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Pet industry expands as population grows
By Pet Connection Staff
June 1, 2010
The economy may have flipped, flopped and floundered in the last couple of years, but the pet care industry is still booming. From our Dr.Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon in this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature:
Looking for a new career? The demand for pet-related services continues to increase along with the number of pets and the need many people have for help with their care. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 20 percent increase in the number of animal trainers in the next decade, with nearly 60,000 working as trainers by 2018. The Bureau’s observations match those of pet-industry experts who have long noted a steady increase in services such as canine day-care providers, dog exercisers and yard-cleanup companies.
Dr. Marty Becker also shares his tips for dealing with pets’ stinky gas-passing problems:
Pets don’t try to hold it, move to a more discrete area or blame it on their human family. It’s usually no secret when a pet passes gas and commits a four-pawed faux pas. They don’t giggle with embarrassment or blush.
Intestinal gas is just a natural part of digestion, after all, however funny we humans may find it.
While dogs seem to be the main offenders, cats are also prone to flatulence, although they produce less gas, and their tendency to keep their distance makes their gassiness less noticeable. Plus, there’s a big auditory and olfactory difference between a flatulent 10-pound feline and a gassy 120-pound Great Dane.
But if you are like most people, you’d like to find ways to wind down the passing of wind.
Dr. Becker’s tips are here.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or download it just as we send it to our client newspapers every week (PDF).
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I would not like gas but I love my (three) dogs’ breath. Actually I hardly notice it, and feel lucky for that.
Three dogs and I have never had their teeth professionally cleaned, though two are just a few years old. I feel lucky to have low maintenance dogs.
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — June 1, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
Terrific bag, great video. Thanks, Ericka!
Comment by David S. Greene — June 1, 2010 @ 7:38 pm
“Looking for a new career? The demand for pet-related services continues to increase along with the number of pets and the need many people have for help with their care. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 20 percent increase in the number of animal trainers in the next decade, with nearly 60,000 working as trainers by 2018.”
Sorry, but this statistic scares the crap out of me. With an increasing number of “schools” and “academies” certifying people to be dog trainers after only a few weeks education, I am deeply concerned that the art of dog training is doomed to die a slow and ugly death.
Learning to be a dog trainer isn’t touch typing or ditch digging - it’s an art. You cannot learn to be a “dog trainer” in two or three or even six weeks any more than you can learn to be a piano teacher or martial arts instructor in the same ridiculously short period of time.
Like it or not, mastering an art to the degree that you can consistently and coherently transfer your knowledge to others takes time. And lots of it.
Comment by Janeen — June 1, 2010 @ 8:12 pm
What Janeen said.
Training is not comparable with a yard-scooping service.
Dogs and owners suffer when “trainers” have not mastered the craft, much less the second skill set of instructing.
Dogs’ access privileges suffer when the standards of training get so watered-down because of instructor inexperience that no one knows what a well-mannered dog looks like anymore, or believes that such a beast ever existed.
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 1, 2010 @ 10:30 pm
I have noticed an increase in professional pet-sitters in my area since the downturn in the economy. I’ve also seen many of them go out of business just as quickly. First of all, the only prerequisite for working in the pet service industry is NOT “Oh, I really love pets and would love to spend my day with them”. In additional to the many skills needed for the specific jobs, an individual must be able to run a business, be extremely organized and be self-motivated. Any one who wishes to go into the pet service industry should take the time to research their chosen profession thoroughly and then ask themselves “Would I hire me for my own pets?”.
Comment by Amy Suggars — June 2, 2010 @ 5:49 am
I had a pet-sitting business for six years, mostly during my college years. I would move in when the owners went on vacation. It was a GREAT gig for a college student because I pretty much spent my entire summer living in big houses with stocked refrigerators and more TV channels than I had at home (my parents’ place).
It was not lucrative. I could never live on it. In fact, I had a job on the college campus all summer. I think the only way pet-sitting can be a real-live business is if the owner has lots of employees … and that is where all the trouble starts. Hard to get good help these days.
My friend just had a HORRIBLE experience with a pet-sitting service. The owner is fabulous, but her employee (I hope former employee) actually was bringing her DOG along on visits to client homes. How stupid and rude can a person be? My friend has rabbits. “Oh, it’s OK, my dog likes rabbits!” said the pet-sitter, when she showed up 12 hours(!) late for her visit.
Hey that’s nice what your dog likes when you are visting someone else’s house. What about what, oh, THEIR animals like or don’t?
Gah!
Comment by Mary Mary — June 2, 2010 @ 6:00 am
Good, bad, or indifferent, I’ve not personally seen a petsitter last more than two years around here.
Extremely annoying when you finally find someone good and next time you need her, the phone is disconnected.
Kind of a relief when you hear about the really boneheaded moves pulled by the bad ones. Escaped cats, dog-aggressive dogs taken to the park on the sitter’s favorite flexi, pups left loose in the house because “He wouldn’t go back into the crate for me.”
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 2, 2010 @ 7:55 am
Boneheaded moves … oh, I have quite a few stories from my pet-sitting days.
My favorite one is when Fergie the cat escaped out the sliding glass door and was running away through the yard. I couldn’t believe it! How on EARTH did he get out!
The owners were due home that night and they were going to k i l l me. They were very, very devoted to Fergie and his dog roommate.
They were going to kill me.
So out the door I went to catch him. He took off through the neighbor’s yard, me in pursuit.
He was gone. I was in shock.
I came back inside and just stood there, staring at the floor. What was I going to do.
Then I looked into the living room and saw
Fergie.
He was inside the house the entire time. The cat outside looked EXACTLY like him.
Now that would have been nice for the couple to come home to. Two cats. Because the petsitter couldn’t tell which one belonged after she dragged the roaming cat inside.
Oh, I have many stories from those days.
Comment by Mary Mary — June 2, 2010 @ 9:00 am
I believe this sort of advice is marred by a general problem that goes beyond pet sitting. Every unemployment stat or “hot careers” list begs the same set of questions: if “high-tech jobs” are being lost, what does that mean? Middle-managers? People who work in chip factories? Engineers? If “healthcare jobs” are hot, what does that mean? Nurses? Home health aides? Medical office administrators?
And the same limitations always apply - what is a person actually good at? Is this job/career still going to be hot or cold at the end of the required 10 year training program?
Comment by Barbara Saunders — June 2, 2010 @ 10:08 am
My pet-sitter, Courtney Guntner, is beyond awesome. She’s been voted the best pet-sitter in San Francisco two years running, and the second best dog-walker. She’s been taking care of and walking my dogs since I moved back to San Francisco four years ago, and when my mom was dying, she went so far beyond the call of duty to take care of poor Kyrie, I can never, ever thank her enough.
I’m so grateful to Kasie Maxwell of SF Raw for recommending her to me!
Comment by Christie Keith — June 2, 2010 @ 11:01 am