Policies

Free Standing Homes & Apartments/Condos with direct, private access:

1. [PREFERRED] We will provide you with a Family Pet Sitters lock box and hang it wherever you prefer for us to retrieve the key and replace the keys in it when your service is finished. We’ll program it with a code for our use and it is always available for you to use, should you need it. If you need to change the code, just be sure to update your lock box code in the Pet Care Portal. There is a one-time $25 deposit for the lockbox.
2. Provide a DOOR CODE if you have an electronic lock. Please note, if power or batteries fail, we may not be able to enter your residence to care for you pets. You may want consider using the preferred lockbox method as a back up.
3. You will need to provide two (2) copies of physical keys for Family Pet Sitters to keep on file. One is an emergency backup. Keys are coded with an internal number and stored in a secured location.

Apartment Buildings

• You should be able to leave a key or key fob. If your building has a door code for the primary entry point, you will need to provide us one so that we may enter your building.
• You will need to provide two (2) copies of physical keys or key fobs. One is an emergency backup. Keys are coded with an internal number and stored in a secured location. If your building has a door code for the primary entry point, you will need to provide us one so that we may enter your building. Some buildings allow for the key fob to access it. Some (but not many) apartment buildings allow for lockboxes to be put at the primary door, ask your property manager about their policies.

Holiday Surcharges are applied to each service requested on and around the weekday and weekends of Holidays. Including:

• New Years’ Eve/ New Years’ Day – December 31st/ January 1st.
• Easter Sunday
• Memorial Day – Last Monday of May.
• Independence Day – July 4th.
• Labor Day – First Monday of September.
• Thanksgiving Day – 4th Thursday of November.
• Christmas Eve/ Christmas Day – December 24th/25th.

Holiday Surcharge Pricing

• $10.00 per Visit for 20, 30 & 45 Min visits
• $15.00 for 1-hour Visits
• $25.00 for Overnight Stays

*New Years eve daily dog walking clients have a waived holiday fee between 10-3

Fee’s

While we are available for last minute bookings availability is limited and we do charge for late booking fee as follows:

• $10 Last Minute Visits (24 Hours Before Service/Day of)
• $30 Last minute vacation booking 72 hours or less and more than 2 visits

At Family Pet Sitters, we understand that life can be unpredictable, and sometimes you may need to cancel or reschedule services. While we completely empathize with this, we also want to be transparent about the impact of last-minute cancellations. We pride ourselves on employing a dedicated team of pet care professionals who genuinely love and care for your animals. To ensure we can continue providing the best possible service for your pets, maintain a happy and productive team, and keep our operations running smoothly, we’ve implemented a Cancellation Policy.

Why Do We Have a Cancellation Policy?

Our cancellation policy is designed to benefit both our clients and our business, ensuring that we can provide the highest quality care for your pets while respecting our staff’s time. In the pet care industry, our Pet Care Specialists can only be in one location at a time. As such, when a cancellation occurs with little notice, it’s often impossible to fill that time slot with another client, meaning our staff may not be compensated for their time.

By enforcing this policy, we can guarantee our team consistent schedules and steady income, which in turn helps us attract and retain the best, most qualified pet care professionals. We take pride in not settling for anything less than top-notch, experienced, and professional dog walkers and pet sitters because we believe our clients—your pets—deserve the best.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support. We’re committed to providing exceptional care and appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain a high standard of service.

Dog Walking clients cancellations are defined as 2 or more dog walking services scheduled per week, on an ongoing, monthly basis. Daily dog walking clients will experience our flexible cancellation policy. We understand that day-to-day circumstances may cause a last-minute schedule change (sick day, weather-related change in schedule) and as long as we are notified by 8 pm the day before a scheduled walk, the Client will be credited the service fee for the canceled visit. If the visit is canceled after 8 pm the day before the Client will pay for the full prices of the visit. Day or Time “swapping” subject to availability.

Pet Sitting service visit are defined as part of a “one-time series” of subsequent visits, over a predefined period such as two or longer, and are subject to a cancellation policy.

If cancelled within 72 hours of the start date, Client will be responsible for 100% of the invoice for booked/confirmed services. These also apply to services that are cut short, for instance, if the Client returns early and cancels remaining services. Holiday reservations are non-creditable and non-refundable.

We believe these policies act in the best interests of our Clients, as well as Family Pet Sitters team members!

All M-F 10-3 weekly dog walking visits are to be paid in full on Friday

All vacation payments are due 72 hours in advance. Holiday payments are due in full 3 weeks out.

We charge a 3% processing fee when using credit cards. We do have the option to use ACH without a charge.

Daily Dog walking clients/vacation care clients:

• Potty breaks only
• Shortened walks
• Inside play/cuddle/enrichment time

Daily dog walking clients when an owner is home and they are not relying on us for potty breaks.

• We will 100% cancel the walk unless you opt to have us come over to let them out to potty because they need that.

( this is when there is storms that are unsafe to walk in and temps at varying low ranges, this is up to the client to determine safe walk temps)

• They will have the option to move the walk to a non-walk day.
• They can opt to understand the walk length will be shortened to keep the pups safe.

Snow removal is the responsibility of the client to make sure your property can be safely accessed in the event ice and snow.