Dog sitter vs animal care provider

The differences between dog sitters and animal care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a dog sitter and an animal care provider. Additionally, a dog sitter has an average salary of $25,532, which is higher than the $24,866 average annual salary of an animal care provider.

The top three skills for a dog sitter include PET, customer service and dog care. The most important skills for an animal care provider are PET, administer medications, and husbandry.

Dog sitter vs animal care provider overview

	Dog Sitter	Animal Care Provider
Yearly salary	$25,532	$24,866
Hourly rate	$12.28	$11.95
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	67,682	70,701
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

What does a dog sitter do?

A dog sitter is primarily responsible for taking care of dogs while their owners are away. Their tasks include feeding dogs, taking them to walks or daycares, bathing or cleaning their ears, and providing owners with regular updates. Most dog sitters typically meet with clients beforehand to learn about the dogs and their needs, as some of them may require medicine or particular care. Should there be any problems, a dog sitter must report to the owners right away.

What does an animal care provider do?

An animal care provider is someone who provides care and attention to pets. Usually, this person is part of a veterinary clinic and offers all kinds of care pets ranging from grooming, medical attention, and hygienic care. The animal care provider is an essential contact person for animal lovers, which makes the position important. Part of an animal care provider's responsibilities is exercising animals, monitoring their health and nutrition, treating wounds, sicknesses, and other ailments, and giving owners advice on how to take care of their pets better.

Dog sitter vs animal care provider salary

Dog sitters and animal care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Dog Sitter	Animal Care Provider
Average salary	$25,532	$24,866
Salary range	Between $10,000 And $64,000	Between $14,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Warwick, RI	-
Highest paying state	Connecticut	-
Best paying company	CARE	-
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between dog sitter and animal care provider education

There are a few differences between a dog sitter and an animal care provider in terms of educational background:

	Dog Sitter	Animal Care Provider
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Psychology	Biology
Most common college	Texas A&M University - Commerce	Stanford University

Dog sitter vs animal care provider demographics

Here are the differences between dog sitters' and animal care providers' demographics:

	Dog Sitter	Animal Care Provider
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 22.0% Female, 78.0%	Male, 25.1% Female, 74.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between dog sitter and animal care provider duties and responsibilities

Dog sitter example responsibilities.

Manage all breeding, whelping, raising of puppies, grooming and showing of dogs for owners in the AKC.
Groom, trim, and clip animals' coats.
Provide smaller services such as cleaning ears, clipping nails, and small scissoring around eyes and paws.
Bath a variety of dog breeds, and provide basic grooming sanitary needs such as clipping nails and cleaning ears.
Maintain professional relationship with pet owners and communicate through email and phone regarding daily pet behavior.
Manage all breeding, whelping, raising of puppies, grooming and showing of dogs for owners in the AKC.

Animal care provider example responsibilities.

Maintain care on the horses, pigs, goats and sheep.
Work with turtles, snakes, frogs, skunk and owl.
Fed and water horses, chickens, goats, pigs, cows and dogs.
Locate pet product merchants willing to donate food/ toys/ litter to families struggling to financially provide for their pets.
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines.

Dog sitter vs animal care provider skills

Common dog sitter skills

PET, 66%
Customer Service, 20%
Dog Care, 10%
Fresh Water, 1%
Clients Homes, 0%
Child Care, 0%

Common animal care provider skills

PET, 35%
Administer Medications, 17%
Husbandry, 9%
Animal Housing, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Laboratory Animals, 6%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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