Boise, Idaho – Everybody seems to agree throughout the pet care industry that pet sitting in addition to being one of the fastest growing home business sweeping across America has some unqualified “baby sitters or house sitters”  offering services that perhaps they are not qualified to offer to the pet owning public. Many people who own pets prefer, rather than board their pets, to hire well trained pet sitters to care for their beloved pets in their home when that pet owner, perhaps a busy professional themselves, must be away from the home for business trips.

A professional pet sitter should be trained by one of the national pet sitting organizations such as NAPPS (National Association of Professional Pet Sitters) a non-profit organization with pet sitter members across the country.

This organization provides a well trained pet sitting professional for America ’s pet lovers.  “When you are considering a pet sitter to care for your beloved pets be sure that the pet sitter is insured and has received training regarding emergency care procedures,” said Candance Godfrey , president of NAPPS. “A professional pet sitter should also have a number of references you can call to give you peace of mind. Remember that this trained pet sitter also cares for your home as well as your loved “family pet.” When your pet is cared for in its own home there seems to be much less stress to the pet in addition to there being a safeguard against diseases that could be contracted in public surroundings such as kennels or boarding facilities.

Experts in the pet sitting industry are noticing that persons who provide “babysitting” services and or “house sitting” services but are unqualified to offer care for your pet are widely advertised across the Internet. A pet owner should check the credentials of this pet sitter to verify that they do have the necessary training to take care of your furry family member as well as being bonded and insured. Also, it is common knowledge in the pet care industry that utilizing a professional pet sitter is far superior to boarding.

Often when boarded, our pets hear unfamiliar noises around them including other pets in pain and the stress of not seeing their owners or family members creates measurable stress on the family pet. Pet sitters are particularly important when you need your pets cared for in your home in the event that illness or injury occurs and the pet owner is unable to provide daily care for the animals. Professional pet sitters have received training in regards to your pet’s well being to include emergency care.

According to research, pet families are doing more to care for their pets. In the United States 71% of households have pets and 37% of pet owners consider their pets important family members. Spending on pets has more than doubled from $17 billion in 1994 to over $40 billion in 2006, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA). Over $10 billion of that amount was spent on health care and boarding of those pets. Pet sitting is the superior alternative to kenneling or boarding if just to reduce pet stress say industry experts.

"Our mission is to provide education and tools to increase professionalism as well as other NAPPS resources to new and existing NAPPS members,” Godfrey said. “We value highly the reputation of NAPPS members to provide superb pet sitting services in their local community as well as fostering a strong network of pet owners and referrals who know that, with a NAPPS member they get the best trained pet sitter available.”