Ha, I love this, great post! Hmm, if I were to think about I think you're right. It does seem like Fall and New Year are our biggest growth periods and when client's get puppies too and those can obviously the most explosive situations. Everyone I've spoken with in the industry sort of has a love/hate relationship with puppy clients. They want tons of walks but take a huge amount of time and energy and often leave for daycare once they have all their shots...let's discuss that more in another post on another day.

re: saying the very thought of it happening was enough to sour the whole relationship

Oh moma mia do I know how you feel. For some clients once they accuse you of doing something wrong they are out the door no matter the answer/outcome. It's like they think we're going to now hate them and their dog now. Unfortunately maybe some of the wackadoo walkers out there do seek retribution from client complaints ):

I hear you buddy and I've been there too. Do you still walk dogs/do pet sits now? I feel it gets easier to deal with that bad apple client in the office than when still walking/pet sitting and running the company at the same time. I've found over the years I now screen clients as much as I screen clients ha and I bet most of you do the same too. I think we'd all agree though that "most" of our clients are pretty awesome people.

I go through phases of not doing any walking and having a route to cover for a while. It's definitely way more stressful dealing with client BS when you're out and about. I use a bluetooth headset for calls but it's still a problem. You're dealing with an unruly dog, some a-hole on the street who's trying to bother you, noisy traffic etc...and then an obnoxious or awkward client calls you demanding to solve a problem or make complicated schedule changes there and then. Theoretically I can do everything on my phone that I can in the office, but it's still far easier to deal with problems when you're indoors! Back when I was walking full time I had some days that were so stressful that I thought about giving up.

Damn right I screen clients! You can usually tell what they're going to be like in the initial communication you have with them. If someone calls me and it takes me three or four attempts to explain the price to them, I know there's a potential for problems going forward. These are the people who don't understand a simple invoice and can't wrap their head around your most basic policies (24hrs notice to cancel etc). It's hard to avoid friction when you're constantly having to explain the simplest of concepts to a person. Also, if they screw me around in arranging the initial meeting, the alarm bell goes off. You know these people - they call you an hour before a scheduled consultation with you and the walker, and say "something's come up, is there any way we can do this some other time?" - in my experience these are the people who are going to cause you scheduling headaches in the future.

Clients make a big deal about checking our credentials, but really we should be checking theirs! What's their credit history like? Do they have a criminal record? I'm sending a young walker into their apartment every day, darn tooting it's relevant! Some years ago I had a client who ended up shooting 3 people dead! He was paranoid and apparently had a cache of weapons and ammunition in the apartment the whole time. That incident really make me think about who some of these people are who have us come into their homes during the day. I've also had a case of a client making unwelcome sexual advances toward a female employee. If I feel the slightest bit uncomfortable about a new client I turn them down. I would say 90% of my clients over the years have been great. But that 10% have the potential to cause problems that are hugely disproportionate to their number.

re.: But that 10% have the potential to cause problems that are hugely disproportionate to their number

Amen. It's like having a small paper cut on your finger slowly bleed you to death, don't let it happen!

It seems around spring/summer I get calls for last minute "new" bookings!  Oh, I'm going out of town TOMORROW can you look after my pet(s) !! I never do last minute bookings anymore, I did when I first started and turned out to be a nightmare!! I think that "good pet parents" plan their pets care well in advance and have back up already in place should something go wrong.... I schedule my appointments weeks in advance if not I don't do it!

Hi @pawsitivepetsitters

re.: I think that "good pet parents" plan their pets care well in advance
and have back up already in place should something go wrong

Great point! Short notice scheduling is often, not always, but often a bearer of more chaos to come ):