Referrals: How to Get One You Can Trust
A referral is the quickest source of information about a dog walker, sitter or daycare, and it is often the least checked. This page covers who is worth asking, what to ask them, and how to test what they tell you before a key changes hands. It names no business, because the point is the method.
Who to ask before you ask a stranger
The people most likely to know a good provider are the ones who see pets and keys move in and out of a home. A neighbour who has used a walker or sitter can tell you how the handover went and whether the pet came back settled. In a condo, the building manager or concierge knows who is admitted to the building and how often, which matters when a walker needs lobby or elevator access. A vet’s front desk may also know which local walkers and sitters clients mention, which is a lead worth following up.
Ask people who have used the arrangement you are considering, not only the ones who sell it. A neighbour who has used a daycare for a year is worth more than a person who has only seen its website.
Match the referral to the arrangement you need
A referral answers a question only when it is about the arrangement you need. A neighbour’s good word for a daycare says little about overnight sitting, so find out what the person used and for how long. The questions to put to a provider once you have a name are set out on How I Help, which covers the choice itself before the hire.
Two more things are worth settling before you count someone as a referral. Ask whether they would trust the same person with a key again, and whether the pet’s routine was kept while they were away.
Checking a referral in the right order
Confirm the work is the work you need
Ask what the person used the provider for and how long it lasted. Match that to walking, drop-in visits, overnight care, daycare or boarding before you go any further.
Ask for the current tax receipt
Inside a Miami-Dade municipality a business needs a local business tax receipt to operate. Cutler Bay’s receipts are valid from October 1 to September 30, and other towns set their own dates. Ask the provider to show the current receipt and check that it is for the right town.
Read the insurance certificate
Ask for the certificate and check whether the policy excludes care, custody and control. Confirm that answer, or a bond, before a key changes hands.
Check the vaccines and the licence
Look at the dog’s rabies record and, for a dog in Miami-Dade, its county license tag. Florida requires rabies vaccination from four months of age, with a revaccination 12 months after the first shot.
Start with a short booking
A short first booking tests the referral against what you actually see. If the provider cannot answer a simple question at that stage, put the referral aside and ask someone else.
The facts to keep with the pet’s records
Some of these numbers come back up each time you compare a referral. Keep them with the pet’s paperwork so you are not searching for them at the door.
- Rabies: Florida Statutes section 828.30 requires vaccination from four months of age and a revaccination 12 months after the first shot.
- Miami-Dade dog license: the county’s dog license page lists $30 for one year for a spayed or neutered dog and $60 for one that is not. Proof of spay or neuter status is needed.
- Cutler Bay receipts: a local business tax receipt runs from October 1 to September 30, and other towns set their own terms.
- Liability: the care, custody and control exclusion is the line to read on any certificate.
A referral is a place to start. The check you make after you hear it is what decides whether the arrangement is sound.