Frequently Asked Questions
Why use a pet sitter?
It is sometimes difficult to impose on friends, family, and neighbors, especially during the work day or holidays. There is less likely to be a time conflict or a feeling of imposition with a sitter dedicated to your pet. We offer the best of both worlds by keeping our professional service personable and super friendly. You can expect handwritten notes for each visit too!
Why use a dog walker?
Increasingly busy households with both partners working mean pets are often left on their own all day leaving the pets bored and unhappy and potentially destructive plus the owners consumed with guilt. The family dynamic has changed and the children who, in the past, could be relied on to excercise and play with pets, have grown into uncooperative teenagers. Perhaps a new baby is on the way or has already arrived and there is simply not the same amount of time or energy. Changes in health, whether permanent or temporary can make it impossible to give your pet the time or the energy required to keep it healthy and happy. Later in the year evening walks become more difficult with fading light. Having a pet is a huge responsibility and is sometimes entered into without considering the full implications and the responsibility can become a burden without help.
What type of pets do you care for?
Mostly we care for dogs and cats, plus many types of small animals. Feel free to email us about any additional animals you may need care for. We apologize but we do not provide care for dogs aggressive to people. Dogs aggressive to other dogs will be considered on a case by case basis.
When can my pet and I meet you?
An initial meeting with us is set-up in the pet’s home environment at no charge to you. We try to schedule this a minimum of one week prior to your reservation to allow enough time to go over paperwork, questions and your pet’s information. Two sets of keys will be exchanged at this time as well as paperwork dropped off.
I am considering setting up weekly afternoon visits for my two dogs. How do I schedule a time for them?
After our initial meeting we will have gotten a fairly good picture of your dogs’ daily routine.We try the best we can to keep the routine what your dog is used to or introduce a halftime point if scheduling new weekly afternoon visits. We try to keep a two hour window for dog walks and one hour window for puppy visits. However, there may be unexpected delays while caring for other pets or traffic.
What is your cancellation policy? Is it any different for holidays or weekends? What if I return home early or later than I expected?
We’re pretty easy going, we just ask that you would let us know at least 48 hours earlier to cancel one visit to get your payment credited back to you. If you’d like to discontinue afternoon weekly visits, we ask for two weeks notice. There are no contracts so you can rest easy. For cancellations for the same day, your pet’s time is already reserved and scheduled in your sitters day, that cannot be refunded. If you’d like to cancel for a weekend, please give us at least a week’s notice. Holidays are very special to your family and ours, we ask for 20 percent of your payment due at the time of reservation. If you need to cancel a major holiday with less than two weeks notice your deposit will not be refunded.We also offer peace of mind. If you get unexpectedly delayed on a plane or any other place you cannot get to a phone, don’t worry. Your sitter will continue to visit your pet until we hear from you! Just kindly give us a call when you get in so we don’t worry.
When is payment due and what forms are accepted?
Payment is due the first Monday of your scheduled service. For example, if your reservation is for Thursday through Sunday you would send payment the Monday before that Thursday. This ensures payments are completed before you travel in case of any mistakes or other complications when you might not be readily reachable. Weekly afternoon clients may send payment on Mondays each week as well, any refunds will be applied to the following week. We accept cash, cheque or bank transfer at the moment.
