How to choose a pet sitter you can actually trust
Leaving your dog with someone new is uncomfortable, and it should be. The good news is that twenty minutes of the right questions tells you almost everything — and most of it before you have paid anything.
Six questions worth asking
You are not interrogating anyone. You are finding out whether they have done this before, and a sitter who has will enjoy answering.
Who else will be around my pet?
Do they have their own animals, a housemate, children, a co-sitter who covers their days off? This is the question that most often turns up something you would rather have known. It is not a trick — a good sitter answers it straight away.
What would you do if my dog got loose?
You are not after a perfect answer, you are after a specific one. Someone who has actually done this job will describe what they do — check the garden, call you immediately, post in the local group. Someone who has not will say something vague about being careful.
What happens if there is a vet emergency?
Ask whether they will take your pet themselves, which practice they would use, and how they would reach you. Agree a spending limit in advance and write it down. This conversation is uncomfortable for ten seconds and valuable for the whole booking.
What if you cannot make a visit?
Illness, a car that will not start, a family emergency. Ask what their backup is. A sitter with no answer is a sitter whose bad day becomes your dog's bad day.
How often will you send updates?
Agree this up front rather than hoping. A photo after each visit is normal and reasonable to ask for. Being specific now prevents you refreshing your phone at midnight later.
Have you looked after a dog like mine?
Breed, size, age, and anything particular — reactive on the lead, anxious when alone, on medication. A sitter who says every dog is the same has not met enough dogs.
Ask these in the app’s chat before you request the booking. The conversation stays attached to the booking, so what was agreed about vet limits and updates is still there in two weeks when you need it.
Always do a meet-and-greet
For anything longer than a single walk, meet first. It is the only part of this process your pet gets a vote in.
- 1
Watch how they greet your dog
Do they crouch and let your dog come to them, or do they lean over and reach straight for the head? The first is someone who has read a dog before. The second is not disqualifying, but it is information.
- 2
See where your pet will actually be
For boarding, ask to see the room, the garden and the fence. For visits, walk them through your home. Photos are taken on the best day; a visit is taken on an ordinary one.
- 3
Go through the practical handover
Keys, alarm code, feeding amounts, medication times, the vet's number and the spending limit you agreed. Write it down rather than trusting that everyone will remember.
- 4
Notice whether they ask you things
The best sign in the whole meeting is a sitter who asks more questions than you do. It means they are already planning the job rather than just accepting it.
When to keep looking
None of these is proof of anything on its own. Two or more together is a reason to book someone else.
- ✓A thin profile — one or two photos, no detail about what they actually do, nothing about the pets they have cared for
- ✓Slow or vague replies, especially when you have asked something specific. How they communicate now is how they will communicate while you are away
- ✓No curiosity about your pet. A sitter who does not ask about routine, food, medication or temperament is not planning to follow any of it
- ✓Unwillingness to meet before the booking, or to let you see where your pet will stay for boarding
- ✓"How hard can it be?" — or any version of it. The job is mostly judgement, and that answer suggests none
- ✓Pushing to move the booking or the payment off the app. That removes your record of what was agreed, and your dispute protection with it
The last one is worth dwelling on. Moving a booking off the app usually comes with a small discount attached, and it costs you the message history, the record of what was agreed, and the ability to have a payment held if something goes wrong. It is rarely worth the saving.
The checks behind a provider's profile
None of this replaces the conversation above — but it is the floor every provider has to clear before they can take a booking.
ID verified by a person
Every provider uploads a photo ID, and a member of our admin team reviews it before they can appear in search or accept a booking. The green Verified badge next to their name means that has been done. The ID stays with our team — pet owners only ever see the badge.
Direct chat, before and during
Message a provider before you commit to anything, and keep talking through the booking with photos. The conversation sits with the booking, so what was agreed stays on the record.
Reviews only from completed bookings
A star rating or review can only be left by someone who actually booked and completed a service with that provider. Nobody else can post one.
Payment stays in the app
Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, handled in the app rather than cash at the door. You get a record of what was paid and when.
Dispute protection
If something goes wrong, report it and your payment is held while we review it. That is the practical reason to keep the booking on the platform.
Certifications shown on the profile
Providers can add qualifications they hold, and those appear publicly so you can see what someone is actually trained for rather than guessing.
Be honest about your pet's real needs
The most common cause of a booking going badly is not a bad sitter. It is an owner who did not mention that the dog pulls hard, guards food, hates men in hats, or has not actually been left alone before.
Say it all up front. A sitter who knows what they are taking on can prepare for it, and one who decides it is not for them has done you a favour — far better than finding out on day two. Nobody is judging your dog.
Choosing a sitter — FAQ
What does Kingston's check before a provider can take bookings?+
Every provider uploads a photo ID, and a person on our admin team reviews it before they can appear in search or accept a booking. Once that is done a green Verified badge sits beside their name, with a tooltip reading "Identity verified by Kingston's". The ID itself stays with our team and is never shown to pet owners. Providers can also add certifications, which do appear on the profile so you can see what they are qualified for.
Can I message a sitter before I commit to anything?+
Yes, and you should. Real-time chat is built into the app, so you can ask everything on this page before you book rather than after. Keep going until you are satisfied — a provider who finds reasonable questions tiresome has told you something useful. The same chat stays open during the booking, with photos, so updates arrive in the same place as the original conversation.
Are the reviews real?+
They can only be left by someone who actually completed a booking with that provider. Nobody else can post one — not the provider, not a friend, not a competitor. That is why a profile with fewer reviews but all of them from completed bookings tells you more than a long list from an open review form.
What happens if something goes wrong during a booking?+
Report it in the app and your payment is held while we review. That is the point of keeping the booking and the money on the platform rather than settling up privately — the record of what was agreed, the messages, and the payment are all in one place if there is a disagreement about what should have happened.
Is a meet-and-greet really necessary?+
For anything longer than a single walk, yes. Twenty minutes tells you things no profile can: whether your dog settles with them, whether they crouch down or loom, whether the home is what the photos suggested. It is also when you hand over keys, go through medication and agree the vet limit. Treat a sitter who will not meet first as a sitter you have already learned something about.
How much should I expect to pay?+
It varies by city and by service. In Raleigh, a 30-minute walk runs about $20–$30 and boarding in a sitter's home $35–$50 a night — the full local breakdown is on our Raleigh page. Providers set their own rates on Kingston's, so the price you see is the price they chose rather than a platform markup. Be wary of anyone far below the local range; it usually means inexperience rather than a bargain.
Should I use a professional service or an individual?+
An individual who knows your dog beats an agency rota most of the time, because continuity is the thing your pet actually notices. Agencies win when you need guaranteed cover — they have staff to send if someone is ill. If you go with an individual, the backup question above becomes the important one.
What should I leave for the sitter?+
Written feeding instructions with amounts rather than "a scoop", medication with doses and times, your vet's name and number, the agreed spending limit, a second contact who can make a decision if you are unreachable, and where the lead, food and cleaning things live. Put it on paper as well as in the chat — the paper copy is the one that works when a phone is flat.
In the Raleigh area? Local rates, dog parks and sitters in Raleigh
Message a sitter before you book
Browse verified providers near you, ask everything on this page in the app's chat, and book only when you are satisfied.
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