Pet Sitters International (PSI), the world’s leading educational association for professional pet-sitting and dog-walking business owners, has named Amy Munns, owner of Leash4Lease, Inc. in Poulsbo, Washington, as its 2026 Pet Sitter of the Year.
PSI’s greatest honour, the Pet Sitter of the Year Award, is given out every year to a member who demonstrates extraordinary professionalism, exceptional knowledge of pet care, and a strong dedication to PSI’s Global Standards for Professional Pet-Sitting and Dog-Walking Businesses.
“PSI’s membership includes some of the most passionate, dedicated, and highly educated pet-care business owners in the industry, which makes selecting an annual award recipient no easy task,” said PSI President Beth Stultz-Hairston. “Amy’s longevity in the industry, commitment to continuing education, and deeply personal approach to her business make her an outstanding representative of our profession and a role model for fellow pet sitters and dog walkers.”
Munns will represent the professional pet-sitting sector all year long as the 2026 Pet Sitter of the Year. Additionally, she will receive official recognition at PSI’s 2026 Pet Sitter World Educational Conference, which is set for November in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Munns has around 25 years of experience in the position. In 2001, she left a corporate profession to start her own pet care company after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Business and a Master of Science in Industrial Organisation Psychology. She joined PSI and started Leash4Lease, Inc. in the same year. She further proved her dedication to her career in 2019 when she obtained the CPPS-Certified Professional Pet Sitter accreditation.
Munns currently oversees a staff of ten workers and provides dog walking and pet sitting services to about 150 clients throughout Kitsap County. Her company is well known for both its significant community participation through supporting local junior sports teams and its extremely personal customer service, which includes handwritten client notes. She shares knowledge from her decades of experience in the field as a mentor to other pet care professionals.
Expressing her gratitude, Munns said she plans to use her platform to uplift and connect pet-care professionals throughout 2026. “I want to focus on celebrating all that we, as individual business owners, do and are,” she said. “Small, independent businesses are the backbone of our communities, and we deserve to celebrate who we are and what we’ve built.”
MiKayla Anders of Adventures in Pet Sitting (Salina, Kansas), Cynthia Hess of Your Fairy Catmother (Temple, Pennsylvania), Michelle Hilaire of 4 Pet’s Sake Pet Care (La Plata, Maryland), and Maris Sonnabend of House of Paws Pet Care (Eureka, Missouri) were the other top five finalists for the 2026 Pet Sitter of the Year Award.