How Much Does Dog Walking Cost in Cleveland, Ohio?

People always appeared to be shocked when I tell them I had to ‘fire’ a client.  Who turns business away, right?  They don’t seem to understand that providing a service is a two way street and we do occasionally have to tell people we will can no longer provide service to them.  We hate to do it and we don't want to, but sometimes there is just no other way around it.  We provide a premium service and want only the very best for your pets and expect that you do too. Following are six reasons that we may fire you as a client:

1. You Disrespect Our Policies

We have policies for a reason.  It makes sure that things run smoothly and there are no misunderstandings.  When someone disrespects our policies, they disrespect our service.

2. You Schedule Services And Then Repeatedly Cancel

We understand that schedules change and that occasionally life happens and you need to cancel your pet sitting services.  However when it happens every single time you schedule service we will tell you the next time you want to book you will need to pay in full, in advance, non-refundable before we will put you on the schedule.  If you continually schedule then cancel, schedule then cancel you may be denied service.

3. Your Pets Are Too Aggressive

This is a main reason we meet with clients before they go away so we can assess how your pets will react to our presence.  Most of the time they are fine but every once in a while we’ll run into a pet that acts COMPLETELY different with mom and dad not home.  Oddly enough, we’ve had more attack cats than problems with dogs.  It’s stressful and dangerous and it’s just not worth risking our lives or well-being over.

4. Your House Smells So Bad It Makes Our Eyes Water

I’m no Home & Garden expert so please don’t think we’re talking about messy or cluttered homes here.  Our policy is as long as the pets are taken care of and it’s safe for us to be there who are we to judge?  Once in a while though we run into a home that is just so dirty it’s a health hazard.  If it smells so badly of urine soaked carpet that it makes our eyes water, we will not sit for you again.

5. Constant Unwarranted Complaints

I’m sure we all know people that just LIVE to find fault.  They thrive on it.  We do our best to rectify the occasional complaint we get but sometimes they’re just over the top.  No one is going to die if the leash is hung up on the third rung of the coat rack instead of the second.  It’s also not our fault the litter box was full when you got home 36 hours after our last visit because you have three cats and one litter box the size of a small shoebox for all three of them to use.   If your complaints are consistently unwarranted, you’ll be denied service.

6. Too Many Non-Pet Sitting Demands

We are pet sitters.  We take care of PETS.  We are not home health aides.  We will not help you put your socks or bra on every day.  We will not scratch off lottery tickets for you or open your mail.   We will not carry in the groceries from your car or curl your hair for you.  We will not babysit your children.  We are not cleaning people; although we DO intend on your house being as clean if not cleaner when you get home than when you left.  We are not personal assistants.  We will not drive your dogs in your car to the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru to get you an iced coffee because it’s raining and your dogs don’t want to walk in the rain.  If you ask too many ridiculous things that are not pet sitting related we may just have to let you go. The above were all real life examples of circumstances we have encountered with over the years! So there you have it!  Six reasons we may fire you as a pet sitting client.

We are very good at our jobs and can usually give you a very good estimate of what time your pet sitter will be there to visit your pets.  We can generally give a range within 60 minutes either way (or a two hour time frame).  We cannot however GUARANTEE an exact time.  There are several reasons for this:

1. If there is an emergency at a visit scheduled before yours we need to attend to the emergency.
2. If the weather is really bad (ie. blizzard, tornado) and the roads are bad it may take longer to navigate between visits. We also have priority policies in place for these weather conditions.
3. If the primary pet sitter gets into a car accident and the backup sitter needs to be mobilized it will take longer to get to your house.
4. If the power goes out overnight and the sitter’s alarm doesn’t go off, they may be delayed.
5. If there are road blocks and detours it will take longer to reach our destination.
6. If we get a last minute addition or a last minute cancellation your visit may be moved up or back to accommodate the schedule.
7. If we have two visits in the same neighborhood and another visit ten miles away, we’re going to do the two in the same neighborhood back to back, rather than criss-crossing across the Greater Cleveland area.  We plan our route each day to have the least mileage possible.

These are all real life examples that have happened to us which affected the timing of our next scheduled visit.  No matter what, we WILL get there but occasionally there might be an issue that causes a slight time shift.  Obviously visits requiring time sensitive medications take priority. We do our very best each and every day to make sure your pets are well cared for and comfortable.

Have you ever heard of a professional pet sitting service? Well, chances are if you are viewing this article then you have, but maybe just in the last few minutes.

Pet sitting and Dog Walking services have been around for a long time, but the industry really just boomed maybe 10 to 15 years ago. Most services before then were only in the biggest cities and usually performed only by individuals. Today there are several national organizations and countless more local organizations that promote the industry through standards and cooperation.

Now that we've covered some history, lets move on to this article main point and title - What to expect when hiring a Professional Pet Sitting or Dog Walking service.

Most individuals and families that find themselves searching for a pet sitter or dog walker are either going on vacation, busy with their jobs or have recently added a new "furry family member" and need some help with the care for the new found friend while they are are away. Again, either going on a vacation or busy at work. But some are also elderly who have found it recently difficult to continue to care for their pets solely on their own. When many of these groups are searching they will first look online with a simple keyword search such as "Cleveland Dog Walking" or "Pet Sitter Cuyahoga county" and this is likely the way you've landed here, although through the majic of the internet you may have found this article in a variety of other searches. The first step you'll take in selecting your pet sitter or dog walker will probably be clicking on their links that you found in those searches. So let's skip ahead a bit. Let's say you've already research a few or several and have found one that you'd like to call to see what they can offer you and what the cost is. The process may go something like as follows:

1) You, the client, called or emailed the pet sitting or dog walking service2) The service answers / or calls you back (dependant on hours of operation or size of company)
3) You and the company have asked and answered some questions about what you are looking for.

Here's the step that may trip some people up...

4) The company suggests a "Meet n' Greet" ... wait - what!? What exactly is a Meet n' Greet?

A Meet n' Greet is an in-home consultation where you and your potential pet sittter (or maybe owner of the company) meet at your home for the purose of getting to know your pets and for you to feel more comfortable with their service; after all, letting someone new into your home is always a stressful experience. The meeting also facilitates the filling out of a few forms and in some cases contractual documents. Usually it will entail the companies policies, emergency preparedness plans, and veterinary release forms. Of these the first two are rather self explantory, but what that release form? This document essentially gives you sitter or walker the permission to have the animal treated in an emergency by a vet. And this is also very good to have on file at the vet office so if their is concern regarding care limits the sitter already has the answer. You can also expect to pay for the service (or at least the first week or so) up front. This is typical to reserve your time and sitter. However, some pet sitting and dog walking services will bill afterwards.

Ok. So now we know the meet n greet. What about after that?

GREAT QUESTION - I'm glad you asked!

Many companies today are tech advanced so they will either enter your information into their scheduling systems or send you a link to fill out the information. They will also confirm your visits and schedule them. In the future you might have to schedule them via an online scheduling system, though most services will take phone calls, texts and emails. During your service period they will provide the service you are looking for such as pet sitting, dog walking, overnight in-home care, potty breaks, litter cleaning etc. Some will even handle the less common pets such as reptiles and amphibians. Many services offer to send you a text or email after the service is completed just to let you know that everything is "A O K", although some accomplish similar reporting through logs or notebooks or a hybrid of it all.

So most of this is understandable, right? Good. But maybe you are curious about what you should ask your potential sitter at the meet n greet. Another great question!

It is simple - whatever you want! But you should include a few staples. Here they are:

1) Are you insured? - THIS ONE IS VERY IMPORTANT. Insurance protects your animal and the company in the event of an accident involving the animal while it was in the care, custody and control of the pet sitter. Typically it covers accidents that are a product of willful and negligent behavior. However, many accidents are not due to this circumstance and just happen and may have been unpreventable.

2) Are you bonded? - Some companies carry dishonesty bonds - which is basically another type of insurance that covers the sitter actually being in your home and either something comes up missing or is broken etc. While it is rare that these instances occur, it is still a good idea for a service to be bonded especially if they have employees or independent contractors, because as much work as the company may have put into the research of their workers - things still happen. So bonding is sort of a way of keeping honest people honest and dishonest people at bay.

3) References? - Definitely get this. Even if the service or sitter is new to the industry they should have at least personal reference to make available. The newer sitter may need a day or two to get permission from a few people before offering up their information.

4) First Aid Certified / CPR Certified? - Many pet sitting/dog walking services require that their employees or independent contractors to be certified in pet first aid. Some are also requiring pet CPR certification. Usually these certifications are granted by the American Red Cross or PET TECH. Some newer services may not have this available so its a good idea to evaluate your sitter to make they at least have good common sense. (ie. what to do/not to do to prevent accidents in the first place)

5) Are they affiliated with a national or local organization? Many pet services today are part of organizations (as mentioned previously) that promote the industry through cooperation and standards. These may be organizations such as Pet Sitting Partners of Northeast Ohio, Pet Sitters International, Professional United Pet Sitters, or the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. It's a good practice to ask this to evaluate whether or not your potential sitter or service is serious about what their doing. Some new sitters may not have taken this step yet.

So there you have it. A quick (sort-of) guide to hiring your next or first pet sitter, dog walker or service. We hope it helps. Happy Hunting!