Pet Sitter Supplies: The Kit You Bring
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The dog is fine while the owner packs. It is fine while the bags go in the car. Then the car leaves, and you are a stranger standing in somebody else's kitchen with a dog who has decided not to eat. A sitter's kit is built for that hour, not for the week: your own supplies, a novel bowl, something good to hand over, and a way to leave the house the way you found it.
The hour after the car leaves
Everything a sitter needs to solve happens between the goodbye and the first successful meal. A dog that skips dinner on night one usually eats on night two, but you have to get there without turning food into a fight, and without texting a photograph of an untouched bowl to somebody at an airport. This kit does that with four things you bring yourself. If you are covering a house rather than a dog, the dog walker gear kit is the version for short visits, the home alone enrichment kit covers the hours you are out of the house, and the wider set lives on the Bundle Guides hub.
It is the wrong kit for a boarding setup in your own home, where the dog is on your turf and your own bowls are already in the cabinet.
What you bring through the front door
Start with the bag, because the alternative is going through somebody else's cabinets at nine at night. Rubyloo describes the Original Doggy Bag as a travel bag for dog supplies, measuring 15 by 13 by 7 inches with a 25 liter capacity, in seven colors. Rubyloo lists the contents as two collapsible bowls with carabiners, two leak proof food containers, a built in bag dispenser and an adjustable padded shoulder strap. Yours stays packed between clients, so a last minute booking is a pickup rather than an inventory.
The shallow tray is the trick for a dog that will not eat. SodaPup describes the Four Seasons eTray as a shallow slow feeder with four panels, each carved with a different season, made from TPE, about 8 inches across and 1.25 inches deep, holding 2.25 cups. Novelty does most of the work here. A dog that has walked away from its own bowl twice will often start picking food out of an unfamiliar surface, and the low depth means there is nowhere for the food to hide.
The lick stick is how you make contact without reaching. SodaPup describes the eStick as a hand held lick toy that a handler holds out and presents to a dog, for use during training, grooming or handling, made from TPE in four designs. Loaded and held at arm's length, it lets a wary dog come to you on its own timing instead of having a hand come down over its head on day one. Set it aside when the session ends rather than leaving it on the floor.
Then the introduction. Our freeze-dried cheddar cheese bites are one ingredient, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, in a single 8 ounce bag. A stranger holding cheddar becomes a known quantity faster than a stranger holding nothing. Ask the owner first, every time, and write down the answer.
The lint roller is the optional fifth. Rubyloo describes it as a retractable roller sized for a glove box, purse or carry on, with the 1 Pack including 90 sheets across two refills and a spring loaded pop up cover. It is not about the dog. It is about the sofa looking the way it did on Friday.
Why there is no crate and no second bed in here
Sitting lists love a portable crate. We left it out because the dog already has somewhere it sleeps, and moving a nervous dog into new furniture on the night its people vanished is the opposite of helpful. Same reasoning for a travel bed. Use the dog's own bed, in the dog's own spot, and change as little as you can get away with.
Running the first night
Put your bag down somewhere the dog can go and sniff it without you standing over it. Dogs read luggage. A bag that smells of other dogs and of you is more interesting than a person making eye contact.
Feed the owner's food, in your tray, at the owner's usual time. Two of those three are familiar and the third is the variable you wanted. If the dog eats, put the tray away and do exactly the same thing tomorrow.
Keep the lick stick for the quiet part of the evening. Load it, sit down, hold it out and say nothing. Most dogs close the distance within a few minutes once nobody is asking them to.
Roll the sofa on the last morning, not throughout the week. One pass on the way out is enough, and it is the last thing the owner sees.
What it replaces
One packed bag replaces the running list of things you forgot at the last house. A shallow tray replaces the temptation to hand feed a dog that is not eating, which is a habit you will regret by the fourth night. And one small bag of cheddar replaces the jar of unknown biscuits on the client's counter, which you cannot vouch for and should not be using anyway.
Questions sitters ask on the first night
What if the dog will not eat at all on night one?
Most dogs eat by the second evening. Keep the routine identical, take the bowl up after twenty minutes rather than leaving it down all night, and tell the owner what happened without dressing it up. If you get to a third missed meal, that is the point to call the number they left you and ask your veterinarian.
Should I use my own treats or the ones in the house?
Use what the owner approved in writing. If they left a jar with no note, ask before you open it, because an unlabeled jar in somebody's kitchen tells you nothing about what is in it.
Is the lick stick worth it for a three day booking?
For a confident dog, probably not. For the dog that hides under a table when you arrive, it is the single most useful thing in the bag, because it gives you something to do together that involves no handling at all.
Two makers ship their own items here, so order on the Monday before a booking rather than the Friday. Rubyloo items are sold and shipped by Rubyloo through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC items are sold and shipped by SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. Our cheddar bites ship from Malvern on their own. If you sit for dogs with different diets, Explore lets you filter by protein, life stage and format before you buy, and the life situations kits cover the neighboring problems. Pack the bag tonight and leave it packed.
