Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Renee Gunn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Renee, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

In the Pet-Sitting industry, the standard is to provide 30 to 60-minute drop-in service and dog-walking services. Some offer 8 – 10-hour overnight care, and even fewer offer 24-hour vacation or live-in care.
Most pet owners choose 1-2 daily 30-minute drop-in visits, allowing a pet sitter to come into their home to feed, water, medicate, walk, or play with their dog or cat. Once the scheduled time expires, the pet sitter leaves for the next client drop-in visit. Professional pet sitters realize pets, especially seniors, puppies, and pets on medication, need more than two drop-ins daily. However, we also recognize budgets are tight.
The Sterling Pooch Pet Services is tails above the industry standard. We’ve designed each service with pet owners’ daily challenges in mind.

The most recent implementation that set us apart happened after reading Will Guidara’s book Unreasonable Hospitality, which centers around one principle: “the human desire to be taken care of.” Realizing pet owners were limited to either drop-in service or the 8-10 hour overnight service, we created another option to bridge that gap in service. Offering an In-home pet sit, with a minimum of two hours up to ten hours, allows the pet owner to decide the duration of their pet’s care and gives pets time to eat, drink, play, and eliminate at their own pace. If the pet owner wants to spend a long day at the lake or take a day trip out of town, this option offers confidence that their pets are well cared for. This is also a fantastic service for puppies or high-energy dogs and helps alleviate pet loneliness and boredom that could lead to destructive behavior.

As a business owner and a professional pet sitter, it is important that pet owners are confident in our ability to care for their pets. However, I also wanted something that elevated the ordinary pet sit into an unforgettable experience. With each pet sit, the pet owner receives frame-worthy photographs showing their pets enjoying time spent with the pet sitter during walks, playing with toys, wearing costumes, or just being cute. Many pet owners display these photos in cute frames in their homes. One pet owner enlarged the photographs to display them as wall art. Also, the pet owner will find a Welcome Home card with a handwritten note after each overnight pet sit. With each Welcome Home card, I may leave a bouquet of flowers, a bowl of candy, branded merchandise, or printed helpful pet care tips. In one instance, the pet owner and family returned home very early in the morning. I left milk, orange juice, and pastries as a surprise breakfast.

Renee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello. My name is Renee Gunn. I’m a Texas native, and after living in Minnesota for several years, I’m back in Texas to stay. When I turned 40 years old, I looked hard at my life & realized I was bored. There had to be more to life than get up, go to work, go to bed. Repeat. I had no joy. I decided to change that and pursue my passion for animals, and at 42 years old, I graduated college with an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science, Veterinary Technology. After passing the National Exam for Veterinary Technology, I began working part-time in a rural Veterinary Clinic while keeping a full-time position as an Auditor for a Medicare Contractor. In 2019, I became a professional Pet Sitter, and in 2023, I founded The Sterling Pooch Pet Services. I am a CerMy name is Renee Gunn. I’m a Texas native, and after living in Minnesota for several years, I’m back in Texas to stay. When I turned 40 years old, I looked hard at my life & realized I was bored. There had to be more to life than getting up, going to work, going to bed – Repeat. I had no joy. I decided to change that and pursue my passion for animals. At 42 years old, I graduated college with an Associate’s degree in Applied Science, Veterinary Technology. After passing the National Exam, I began working part-time as a Veterinary Technician in a rural vet clinic. In 2019, I became a professional pet sitter, and in 2023, I founded The Sterling Pooch Pet Services. I am a Certified Professional Pet Sitter (CPPS), certified in pet CPR and First Aid, and Fear Free Pet certified. I am a member of Pet Sitters International (PSI), the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS), and the Texas Pet Sitters Association. I am also a volunteer emergency responder for state and national animal emergency response organizations specializing in the emergency sheltering and care of animals during natural disasters, hoarding cases, and cruelty seizures.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I’ve already mentioned Will Guidara’s book Unreasonable Hospitality, but another business-altering resource came from a YouTuber.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In 2021, I owned two separate pet-related businesses: one for professional pet sitting and the other for professional pet transportation. As a sole business owner, I struggled to market both companies separately but simultaneously. In February 2022, I attended the Texas Pet Sitters conference, and everything changed. Through the speakers and networking with other pet business owners, I learned of different services that could be offered and ways to run the businesses more efficiently. I returned to the office the following Monday on fire with a plan to rebrand. I combined the two businesses to form a third, and in April 2022, The Sterling Pooch Pet Services went live.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thesterlingpooch.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.sterling.pooch.pet.svcs
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/thesterlingpooch
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-sterling-pooch-pet-services/

Image Credits
All pictures were taken by Renee Gunn, and all pet owners have granted permission to use their pet’s photographs in any media, including print and electronic.