Frequently Asked Questions
WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE A PET SITTER OVER BOARDING MY PET? There are actually quite a few benefits to hiring a pet sitter and keeping your pets at home! By staying at home, your pets have access to all of their normal, everyday comforts. They can stay where they are familiar, and they can keep their daily routines as close to usual as possible. Pet sitting is also wonderful for pets who may experience anxiety being in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by other unfamiliar pets. Your pets will receive one-on-one attention, just like they would if you were at home! Additionally, there is no increased risk of potential illness or injury to them, being around other pets they don’t know. Additionally, you can eliminate the stress of having to travel with your pet(s) and remembering to pack all of their supplies! Having someone stop by if you're away on a long trip will also make it look as though someone is home, and we will always alert you if something seems out of place. In addition to caring for your pets, we also provide many other complimentary services! Things such as: turning on/off the lights, opening and closing blinds, bringing out any garbage, collecting the mail, bringing in any deliveries, watering plants, etc.
WHY ARE YOU A BETTER OPTION THAN MY NEIGHBOR OR FAMILY MEMBER? These days, most of us have pretty busy lives! Can you truly count on your neighbor or family member to show up for those early morning potty & breakfast visits? Or maybe your pet needs a late night outing to have a quick pee before bed or someone to stay with them for the night? Do they have experience giving medications, can they recognize a seizure? While it may cost a little more to hire a professional, it is important to keep in mind that you are paying for their experience, training, expertise, reliability, responsiveness, and specialized insurance and bonding. Professional pet sitters are responsible adults who have had proper training to care for pets as well as being certified in pet care. We have over 15 years of pet care experience in everything from boarding and doggy day care facilities, to animal shelters and rescues and veterinary hospitals! We are certified in pet-care by the International Boarding & Pet Services Association (IBPSA). We are also a member of Pet Sitter Associates (PSA) and are fully bonded and insured through them.
I'VE NEVER USED A PET SITTER BEFORE, HOW DOES IT WORK? We provide in-home pet care, meaning we come to care for your pets in your home while you are out/away. You can let us know how many times per day you would like us to visit them as well as the approximate times of each visit. Our visits are all-inclusive and we can do anything you need us to when we visit such as: walks, feeding, give medications, scoop litter boxes, playtime, etc. We will schedule a Meet & Greet with you before we begin our services to give you and your pets a chance to meet us as well as go over all of the details about their care.
DO I GET TO MEET YOU FIRST? Absolutely! We always come for a Meet & Greet before we begin our services. This gives you a chance to meet us, and also gives your pet(s) a chance to sniff us out! We will answer any questions you may have, and go over all of the details about your pet(s) and their care, as well as having you show us where everything is and where they go outside, etc.
WILL THE SAME SITTER ALWAYS BE CARING FOR MY PETS? Yes, it is just the two of us that will be caring for your pets. We do not have other sitters that work for us so there will never be someone you don't know caring for your pets. It is very important to us that your pets get to know us and we form a bond with them so they are as comfortable as possible as well as giving you peace of mind knowing who will be in your home and caring for them.
HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN DOING THIS? We have both had pets and been around animals for our entire lives and we began pet sitting together back when we met in 2017. We officially created PiddlePaws and opened our business full time in 2020. Prior to that, we have over 15 years of experience in a variety of animal care settings such as veterinary hospitals, boarding and doggy daycare facilities, animal shelters, etc.
ARE YOU BONDED AND INSURED? We are! We are fully bonded and insured by Pet Sitter Associates (PSA).
ARE YOU CERTIFIED? Yes! We are certified in pet-care by the International Boarding & Pet Services Association (IBPSA).
CAN YOU PROVIDE REFERENCES? Absolutely! We are a 5 star rated company with glowing reviews from many satisfied clients. Our clients want to let you know the great job we do for them!
WHAT SERVICES DO YOU OFFER? We offer Dog Walking- (daily walks scheduled Mon-Fri will be at a discounted rate), Dog Sitting- (daily visits scheduled Mon-Fri will receive a discount), Puppy and Senior Care, Cat Sitting, Small Animal Care, Overnight Care, and Pet Transportation Services.
HOW DO I SIGN UP FOR YOUR SERVICES? You can contact us through or website, our facebook page, email, call or text us. Just let us know what services you are interested in and when you will be needing them and we can get you on our schedule and arrange a Meet & Greet.
WHAT AREAS DO YOU SERVICE? We service the Back Mountain and surrounding areas.
HOW SHOULD I CONTACT YOU WHEN I NEED TO GET IN TOUCH? You can contact us by calling, texting, or emailing us. Whichever method is easiest for you works for us! If we are out at a visit and are unable to take your call, please leave us a message. We do check our voicemails and emails regularly and will reply back as soon as we are able to! Texting is generally the best way to get in touch with us as we can reply quicker in between visits.
IS THERE A MINIMUM NUMBER OF WALKS OR VISITS REQUIRED TO USE YOUR SERVICES? Once you are an existing client, there is no minimum number of walks or visits required to book our services. We can do a single drop-in visit or walk if that's all you need! If this is your first time booking our services, we do prefer at least 3-4 visits scheduled between 1-2 days (unless you are beginning a weekly service). This is so that we can get to know your pets, and so they can get to know us! We want them to be comfortable with us, and remember us for the next time you need us to visit them!
HOW MUCH ADVANCED NOTICE DO I NEED TO GIVE TO BOOK YOUR SERVICES? For first time clients, we require at least 7 days notice if you'd like to book our services. This is because we must schedule a Meet & Greet prior to beginning our services. Sometimes with last minute requests, our schedule may not allow for us to fit in a Meet & Greet before you need us to begin services. Once you are an existing client, we will always do our best to accommodate any requests! But please note, during our busier seasons (spring, summer, and holidays) our schedule fills quickly, and we schedule on a first come first serve basis.
MY PET TAKES A LITTLE WHILE TO WARM UP TO NEW PEOPLE. CAN WE SET UP A FEW TRIAL VISITS BEFORE I GO ON VACATION? Yes, we can absolutely do that! If by the end of the Meet & Greet you feel that your pet may need some more time to get to know us before you leave for vacation, we can arrange as many visits as you'd like in between. One of the most important things to us is making sure everything feels comfortable, including your pets. We are very committed to taking as much time as we need to let them get to know us and become comfortable with us!
CAN I PICK THE TIMES I NEED VISITS? Yes, you can let us know the approximate times you would like us to come visit your pets. You can either let us know if you have a specific time in mind or just morning, afternoon, dinner time, bedtime, etc. We will always do our best to accommodate the times you've requested within the hour.
WILL YOU KEEP ME UPDATED? Yes!! It is of the utmost importance to us that you have peace of mind knowing that your pets are safe and comfortable while you are away, at work, etc. We always send updates with pictures via text message at every visit to let you know how your pets are doing. We have excellent communication with our clients and we will always let you know anything we feel you need to know while you aren't there and you can always reach out to us at anytime as well if there is anything special you need us to do or check on for you.
CAN YOU GIVE MY DOG OR CAT MEDICATION WHILE I'M AWAY? If you have a pet that needs medication while we will be visiting them, we can certainly help out with that as well! We are experienced in giving oral, topical, and transdermal medications, ear and eye drops, and injections such as insulin. We will always go over all medications with you thoroughly, and if needed, ask you to show us your routine with your pet(s) for administration.
I HAVE TO GO AWAY ON VERY SHORT NOTICE AND HAVE NO TIME TO DO A MEET & GREET FIRST. CAN I STILL BOOK YOUR SERVICES? It is imperative for all parties that a Meet & Greet takes place before services are guaranteed. All pets being cared for must be present at the Meet & Greet. Unfortunately, without a Meet & Greet, we will not be able to provide our services. This is not only to ensure the safety of your pets, but our safety as well. We also want to be certain that everyone is comfortable before services begin!
DO YOU BOARD DOGS OR CATS? We do not board pets in our home, we only provide in-home pet care in the pet's home. We do not have the means to accommodate pets in our home and from our experience, we truly believe that in most cases, it is much better for your pet's comfort and well being if they are in their own home. Being in an unfamiliar place can cause stress and anxiety for your pets and making sure that your pets are comfortable and stress free is of the utmost importance to us.
WHAT IF THERE IS INCLEMENT WEATHER? In the case of inclement weather we will always do our best to make it to our scheduled visits at their scheduled times. If that is not possible due to unsafe road conditions, we will do our best to get there as soon as we are able to, or try to arrive before the weather starts. If you are away on vacation or for a long trip, and bad weather is approaching our area, we will make sure your pet is in a safe area (ex: kitchen) where they have access to food, water and bedding- until we can get to them. We will always thoroughly clean any messes we find, if any.
I DON'T HAVE ANY SPECIFIC DATES IN MIND THAT I WILL BE NEEDING SERVICES- CAN I STILL SCHEDULE A MEET & GREET NOW? If you don't have a specific start date or any upcoming dates that you will be needing our services, we prefer to wait to schedule our Meet & Greet closer to the time when services will begin/are needed. We do this so that your pets will better remember us when we first come to care for them and so that we have the most up to date information regarding the specifics about their care. Due to our schedule, we kindly ask that all NEW pet parents who are in need of our services get in touch with us at least 2 weeks prior to your scheduled dates to allow enough time to schedule a Meet & Greet first.