Frequently Asked Questions
Services:
What do you do on a visit?
In-home pet care allows your pet to stay in their familiar surroundings and maintain their normal routine while you are away. All of our pet visits include fresh food and water, medication administration when necessary, exercise and play, cuddles and brushing (if your pet so chooses), litter box cleaning for cats, and basic house-sitting services. Those services include security checks, plant watering, curbside garbage placement, light and blind adjustment, and mail collection.
How long is a visit?
We do not charge per minute for our pet-sitting services. Instead, we stay long enough to make sure your pet has received the care and attention that he or she deserves. However, a typical cat visit will last approximately 25-35 minutes while a typical dog visit will last approximately 45-60 minutes.
How much does pet sitting cost?
Our services are priced according to the type and number of pet(s) you have. Cat visits start at $29 and dog visits start at $33. We also have overnight care and combo visits for multi-pet households. For more information, check out our rates page or contact us.
How many times should my pet sitter come during my trip?
For the safety of your pet, we do require a minimum of once-per-day visits for all pets and a minimum of three visits per day or overnight care plus a midday visit for dog-sitting clients. If you and your pet would prefer more attention, we can come more frequently or we can provide overnight care.
Can my pet sitter stay overnight?
Absolutely! Several of our pet sitters provide overnight services subject to your location and their availability. We have 2 lengths of overnight care: 12-hour and 14-hour visits. Both typically begin between 6 and 9 pm and end between 6 and 9 am depending on your pet’s needs and your sitter’s schedule. Contact us to learn more.
Can you let me know how my pet is doing while I’m away?
Our pet sitters provide personalized communication plans while you’re away. You tell us how often to stay in touch via email, phone, or text messaging and we send care reports and photos or videos of your pets to provide peace of mind when you can’t be there.
I’ve put in my service request, now what?
If you are a new client, you will receive a quote from us based on your initial requirements. Once you’ve reviewed your quote, let us know about any changes needed or approve your quote, and we will send you a link to our authorization form and client portal setup. After you complete those we will contact you with the name of your pet sitter. That person will set up an in-home meeting with you and your pets. This is the time that you’ll get to personally introduce your sitter to your pets, show your sitter your home, and discuss your routine, along with thoughts, questions, concerns, and requests.
Sitters:
Who will my pet sitter be?
We have 23 pet sitters on staff with a wide variety of experiences and specialties. We match each client with a pet sitter based on their location, schedule request, and type of pet. All of our pet sitters are thoroughly vetted with in-depth background checks. Each member of our team is passionate about animals and committed to making your pet a priority.
Will I always have the same pet sitter?
We utilize a team approach to pet care. You will be assigned a primary pet sitter who will perform the bulk of your service requests. However, life can get in the way and your sitter may not always be available. In that case, we provide backup pet sitters who remain members of your pet care team in the event that your primary sitter is unavailable. You will meet your backup sitters just like the primary so that you and your pet are comfortable with all of the team members and you know that your pet will be cared for in case of an emergency.
Can I choose my pet sitter?
You certainly can request a specific pet sitter. If you do so, we will do our best to accommodate that request. However, if that sitter is unavailable we will match you with a different pet sitter who can be available during your requested visit times.
What happens if my assigned sitter cannot make it to a visit?
That’s where your team comes in! If your assigned pet sitter is suddenly unavailable for one or more visits, we immediately contact both you (to let you know) and the other members of your pet care team (to find an available substitute) to ensure that your pet’s care is not interrupted.
Do I meet my pet sitter before service?
Yes you do! We provide free in-home meetings for all new clients to give you a chance to introduce your sitter to your pets and to discuss any questions or requests you may have. This will also give your pet sitter a chance to make sure that they know where everything related to your pet’s care will be in your home.
Is my pet sitter insured and bonded?
Absolutely. Our company is licensed, bonded, and insured for you and your pet’s protection against damage or injury.
How do I tip my pet sitter?
If you’d like to tip your pet sitter you can do so on your client invoice when you pay or you can pay the sitter directly, either via check, cash, or mobile payment services (such as Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc).
General:
When can I book services?
You can reserve pet sit dates up to 2 years in advance. If you are a new client, you must book 3 or more days in advance of the first visit in order for us to have time to get you set up in our system and have your pet sitter meet with you.
I am leaving in two days and do not have time to meet my pet sitter. Will you visit my pets without meeting them?
Unfortunately, no. For both the safety of your pets and the safety of our pet sitters we must do an in-person meet and greet for all new clients prior to providing pet care.
What information do I need to provide at the meet and greet?
All of your basic contact and pet care information (feeding, schedule, vaccinations, pet behavior) should have been entered into our system prior to your meet and greet. This is the time to show your pet sitter where all of the necessary supplies are, how to arm and disarm your alarm system, and where cleaning supplies or the utilities are. This is also a great time to show your pet sitter any necessary training cues or habits your pet has. We all love to show off how smart our pets are, and our sitters love to see pets interacting with their families! This gives us a good example of how you’d like us to interact with your pets.
Do I need to provide 2 copies of my key?
We must have 2 methods of entry into your home in case of emergency. If your backup pet sitter needs to take over a pet sit and cannot get to the key being held by the current pet sitter, they need a way to enter your home. The best solution is to have 2 copies of your key. One copy will remain with your primary pet sitter in a lockbox and the other will stay in the office lockbox in case of emergencies. If that is not feasible we can also use garage codes. If you do use a garage or door code as the primary means of entry, we request that you also provide a key in case of power outage.
If you live in an apartment or secure building and are unable to provide copies of your key we can waive this policy.
What locations do you service?
We provide pet sitting services to a large portion of the Twin Cities metro area. For more details about what towns we cover, they’re listed at the bottom of our home page here.
How early should I book my service request?
As mentioned above, you can book up to 2 years in advance, but you do not need to do so. We do request that you book pet care services as early as you know you’ll need them so that we can make sure your pet sitter is available. We sometimes cannot accommodate last minute (within 48 hours) pet sit requests, particularly during holidays. Our holiday weeks, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas, do book up completely, so please submit your requests early before holidays to ensure a reservation.
Do you charge a holiday fee?
Yes we do. We apply a $20 surcharge to the following holidays that goes directly to your pet sitter: New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
What is your cancellation policy?
If you cancel your pet sit more than 2 days in advance you will receive a full refund. If you cancel your pet sit 1-2 days prior to service you will receive a 50% refund. We do not refund same-day cancellations. Cancellations due to severe weather or family emergencies may be refunded.
What if I forgot to leave enough food/litter/supplies for my pet while I am away?
No problem! For an additional fee (plus the cost of the supplies) our pet sitters can pick up basic pet care supplies to use for the remainder of your trip.
What happens in an emergency?
If there is a medical emergency, our pet sitter will notify you and transport your pet to the vet for medical care if necessary. Once there, the pet sitter can act as liaison between you and the vet to discuss treatment options. If there is an emergency in your home, our pet sitter will contact you and/or your emergency contact to take care of whatever problem has arisen.
We request that your emergency contact be a local with access to your home in the case that someone needs to be physically present. If your furnace goes out in the winter or if severe weather makes it impossible for your sitter to safely get to your home we need to be able to contact this person to request their assistance.
Should I have an end of life directive for myself and my pets?
No one wants to think about the worst case scenario, but we want to be prepared. Many of our clients provide instructions on what to do in case of their death or the death of their pet. It is not required, but is helpful to our company to know your wishes in the case of a casualty.
If you do not provide a specific directive, we will connect with your emergency contact to create a plan for continued care of your pets.
What happens in severe weather?
In case of extreme weather, every effort will be made to drive to your home, but the service schedule may be altered or interrupted due to circumstances. If it is not possible to drive safely to your home, your emergency contact will be notified. You will be informed that the contingency plan has been activated and that credit has been applied to your account for that visit.
In extreme weather, dog walks may also be cut short or removed completely from the visit and indoor playtime will occur instead.
Are my personal information and payment method secure?
Security online is not about getting one thing right, it’s about employing best in class technologies and practices in everything you do. Our Client Portal uses a combination of measures to ensure our platform is safe to use.
Our secure system combines a solid implementation of encryption with world class Amazon EC2 hosted servers and best in class credit card security from Stripe to provide an overall solution that is as safe as it is possible to be in the current technology landscape.
What are your Covid-19 policies and safety protocols?
Our pet sitters follow CDC and WHO guidelines for safe interactions with both pets and humans. All sitters are masking, washing their hands frequently, utilizing gloves or their own supplies as necessary, and maintaining the required 6 feet of social distancing when interacting with clients. Our sitters are also wiping down surfaces that we come into contact with in each home after use.
We are requesting that any clients who are home during their pet sits or dog walks attempt to maintain that distance as well. We also request that if you or someone you have come into contact with has symptoms of, a diagnosis of, or a high risk of contracting Covid-19 please let us know so that we can adjust accordingly.