Should You Be Concerned If Your Pet Sitter Advertises On Their Vehicle?

As I’ve mentioned in the past pet sitting is largely a word of mouth business. We rely on our happy clients to recommend us to their friends, family and neighbors. Many pet sitters choose to also advertise on their vehicles; either in the form of magnets on the doors, window lettering or, in rare occurrences, vehicle wraps.

The jury seems to be firmly split on this topic. In discussing this with other pet sitters they have told me that some clients request they remove their magnets from their car when visiting their home. They are worried that a pet sitter’s vehicle parked in their driveway is an advertisement that says “HEY LOOK HERE, WE’RE NOT HOME!”.

But is it really?

I have researched this in depth. When I first started pet sitting I attended a seminar at a pet sitter’s conference that was given by a former police officer turned pet sitter. His research said the opposite for the following reasons:

If someone is casing your house and they see a marked pet sitter vehicle in your driveway they will know someone is visiting your home.
If a pet sitter is visiting your home chances are 50/50 that there is a dog inside, which burglars try to avoid.
If you haven’t notified your neighbors of your absence they will less likely to become alarmed if they see a marked pet sitting vehicle in your driveway versus an unmarked car with an unknown person.
Just because a pet sitter is coming doesn’t necessarily mean no one is home. We’ve had many clients have us come when they are home and unable to care for their pets due to recovering from surgery, illness, etc.

Here at Purrfect Pet Sitting our team’s vehicles are not marked but I have been giving some serious consideration to a permanent form of signage on my own vehicle.

We’d love to hear which side of the fence are you on. Would you not hire a service because they had signage on their vehicle or would it make you more comfortable? Please tell us by leaving a comment.