There is an exchange in one of the sitting communities that captures this whole post. One sitter lists what they carry. Another replies that the comments have blown their mind, because they had always assumed the client supplies everything.
Both of those people are professionals. One of them has had a bad night and the other has not yet.
The principle
You cannot rely on the house having what you need, and you will discover the gap at the worst time. Owners run out of poo bags. The lead by the door is a retractable one you would not use. The torch has flat batteries. The medication is not where the note said.
So you carry a small amount of redundancy, and almost none of it ever gets used, and the once it does is the reason.
First aid, and the sentence that matters
The clearest advice anyone gives new sitters is this: never turn up to a job without a pet first aid kit.
What is in it, realistically: self-adhesive bandage that does not stick to fur, gauze, saline for flushing eyes and wounds, blunt-nosed scissors, tweezers, a tick removal tool, gloves, and a foil blanket.
The tick tool is the Australian one. Paralysis ticks along the east coast are a genuine emergency and knowing what one looks like and how to remove it properly is not optional if you work in that country.
Then do a pet first aid course. It is a day. It teaches you what a bloated abdomen looks like, what heat stress looks like before it is obvious, and when to stop assessing and start driving. That knowledge is worth more than everything else in the bag combined.
Leads, again
Your own lead, and a slip lead as backup, for the same reason as the walkers. A collar can fail on a dog in an unfamiliar mood in an unfamiliar situation, and a slip lead over the head is instant.
If a client's only lead is retractable, use yours and say so pleasantly. It is a professional judgement, not a criticism of them.
Light
A head torch and a small hand torch.
You will be letting a dog out at ten at night in a garden you do not know, looking for something on a dark lawn, and reading a medication label in a kitchen where you cannot find the switch. Two light sources sounds excessive until the first time.
Keys, and being organised about them
On a carabiner, clipped to something, never loose in a bag.
Do not label them with the address. If you need to tell them apart, use a code that means something to you and nothing to anyone who finds them.
Have a plan for what happens if you lose them, and tell the client what it is before you need it.
Records
A small notebook, or your phone.
Times in and out, what was eaten, what came out, medication given, anything unusual. When a dog gets sick two days later, that record is the difference between a conversation and an argument. It is also simply better care, because a pattern is invisible in your memory and obvious on a page.
Photographs to the owner each visit. Everyone does this now and it is genuinely reassuring rather than a gimmick.
The vet plan you make before you need it
Find out, before the first visit: who is the dog's usual vet, what is the after-hours emergency vet, how far is it, and does the owner have a spending authority in writing.
In a capital city this is a fifteen-minute job. In regional Australia the nearest after-hours vet may be an hour away and closed, and knowing that on the night is far too late.
For overnight stays
Your own pillow. Every experienced sitter says this and they are right.
Your own cleaning supplies if you have any sensitivity, your own basic toiletries, and something to do. Sitting jobs contain a lot of quiet evenings.
Food, because assuming you can use the client's kitchen contents is an awkward conversation waiting to happen.
The American advice to ignore
Pepper spray comes up constantly in American sitting and walking discussion, sometimes with specific product recommendations and a keychain model.
It is a prohibited weapon in most Australian states and territories. Do not carry one. If personal safety on a job worries you, the answers here are a check-in system with someone who knows your schedule, declining jobs that feel wrong, and a phone with charge.
What we would not carry
We would not carry treats without the owner's agreement.
We would not carry medication for one client into another client's house.
And we would not carry a huge kit. The sitters with the best reputations carry a small, well-chosen bag and rely on preparation instead.
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