In short: You can become a pet sitter even if you have never done it before. Start with services that need no licence, build a clear and honest profile, complete your platform's identity verification, and win your first bookings with a meet and greet rather than a rating. The early reviews come quickly once you deliver well, and from there it grows.
Plenty of people love animals and want a flexible way to earn from that, but assume pet sitting is closed to them without a CV full of experience. It is not. Pet sitting rewards reliability and care more than credentials, and the route from no experience to your first paid booking is shorter than most people think. Here is how to do it properly.
Why pet sitting works for beginners
Most jobs ask for a track record before they let you start. Pet sitting is one of the few where an owner's decision comes down to whether they trust you with their dog or cat, not whether you have a certificate. If you are responsible, attentive, genuinely good with animals and willing to learn, you already have what matters. It is also flexible and self-directed. You set your own rates, choose your own hours, and decide which services and which bookings to take. You are not applying for a job so much as building a small business of your own, one booking at a time.Step by step: from no experience to your first booking
1. Choose a platform that welcomes new sitters
The fastest way to build trust as a beginner is to list where trust is already established. A good platform connects you with local owners who are actively looking, so you skip the cold outreach entirely. It matters which one you choose: some platforms rank sitters by booking history, which can bury a brand-new profile before anyone sees it. Petme is built around a social profile that owners follow and browse before they make contact, so a new sitter can build familiarity by posting about their day with animals rather than waiting to climb a ranking. Sitters keep up to 90% of every booking, which counts for more when your early earnings are small. You complete identity verification before your profile goes live, and you set your own rates from the start.2. Build a profile owners trust
Your profile is your shop window. Even with no formal experience, you can earn a booking by being specific and honest about what you offer:- Your genuine experience with animals, even informal: growing up with dogs, caring for a friend's cat, fostering for a rescue.
- Your reliability, flexibility and how you communicate.
- Clear, warm, real language and proper photos of you with animals.
3. Start with services that need no licence
As a beginner, start with dog walking, drop-in visits and house sitting at the owner's home. None of these need a licence in the UK, so you can begin as soon as your profile is ready, and owners need them far more regularly than overnight care, which means more chances to land that first booking. Add home boarding later, once you understand the licensing rules. Our guide to what a dog sitter does covers each service in practice.4. Price to win your first reviews
When you have no reviews, price is one of the few levers you control. Look at what other sitters in your area charge and pitch slightly below to start. New UK sitters commonly charge £12 to £22 per walk and £10 to £18 per drop-in visit. Once you have a few happy clients and the reviews that come with them, raise your rates toward the local going rate. Our UK pet sitter earnings guide shows what each service pays.5. Build your first reviews from nothing
Every established sitter started with zero reviews. You bridge the gap with trust signals other than ratings:- Offer a meet and greet as standard so the owner and pet can size you up in person. This is what substitutes for reviews until you have them.
- Reply to enquiries quickly. New profiles win on responsiveness.
- Deliver carefully on the first booking: follow the feeding routine, send a photo update, note the pet's quirks.
- Afterwards, politely ask the owner to leave a review. Two or three early reviews are usually enough to start appearing higher in local searches.
What to know before you start in the UK
A few UK-specific points are worth understanding even as a beginner, because they shape which services you can offer:- Licensing. Walking, drop-ins and house sitting need no licence. Boarding dogs in your own home as a business in England needs an Animal Activity Licence. See our home boarding licence guide.
- DBS check. Not legally required, but a Basic DBS at £18 from GOV.UK reassures owners and helps a new sitter stand out.
- Insurance. Not legally required, but strongly advised. Public liability and Care, Custody and Control cover are the two that matter. Every Petme booking is also backed by a Protection Plan covering eligible vet costs up to £20,000.
- Tax. Pet sitting income is self-employment income. You can earn up to £1,000 a year tax-free, then must register with HMRC. See our self-employed pet sitter tax guide.
Mistakes new sitters make
- Saying yes to everything. Take bookings you are genuinely comfortable with, especially early on.
- Skipping the meet and greet. It is your strongest trust-builder before you have reviews.
- Missing the details. Feeding routines, medication, a nervous dog's triggers. Getting these right is what earns the five-star review and the rebooking.
