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I've never used a pet sitter before. What do I need to do?
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We at While You Were Out Pet Care know how difficult it can be to go away and leave your pets behind-—whether you’re out of town or just off for a long work day. But we hope to make preparing to leave your pets as easy and stress-free as possible!
We will begin with a free consultation at your home (see below for more details). Once the consultation is completed, we will have all the information we need to provide loving, reliable, trustworthy care for your pets and your property. You will only need to complete the consultation and initial paperwork once. For later service, you will simply need to schedule your dates with us, alert us to any changes that have taken place since your consultation, and make sure that we have access to all the supplies we will need. We’ll take care of the rest! We want you to feel confident and comfortable leaving your pets in our care, and we will work very hard to ensure your peace of mind.
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What happens at the consultation?
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Your free consultation will serve several purposes:
- We will get to meet you and your pets—and you will get to meet us.
- We will answer any questions you may have.
- We will explain our policies and the services we provide.
- We will collect detailed information about your pets—their care and feeding, behavior, schedules, likes & dislikes, medical issues, locations of all necessary supplies and much more.
- We will collect detailed information about your home and property—key and security alarm details, plant care, schedules for garbage and recycling service, and much more.
- We will get from you keys and alarm codes needed to access your building, home, mailbox, etc.
- We will provide you with an estimate for your service.
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How much notice do you need?
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The more the better! The less notice you can give, the greater the chance that we will be fully booked for the dates you need service. In particular, the Christmas/New Year holidays tend to book very early. Naturally, we encourage you to call to check our availability even if you don’t have much notice, and we will do our best to meet your needs.
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Who will perform the visits?
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All visits are performed by Connie Schachtel, Owner, While You Were Out Pet Care.
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What if something happens to you and you can't get to my pets?
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While You Were Out Pet Care, LLC has relationships with several other highly regarded local pet sitting services. Should something happen to us at While You Were Out Pet Care, emergency plans are in place for another service to assume the care of your pets. Every attempt will be made to contact you in case of such an event.
Although rare, other situations exist that could prevent us from reaching your pets. In the case of severe weather, natural disaster, or federal emergency, we will use our best judgment as to how to best care for your pets. We will make every attempt to reach your pets. Depending on the situation, we may also try to reach your emergency contacts for assistance, seek help from other pet sitting services that may be closer to your home, leave out extra food and supplies to make up for visits that may be missed, etc. The care of your pets is our very first priority, and we are committed to providing the very best care possible under any circumstances.
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What if something happens to prevent me from getting home to my pets as scheduled?
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We require all clients to call us when they return from out of town trips. If we do not hear from you, we will continue to make visits as scheduled, at our regular rate +50%. We strictly enforce this policy to ensure that your pets are not left without care if you are unable to return home as scheduled.
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What if my plans change or I need to cancel my service?
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For out of town care: You will only be responsible for those visits cancelled less than 72 hours in advance. For mid-day dog walks: You will only be responsible for those walks cancelled less than 24 hours in advance.
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What if my pet gets sick or injured?
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We will make every attempt to reach you if your pet becomes sick or injured. During your consultation, you will sign an Emergency Authorization that we will keep in your file. This form will authorize While You Were Out Pet Care to seek veterinary attention for your pets. The form allows you to specify the veterinarian and emergency clinic you prefer to use. It also authorizes us to choose another appropriate veterinarian should your preferred doctors be unavailable.
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How often will you visit my pets each day?
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While You Were Out Pet Care requires a minimum of one visit per day for cats, and two visits per day for dogs (mid-day dog walking clients excepted). Some pets may need more than the minimum number of visits per day due to medical or diet issues, the need to get outside more frequently, or the desire for more exercise and/or attention. We will work with you to determine the best number of visits for your particular situation.
We cannot visit cats every other day, or dogs less than twice a day.
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When will the visits take place?
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Generally speaking, if we are visiting your pets once a day, the visit will take place in the late morning/early afternoon. If we are visiting your pets more than once a day, we will space out the visits to break up the day as evenly as possible. Mid-day dog walks take place between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Except in the case of medical issues (such as insulin shots), we are unable to guarantee specific visit times. If you have concerns regarding scheduling, please feel free to discuss them with us anytime.
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How long will each visit last?
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Pet sitting visits most often last for 30 minutes. Mid-day dog walks can be scheduled for 30, 45, or 60 minutes. We can certainly arrange for visits of various durations if you desire a different length of time, or if we are unable to complete all necessary tasks in the standard time period.
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Who provides the supplies?
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One of the advantages of using a pet sitter is that your pets are allowed to remain in their own familiar environment, with their own food, bedding, treats, leashes, cat litter, etc. Therefore, we will use supplies that you provide for us rather than bringing our own. This also allows us to keep our prices as affordable as possible.
If you run out of anything, While You Were Out Pet Care will purchase additional supplies. You will be responsible for paying an hourly fee plus the cost of the supplies.
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What are your payment policies?
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For out of town care: We will leave an invoice for you on the last day of service. For mid-day dog walks: We will leave an invoice for you on the last day of service for each month. If no visits are scheduled near the end of the month, we will mail an invoice to you. Your payment is due 15 days from the invoice date. Penalties will be incurred for late payments.
An additional fee of $10/day will be charged on all major holidays.
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What are your policies for keeping my keys and alarm codes safe?
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While not in use, all keys/codes will be kept in a locked safe at the offices of While You Were Out Pet Care. While in use, all keys/codes will be kept on the person of your petsitter.
Further, your keys will NOT be marked with your name, address, telephone number, or any other easily identifiable information. While You Were Out Pet Care uses a system for key identification that is specially intended to make it difficult for someone to match keys to client files and information. We feel confident that, should the keys/codes fall into the wrong hands, your security and safety would not be threatened. Should your keys be lost or otherwise mishandled, we would contact you as soon as possible.
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What happens to my keys after my service?
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We recommend that you keep your keys on file with us. If we have your keys on file, we can arrange for future visits without requiring the additional $15 key pick-up charge. Your keys will be kept on file in a locked safe at the offices of While You Were Out Pet Care.
If you prefer to have your keys returned to you, we will make arrangements to do so. You will need to be home to receive your keys; for security reasons we cannot leave keys for you.
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How can I find out how my pets are doing?
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We are always happy to give you an update on your pets! We encourage you to call us to check in. If your call is received outside the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. PST we will return your call the following day. We can also
provide updates via email.
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How do I get started?
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Just give us a call at 206.297.1834, or send email to
connie@whileyouwereoutpetcare.com. We'd be delighted to hear from you! Visit our Getting Started page for more information.
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