricia, you lead me into my next set of questions. Thank you very much. To home or not to home. You haved a pet sitter. Yome people ask the pet sitter to come stay actually in their home when they take care of the pet. What are some things the pet owner or the pet family member can do? How can you set up your home so that you can set up your sitter and your your pet for success?

Rachel Bowers: Actually, it's pretty complicated. It seems like it shouldn't be, but there's a lot of things that you want to take into consideration if the sitter is coming to stay with the dog in their own home. In this case, if your dog has anxiety or you're not really sure how they're going to do with other dogs or being outside of the home for the first time, I highly recommend having someone stay over at the house.

That way you're able to keep the dog in a familiar environment, their familiar routine, and you're not shaking things up too much. What you're saying about keeping that consistency in that routine, the same walk schedule, the same feeding schedule, medication schedule, and having that reliable person coming in that they know, can help with the stress level.

There's still going to be stress there, but you really want that person to develop a relationship with the dog and vice versa because their stress level will be elevated and you don't want anything to happen. When they're stressed, unfortunately, dogs can take it out through destroying things, peeing on things, and worst case is through biting. That can happen. We don't want any kind of injuries to anyone.

Alison Stewart: Yes, cats can let them let their displeasure be known as well.

Rachel Bowers: Oh, can they ever [chuckling] in [unintelligible 00:07:25] . Very smelly.

Alison Stewart: Can we talk a little bit about etiquette of the pet sitter? I was listening to a recent episode of the podcast Petty Crimes which is a funny podcast about little things, like how big a crime is it. One of the episodes recently was about a pet sitter and the owner said, "Make yourself at home. Help yourself," and the pet sitter ate some very expensive Kobe steaks or Omaha steaks [chuckles] that were in the refrigerator. What is the pet owner's responsibility about food? How comfortable can you make yourself? What's the best way to communicate?

Rachel Bowers: That should all be communicated ahead of time. Usually it depends on the relationship too. If it's a really good friend and family member and you have that relationship where you're just going over to each other's houses and eating each other's food and swapping things, that's a different relationship than when you have more of a professional relationship of I'm doing something for money or for compensation in some other form. You do need to make sure you're setting those boundaries.

Making yourself at home, what is your definition of that? Can I use your appliances? Can I use your cookware? Some of our clients have special dietary needs, so they're kosher or they can't have peanuts, so we want to ask all of those questions. Not just about the animals, but also about the do's and don'ts in the house so we don't accidentally overstep our boundaries or make something unsafe for the owner as well.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Rachel Bowers of Brooklyn Bark. She's a CEO. We are talking about pet-sitting 101 as people are heading off for summer break. If you're leaving your furry family member at home, what tips do you have for pet sitting? Have you taken care of someone else's pet while they were away? What was your experience like? Maybe you're a pet parent. What have you found to be helpful? Some instructions you've left behind for the sitter.

What's something unique to your particular pet's routine? If you have some good pet-sitting story, we'd love to hear it. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. You can call in and talk to us on the air or you can text to us at that number. Also, social media is available, @AllOfItWNYC. Let's talk to Shari calling from Chelsea. Hi, Shari.

Shari: Hi there, how are you?

Alison Stewart: I am doing great. You're on the air.

Shari: All right, well I had- This was several years ago. -I had some-- Four cats and one of them was a very smart guy and-- Okay, I'll take care of this. Sorry. One of them was very smart, and I had my soon-to-be husband looking after the cats while I was away. He was there, he went the first night and the second night. The job was, basically, they had a dry food feeder, but he was to give them one can a day for them to share and then do whatever other chores, and also to spend some time talking to them and petting them.

This cat named Patches figured out the routine after the second day. The third day, when my husband gave them canned food, Patches sat to one side instead of running to the dish, and as soon as everybody ran to the dish for the canned food, Patches went into the bedroom, I had my husband follow him, hopped up on the bed and rolled over because he would rather have his tummy rubbed than eat the canned food.

Alison Stewart: [laughs] That's an interesting story. The idea that- You touched on this a little bit, Rachel. -the pets know what's up. They know that there's something different here and, perhaps, I can make the situation work for me.

Rachel Bowers: Totally. They have nothing better to do than to figure out the routine that we're doing, so of course they're going to use it to their advantage.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about compensation. There are professionals like yourself, it's your job to take care of pets, you've a website, everything is very clear. How do you negotiate? Let's say you're somebody who is a friend or a friend of a friend or a college student who has volunteered to pick up a little extra money. Tell us some of the guidelines around compensation, how to have the conversation, what the ranges can be.

Rachel Bowers: Sure. In New York, the ranges can vary greatly. Anywhere between, I'd say, about $25 to $35, $45 for a half hour depending on the needs of that animal and what services need to be performed. Also, depends on the area, so Manhattan might be a little bit more expensive than Queens or Brooklyn, but you really do want to make sure that this is something that you can handle and that you're not getting in over your head.

I will say that when I started, I definitely had some of those clients that I thought I could handle, and it kind of threw me into the beginning and into the hot pot of figuring it out as we went and asking for advice. Things are always going to go wrong on your watch. It doesn't go wrong on the client's time. It's going to go wrong when you're watching the dog at midnight on Christmas Eve. That's just Murphy's Law, and it's always going to happen to you, so being more prepared and being able to handle anything is really the purpose of it.

Based off of your experience, how much you know, if you're pet first aid CPR certified, if you have done this before, if you have experience, if you are handling a dog or a cat that has medical needs or has separation anxiety, you may need to charge a little bit more, but you don't want to feel resentment by undercharging because that will definitely impact your care unintentionally.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Unji on line one who has a cautionary tale. Unji, thank you for calling in.

Unji: Hi, thanks for taking my call. We had a dog, he passed away, but he had a bit of anxiety. We left him at a daycare for boarding while my husband and I were away for vacation. He ended up biting the owner pretty bad. They were very gracious. They said he could stay, but I could tell the dog wasn't happy, the owner wasn't happy. Thankfully, we knew someone who could pick him up and take him for the remainder of our trip. It's good to have a plan B that you can count on who can take your pet and take them if something happens with the original sitter.

Alison Stewart: Unji, thank you for sharing that story. Let's talk about extreme situations. If a pet falls ill, what's important to make sure your pet sitter knows and what should a pet sitter do?

Rachel Bowers: First is prevention. All of our sitters are pet first aid CPR certified. They've gone through lots and lots of training, and we're constantly learning. This is not an industry where you are one and done. There is so much information out there, so I would highly recommend that anyone continue to podcasts, YouTube videos, anywhere that you can get, but really be prepared as much as you can and get a whole dossier on the pet profile.

What is their allergies, if they have medications, what is their vet? Get a vet release form so if you do have to go to the vet that you can have that permission to do that. Also, know where the emergency rooms are, the animal emergency rooms are.

Alison Stewart: Also, I think if you have pet insurance, make sure they have that information.

Rachel Bowers: Yes. There is a lot of information to get ahead of time, but the most important is vet information and medical.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Rachel Bowers. She is the CEO of Brooklyn Barks. We are talking about pet sitting 101. This is a great text. Thanks for texting us in whoever wrote this, "I have two words, Fresh water. I have had multiple pet sitters that have left my dog's muddy and murky water that looks like it hasn't been changed in days. Dogs need fresh water every day, preferably filtered. It is important to treat the dog with the same golden rule as humans. Treat them the way you would want to be treated." That seems really basic, but it is one of those things that could get overlooked if you're in a hurry for whatever reason.

Rachel Bowers: Actually, a lot of owners overlook this too. What will actually happen is plaque will build up in a water bowl and you'll get that reddish slime around the bowl, and that's actually plaque from their teeth that's building up. We don't want plaque as much as we don't want it in our own bodies because it can lead to other health issues like heart disease and stuff. Not just fresh water, but wiping that bowl down and, if you can, put it through the dishwasher or really wash it and sanitize it as much as you can, maybe, once a week or every other week.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Victoria calling in from Montclair who is a dog sitter. Hi, Victoria.

Victoria: Hi. Thanks for having me. I've been on your show before. I'm a professional dog sitter and Rachel is just singing my tune in terms of all the information that you want to gather up front. I have clients fill out a form before I even get on the phone with them. I email it to them and then ask them, because they want to talk. Everyone wants to talk about their dog like-- They love their dogs, but I need to get the nuts and bolts up front.

Then we have a phone interview, and I do two visits to the house before I move in. I live in people's homes. I have them show me around because I don't want to open a drawer that doesn't pertain to my basic needs like getting a fork or getting a treat or a poop bag for the dog. I don't want to touch anything in people's homes that isn't pertinent to the job, and I really stress that with my clients.

Alison Stewart: Thank you for calling in. Sounds very like you are buttoned up. Rachel, do you want [crosstalk]

Rachel Bowers: Oh, my gosh, do I highly, highly agree with it. We do the same thing. That form, that information, the more information the better and the more information that people, the owners can give, the better. I'm going to jump off of that because this is so critical for us, but we've had to learn when people cherry-coat things of, "Oh, my dog's energetic," or, "He may not be so friendly." Well, what does that mean? Does your dog have a bite history? I don't judge you on that.

There's dogs that have all kinds of baggage that come from shelters and who knows what has happened, but I need to know how to protect your dog on the street and also our team and other people. When you're in the city, you're so close to other people, you cannot avoid them so if there is a trigger that we need to know about, we want to make sure that everybody is safe. Being honest as if we're the doctors. There's no judgment here. We need to know this information to be safe.

Alison Stewart: Samantha from Westchester has a story to share which illuminates some of the issues that you were just talking about. Samantha, go for it.

Samantha: Hi. I was dog-sitting for a family friend and they said that the dog can go to the backyard just fine to go do the bathroom. In the morning, I go let the dog out and rather than going towards the backyard, he went towards the street, towards a neighbor walking their dog. Not everyone's really happy to see a pit bull running towards them. He is the friendliest doggie in the whole world, but unfortunately, he wanted to say hello to her dogs and her dogs were not very happy to see him running towards them.

After a lecture, I never let the dog out without a leash. Even if the owner said it's okay. He probably knew I was a dog sitter and he is probably testing boundaries. Just triple-check. Especially when it comes to the bully breeds, people can be really anxious.

Alison Stewart: Thank you. Samantha, that was some really good advice. Rachel, is there anything that I haven't asked you about you think's really important?

Rachel Bowers: I mean, what your previous caller was saying, yes, the animals are incredibly smart. They are just like toddlers, and they are going to be pushing boundaries and trying to figure out relationships and how things work, so always be one or two steps ahead of them being prepared. I'm going to say getting that first aid CPR course is really, really important and getting that profile and emergency contact information.

Things are going to go wrong. You don't know what it's going to be, but it will be something and got to figure it out on the go as it happens. The main thing is when those emergencies happen, remain calm and think through it.

Alison Stewart: Someone says, "I would suggest a professional. I had friends look after my dog, they unleashed, unlearned all the training that I had done. It took me three months to relearn it." [laughs] My guest has been Rachel Bowers. We were talking pet sitting basics. The name of her company is Brooklyn Bark. She's the CEO. Thanks to everybody who called in with tips and with stories. We really appreciate you taking the time to call, and Rachel, we appreciate your time today.

Rachel Bowers: Thank you so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: There is more All Of It on the way. We'll learn about a new center in Queens that honors the life and legacy of jazz legend Louis Armstrong. Regina Bain, executive director of the center and pianist Jason Moran, curator of its permanent exhibit, will be with us right after the news.

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