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Frequently Asked Questions
Do we board or provide daycare services? No, we do not board or have a daycare facility. We provide service in our customers' own homes. Where are we located and where will we go to pet sit? Pet Sitters, LLC is based in Timonium, Maryland. We cover Lutherville, Timonium including Mays Chapel, Cockeysville including Hunt Valley, Sparks-Glencoe, Monkton, Phoenix, Baldwin, Hydes, Glen Arm, and limited areas of Towson. We generally will not accept customers outside of these areas. We have very occasionally done visits outside of the usual area, but there is a $5.00 surcharge on out-of-area visits. Are we insured and bonded? Yes, Pet Sitters, LLC maintains liability insurance and bonding. There is currently no licensing for pet sitters and dog walkers in our area. How much do we charge? Our rates start at $20.00 per 30-minute visit. Most customers find 30 minutes to be a good length, but we will do longer visits at higher rates when requested. Some customers' pets require more than 30 minutes for all the necessary tasks to be completed, in which case we will charge more than $20.00. All visits are extra on major holidays, starting at $30.00 for 30-minute visits. Please see the Services and Fees page for more detailed information. Will we stay overnight? How much does that cost? Yes, we do offer overnight service. The standard overnight rate is $65.00, which includes a separate 30-minute visit. That's just $5.00 more than separate dinnertime, nighttime and morning visits! Like all visits, overnight stays are also subject to a surcharge on major holidays. See our page on Services and Fees for more details. What forms of payment are accepted? We currently accept cash, checks made out to Pet Sitters, LLC, and payments through Google Pay to [email protected]. We do not currently directly accept credit card payments. Will a sitter live in my home full-time while I am gone? No, we do not offer live-in service during the daytime, only overnight. For which species will we care? We accept customers with a variety of species, from the usual cats and dogs to all sorts of birds, fish, small mammals, small reptiles, horses, alpacas and more. No tigers, giraffes, chimpanzees or crocodiles, please! How do we get started? The first step for any new customer is to decide how many times per day you will need a walker or sitter, for how long each time (standard is 30 minutes), and approximately what times. We recommend deciding this before calling or emailing us, but we are happy to help you decide what might best fit your needs and our schedules. The next step is for us to schedule a time to come to your home to meet you and your pets, exchange all of the information we need, pick up any keys, and sign the service contract. Our service contract only needs to be signed once and does not obligate you to use our services on any specific dates. How far in advance should I book? We don't have any hard and fast requirements for this and try to fit customers in whenever possible, but we recommend that new customers book their visits between two weeks to one month in advance to make sure we have time for our initial meeting and your visit times are reserved. If you're not sure exactly how many visits you will need yet, we recommend booking the maximum number of visits you think you might possibly need well in advance to make sure that you are on our schedule and then confirming the actual visits needed closer to the start date. If I need weekly service, does it have to be the same days every week? No, we do not require that weekly dog walks always be on the same days every week. Will we keep your keys or return them? It's your choice. We will return your keys if requested. We prefer to keep the keys that customers give us on hand for future use whenever possible. It saves us travel time and gas money, and it makes doing last-minute visits easier. We've also had a number of customers call us over the years to help them get back in without a locksmith's services after getting locked out of their homes. How many key copies should I make? We strongly suggest making at least two copies of any keys we will need before our initial meeting. Visits may sometimes have to be split between multiple sitters, and having a second copy as a back-up occasionally comes in handy even when one sitter is scheduled to do every visit. Two copies are required for all weekly customers. If needed, we can also get copies made ourselves. What should I do when I get home from a trip? We like to know that you got home safe and sound and your pets are taken care of, so please call, email, or text us within 24 hours of your arrival at home. Will we administer medications? Yes, we will give pets their medications at no extra charge, provided that it can be done within the allotted visit time. It is very rare for giving medication to take so long that we have to charge for extra time. Will we do visits every other day? No. For the sake of your pet and home's safety, we do not allow every-other-day visits for cats and other small animals unless a friend/relative/neighbor/other sitter will be checking in on the other days. It's just too much time for any problems to potentially go unnoticed. Should I tip the sitter or walker? Tips are neither obligatory nor expected, but the sitters and walkers definitely love to get them! |
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