How The Savvy Sitter Turned Pet Sitting Into a 10-Year Business With a Staff of Eight
Savanna Westwood, Owner and Founder ·The Savvy Sitter · Winter Garden, FL
Built Local Podcast with Clay Lawrence · · 28 min episode
The short version
Savanna Westwood started The Savvy Sitter, a pet sitting and dog walking company west of Orlando in Winter Garden, Windermere and Horizon West, Florida, after a professional organizing business turned into requests to watch people's animals. Ten years later she has a staff of eight, logged more than 8,400 visits in 2024, and went from about 150 Google reviews to more than 214 by automating her review requests. She did it by treating pet sitting as a profession: paid meet and greets, certifications, employees and fewer overnight stays.
What other owners can take from The Savvy Sitter
- 1
Charge for the meet and greet. It is your time and expertise, and it lets you assess the pet and the home before anyone on your team walks in alone.
- 2
When a dog is shy or nervous, schedule several visits while the owner is home before the big trip so the first solo visit is not a surprise.
- 3
In local Facebook groups, do not say "pick me." Post the questions an owner should ask any sitter: insurance, bonding, staff training, pet first aid and CPR, and what happens in an emergency.
- 4
Do the math on overnights before you offer them with employees. A 12-hour overnight shift reaches overtime by the fourth night.
- 5
Give your regular clients priority. Savanna found overnight requests were often one-and-done clients taking dates her long-term clients needed, so she built a VIP program.
- 6
Get certified and insured. It is what separates a professional from a hobbyist in the eyes of a client handing over a house key.
How did The Savvy Sitter start?
The Savvy Sitter started by accident. Savanna Westwood had left a logistics startup and was trying to build a business as a professional organizer. The trouble, she said, was that “people that are not organized are not consistent,” so the work was not steady. She had open time and was good with animals, and people began asking her to watch their pets.
Word of mouth carried it from there. Ten years on, The Savvy Sitter serves Winter Garden, Windermere and Horizon West, west of Orlando, and cares for “all creatures great and small,” from guppies to show horses. Dogs and cats are the bread and butter.
Why does she say pet sitting is now a professional industry?
Because client expectations changed after COVID. Savanna said the industry is about 30 years old, but before 2020 sitters were mostly seen as a side hustle. She calls those sitters hobbyists.
Then shelters emptied, people adopted pets while working from home, and went back to the office with what she jokingly calls “pandemic pets,” many with behavioral issues such as anxiety. Owners now treat pets as family members. They buy premium food, take a limp straight to the vet and expect the same level of care from whoever holds the house key.
That raised the standard. She pointed to certifications from Pet Sitters International and NAPPS, and pet first aid and CPR courses. She also noted that app-based platforms take 20 to 40 percent of a sitter’s pay and leave the sitter, as an independent contractor, responsible for their own insurance and business license.
How do pet sitting clients find The Savvy Sitter?
Word of mouth, in person and online, and then Google. Local Facebook community pages are full of people asking for a sitter or a dog walker, and Savanna gets tagged in them often.
What she does differently is how she replies. Instead of “pick me,” she posts what an owner should ask any sitter:
- Are they licensed, bonded and insured?
- Are the staff employees or independent contractors, and how are they trained?
- Do they have pet first aid and CPR certification?
- What happens in an emergency?
What happens at a Savvy Sitter meet and greet?
Every new client starts with a paid meet and greet. Savanna takes payment before she comes out because it is her time and expertise, and because the meeting works both ways: the client meets her, and she meets the client and the animal.
New pet owners and people new to the area leave with recommendations for vets, groomers and products. She also reads the pet. If a dog is shy or nervous, she recommends several visits while the owner is home before a big trip. “I personally will never send one of my team members blind into a dog because you don’t know how they’re going to react,” she said. Cats count too. She has been chased out of a house by two of them.
That attention continues on every visit. One morning she refused to walk a German Shepherd named Moose because she saw him limping on a front leg before his owner did. “We’re not vets, but we know more than the average person as far as animal care.”
How did the business grow, and why is it moving away from overnights?
Growth was steady enough that she had to shrink her service area. Savanna brought on her first independent contractor in year one or two after double booking herself. The business was five years old when COVID hit. About two years ago she moved to employees and now has a staff of eight. In 2024 the team made more than 8,400 visits.
Most of that work is pet sitting. Regular weekday dog walking clients are the “diamond in the rough” now that so many people work from home.
Overnights are the service she has cut back. With employees, a sitter has to be paid at least minimum wage while sleeping and time and a half in overtime, and a 7-to-7 overnight reaches overtime by night four. Her longest stay was 19 days. She also noticed overnight callers were often one-and-done clients who took dates her regulars wanted. Her answer was a VIP program that puts consistent clients first.
What would she tell a new pet sitter?
Be persistent. The line she submitted for a pet sitter of the year award was “it’s not no, it’s not yet.” Go out, network and talk to people, and be clear about what separates you from a hobbyist: insurance, certifications and the standards of a full-time professional.
On Google, her advice to any owner is simple. Most people search there, so “you got to play nice with Google.” For years she asked clients for reviews one by one and got tired of it. Automating the request is how The Savvy Sitter passed 200 reviews ahead of its tenth birthday.
In Savanna's words
“It's not no, it's not yet. So you got to be persistent about it.”
“I personally will never send one of my team members blind into a dog because you don't know how they're going to react.”
“We're not vets, but we know more than the average person as far as animal care.”
“You got to play nice with Google.”
Review Harvest Client
What The Savvy Sitter says about Review Harvest
Savanna says The Savvy Sitter had 136 to 150 Google reviews when she reached out in late April or early May 2025, hoping to reach 200 by the end of the year. She says it passed 200 around May 26 and was over 214 at the time of the episode. Her favorite parts are that it connects to the software she already uses, waits three days after a completed service, and sends a personalized request with her photo instead of a plain text.
“If a new client onboarded and used our services, there was usually a follow-up text or email that I didn't have to create or follow up on a couple days after.”
Savanna Westwood on working with Review Harvest: “How This Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Business Added 64 Google Reviews in 1 Month”
Questions this episode answers
What makes a professional pet sitter different from a hobbyist?
Savanna Westwood of The Savvy Sitter says a professional is licensed, bonded and insured, trains staff, holds pet first aid and CPR certification and has a plan for emergencies. Her team also watches for health and behavior changes an owner can miss, like the limp she spotted on a German Shepherd before a walk. Sitters who work through app platforms, she adds, are independent contractors who often do not know they need their own insurance and business license.
Should a pet sitter charge for the meet and greet?
The industry is split, but The Savvy Sitter takes payment before the visit. Savanna Westwood's reasoning is that the meeting uses her time and expertise, the client leaves with recommendations and local resources, and it is how she checks a pet's behavior before sending a team member into the home.
Why are professional pet sitters dropping overnight stays?
Cost. Savanna Westwood explains that employees must be paid at least minimum wage while they sleep and time and a half once they reach overtime, and a traditional 7-to-7 overnight reaches overtime by the fourth night. The Savvy Sitter also found overnight requests tended to come from one-time clients, so she cut back on them and added a VIP program for regulars.
How do pet sitting clients find The Savvy Sitter?
Savanna Westwood lists word of mouth first, both in person and in local Facebook community groups where clients tag her, and then Google. In those groups she answers requests with questions owners should ask any sitter instead of pitching herself.
How did The Savvy Sitter get past 200 Google reviews?
The Savvy Sitter had between 136 and 150 Google reviews when it started with Review Harvest in late April or early May 2025, with a goal of 200 by the end of the year. Savanna Westwood says it reached 200 around May 26 and was past 214 when the episode was recorded. A previous provider had brought in about 25 reviews over roughly five months.
How long does it take to build a pet sitting business?
Savanna Westwood says the timeline is different for everyone. She brought on her first independent contractor within the first year or two after double booking herself, was five years in when COVID hit, and moved from contractors to employees about two years before the episode. The Savvy Sitter now has a staff of eight.
Need pet sitting & grooming in Winter Garden? Visit The Savvy Sitter at thesavvysitter.org.
