How to Prep Your Anxious Pet Before a Pet Sitter Arrives
Pet sitting is a team effort. At Chasing Tails Pet Sitting, we bring the patience, the experience, and the treats — but there's a lot you can do before we ever walk through the door to set your anxious pet up for a smoother, calmer experience.
This isn't about perfecting your pet or eliminating their anxiety overnight. It's about stacking the deck in their favor. Small things done consistently can make a meaningful difference, and after years of working with anxious animals, we've seen firsthand which owner-side habits make visits go better — and which ones (unintentionally) make things harder. Here's what we recommend...
Start Before You Need To
The biggest mistake we see is waiting until the last minute to think about pet sitting. You book a trip, you scramble to find a sitter, and suddenly your anxious dog is meeting a stranger for the first time the day you leave for the airport. That's a tough setup.
If you have an anxious pet, try to think ahead. Book your sitter early — months in advance if possible — have them visit a couple of times before you actually need to leave — even while you're still home. Let your pet see that this person is welcomed by you, comes and goes without anything bad happening, and brings good things (treats, calm energy, fun). That positive association is worth its weight in gold!
Create a Sitter Information Sheet
We ask all our pet parents to give us a rundown of their pet's needs, but we always encourage people to go above and beyond the basics. A thorough information sheet isn't just helpful — it's a game-changer for anxious pets!
Include things like your pet's feeding schedule and exactly how they like their food prepared (yes, some dogs care deeply about this). Note their bathroom routine — how often, preferred spots, any quirks. List any triggers you know of such as:
certain sounds
strangers approaching too fast
being touched in certain places
Share their comfort items — favorite toys, the blanket they can't sleep without, the specific spot on the couch that's "theirs." The more we know going in, the more we can make your pet's experience feel familiar and safe even when you're not there.
Bonus: You can add all of this information in your online pet account when you become part of the Chasing Tails Pet Sitting pack!
Practice the Goodbye
This one surprises people, but it genuinely helps: practice leaving. Not for long — even five or ten minutes counts. The goal is to help your pet learn that you leaving is not a catastrophic event, because you always come back.
If your pet has significant separation anxiety, there are actually structured protocols for this (a certified trainer who specializes in separation anxiety can walk you through them), but even casual practice helps normalize departures. Short, frequent absences are more useful than rare long ones.
Also — and we can't stress this enough — keep your actual goodbye calm and low-key. We know it's hard! We know you love them and it feels mean to just walk out the door. But a long, emotional farewell communicates that leaving is a big deal, which ramps up anxiety rather than soothing it. A quick, matter-of-fact "see you later" is genuinely kinder.
Set Up the Space Thoughtfully
Your home environment matters more than you might think. Before you leave, take a few minutes to set things up for success:
Leave something that smells like you. A worn t-shirt, a pillowcase, a blanket you've been using — your scent is deeply comforting for anxious pets. Put it in their bed or favorite resting spot.
Consider background noise. Many anxious pets do better with some ambient sound rather than total silence. A TV left on a calm channel, a radio playing softly, or a specific calming music for dogs playlist on a speaker can all help. We often suggest this to pet parents and a lot of them are amazed by the difference it makes!
Limit the space if needed. This might sound counterintuitive, but some anxious pets actually do better in a smaller, cozier area of the house rather than having full run of the place. A large, quiet house with no one in it can feel overwhelming. A cozy room with their bed, their toys, their food, and familiar smells can feel much safer.
Make sure everything is pet-safe. Anxiety sometimes brings out behaviors you've never seen before — chewing, scratching, getting into things. Before you go, do a quick walk-through for anything that could be hazardous if your pet decides to redecorate.
Brief Your Sitter Thoroughly at the Meet and Greet
Beyond the information sheet, talk to your sitter. Have an actual conversation — not just a text exchange. Tell them about your pet's history, their quirks, the things that work and the things that definitely don't. Tell them about that one time the vacuum sent your dog spiraling for three hours. Tell them your cat only likes to be petted on the left side of her chin.
The more context your sitter has, the more equipped they are to handle whatever comes up. And things always come up.
If there are specific instructions for how you'd like your sitter to respond to certain behaviors, share those too. Consistency matters to anxious pets — the more your sitter can mirror your approach, the more settled your pet will feel.
After the Visit: Reflect and Adjust
Throughout the stay, your sitter will give daily updates about how things went. Not just "everything was good!" but real updates like how did they ate, how they were on walks, and if anything seemed off. We will let you know if there were any moments of stress.
This information helps you after you come home so you can make any adjustments for next time. Maybe your dog does better with two shorter visits instead of one long one. Maybe your cat needs the TV left on in a specific room. Maybe the sitter's approach to a certain behavior could be tweaked. Every visit is data, and over time you build a picture of what works best for your specific pet.
You're More Involved Than You Think
Pet sitting is a partnership. When owners are thoughtful, communicative, and proactive, their pets do better. You set the stage, and we do our best work on it. Your anxious pet is lucky to have someone who cares enough to read articles like this. That attention and effort shows up in how safe they feel, even when you're not around.
Have a particularly anxious pet and not sure where to start? Reach out — I'm always happy to talk through your pet's specific needs before we begin.
— Jessie, Owner of Chasing Tails Pet Sitting
