How to Hire a Dog Walker or Pet Sitter in Portuguese — Practice

Ask about availability and experience

A dog walker can be called passeador or passeadora de cães, and a pet sitter is often cuidador or cuidadora de animais. Ask what days and times are available, and whether the person has cared for an animal with similar needs.

Agree on the length and location of the walk, how you will exchange keys if needed, and how the sitter will reach you. Confirm the practical details with the person you hire.

Give practical instructions for the walk

Use guia for leash, coleira for collar, and peitoral for harness. Explain which equipment the walker should use and where it is kept. If your pet reacts to other animals, describe what you have observed and ask how the walker handles that situation.

A simple sequence helps: where, when, and what to do. Keep contact instructions easy to find and make sure the sitter knows which number to use.

Set a clear update and return time

Ask the sitter to send a message after the walk or when they return. Combine me avise with a time or event: Me avise quando chegar (Let me know when you arrive). Confirm when the key will be returned and what to do if you are delayed.

For ongoing care, update the instructions when the schedule changes. A short written checklist reduces the chance that important details are lost in a quick handoff.

Remember: Agree on timing and contact, show the walker the correct equipment, and leave safety or routine instructions in writing.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. Are you available to walk Mel at four?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você tem disponibilidade para passear com a Mel às quatro?

2. How long does the walk last?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Quanto tempo dura o passeio?

3. Have you cared for an older dog before?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você já cuidou de um cachorro idoso?

4. The leash is hanging near the door.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   A guia está pendurada perto da porta.

5. If you come across another dog, could you cross the street?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Se encontrar outro cachorro, pode atravessar a rua?

6. Could you message me when you return?

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Você pode me mandar uma mensagem quando voltar?

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Agree on timing and contact, show the walker the correct equipment, and leave safety or routine instructions in writing.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our How to Hire a Dog Walker or Pet Sitter in Portuguese lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.