What 16+ In Person Pet Sitting Conferences Has Taught Me

I am currently writing this on a cruise ship somewhere just off the Yucatan Peninsula.  As we head into our 15^th year of pet sitting, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on this work-focused cruise.  What truly makes us different?  What is our secret sauce.  I think so much of that boils down to what we have learned over the last 14 years – both throughout the action of pet sitting and dog walking, but also through the educational experiences we have engaged in.  So what has 16+ In Person Pet Sitting Conferences taught us?

Over the years, I have attended conferences with the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters, six with Pet Sitters International and nine with the Texas Pet Sitters Association.

First Conference Lessons

Our very first conference was in 2017 near San Antonio – there were two huge take-aways from that conference.  First, belief. Prior to showing up at our first Texas Pet Sitters Conference, Chris and I had no idea where this could go.  We had not dreamed or imagined of a team of Pet Companions working for – or with us. We had never imagined it becoming a full time job for either of us – or that it would someday support our family of nine. Meeting other pet professionals and seeing people who had built teams and worked full time caring for dogs and cats – created this incredible belief within us that made us realize the possibilities of what could come.  It was also learning that in our industry there are professionals – and we were and wanted to continue to be amongst them.

The second big lesson we learned, was how many incredible resources there were for our industry – something that we didn’t even realize WAS an industry – before we showed up. From national associations to products specifically for pet sitters and dog walkers to even realizing there was such a thing as Pet CPR/First Aid. We were floored with all of the resources that were out there that we had no clue about.  From that very first conference, we take time at each conference and throughout each year to tap into the resources we have access to.  We realized that weekend that we were only as good as the resources we used and what we choose to learn.  We knew we would likely not soon choose to stop learning.

In the years that followed, I have soaked up every conversation I could in and out of the conference room with my peers, fellow professionals and the OGs in the pet industry. It is amazing what you can learn when you listen with the mindset that you don’t know it all, you don’t even know a little bit of it.  So much of how we do business today, how we care for the pets that are entrusted with us, how we take care of our clients and how we take care of our staff is the result of conversations early in the morning, late at night and in between sessions at in-person pet sitting and dog walking conferences.

Conferences & Cats

As I had breakfast the last morning of our conference cruise, I sat with an incredible mentor-turned-friend and reveled at how one of the biggest changes in our personal lives and our business was attributed in full to the education we gain at pet conferences.

You see, Chris and I have always had cats. We fostered them first, then adopted one from the vet as a kitten. We had a cat for our dog to have a companion and we have always loved them, but we would never be called cat people. As not cat people, we even had three cats when we started pet sitting, but when asked, we were still, “dog people.”

Every time we had a speaker at a conference talk about cats, we fell a little more in love with cats. We, and I would imagine, many people who have cats, probably don’t understand cats fully. As my friend says, they have really become second class citizens. We love them, we care for them, but where we really try to understand and cater to our dogs, cats often get the short end of that dedication stick.  Over the last eight years though, that has changed.  Chris and I are cat people.  We understand our cats, we meet new cats and get why they are hiding – we see life from their perspective and see what could be lacking in their lives.  We also very much recognize other cat people. We see the true uniqueness in house cats and even though they may “seem easier” than dogs – we see that they really do need as much as the dogs in our lives do…they just aren’t as outwardly demanding of it.  With a house full of eight cats these days – three of our own and five fosters that seem as if they may never find new homes – we are happy to say we are cat people, and dog people.

Conferences & Anxiety

Conferences are where we have learned the mass majority about dog and cat body language, where we have begun to understand they why behind anxious pets, where we learned that no dog is aggressive – aggression is a sign of anxiety and fear. Its where we’ve learned to streamline our business, market our business for growth and where we have gained confidence and asked the hard questions.  We have heard our peers talk and for some things – we have agreed we would not do what they do because it doesn’t fit our values or the culture we wish to build with our clients and staff.  For just as many things we’ve heard our peers do that we wouldn’t do, there are just as many ideas and inspirations we have gathered and implemented in our own business.

Shaping our Industry

As a former board member of the Texas Pet Sitters Association, one of my favorite things is to be a change leader in our industry.  Its to have the platform to help guide the path of our industry – to continue raising the bar of what makes a professional a professional.  As the 2025 Pet Sitter of the Year for Pet Sitters International, my focus last year was to really help my peers understand and work with anxious pets – anxious dogs and anxious cats that they may not otherwise normally work with.  I wouldn’t have this platform if not for my start in these conferences all those years ago.

This year, my focus has shifted slightly, but still with an eye on enriching our industry and those who are in it.  I’m excited to be launching an intimate retreat just for pet business owners to deep-dive into their business while also taking time to rest, reset, restore and become incredible leaders amongst their teams and clients.

There are thousands upon thousands of small lessons I have learned here and there – and I suppose my reason for writing this into a blog for you to read is to encourage you to learn.  No matter your industry, no matter your career path – go find your peers that experience the work life that you lead and find ways to take advantage of all of the available resources and grow within that community.  I think you’ll find – not only more passion in your path, but also, incredible understanding and relationships within your colleagues.

Are you looking for your pet’s new best friend in Union Park, Texas? We can’t wait to meet you! Our team of Pet Companions are dedicated to ensuring you are completely worry-free when your pet is under our care. We take great pride in delivering exceptional and personalized service for every pet we serve. Looking for occasional or daily dog walking? Find out more about our dog walking here. Traveling soon and need someone to sleep overnight with your pets? Check out our Overnight Stays. Don’t quite want someone to spend the night, but want more time than your typical drop in visits? Look no further than our Almost Overnights!  Are you looking for someone to come up to five times a day and stay for up to an hour each visit?  Look no further than our drop in visits options.