WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN HIRING US

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When you hire Pawsitive Dawg Walking and Pet Sitting, you can be confident that you are hiring professional dog walkers and pet care providers. You can be assured that we only hire the best staff! If we cannot find someone who is up to our standards, we put a hold on taking on new clients. Our employees go through a very thorough interview process which takes about 2+ weeks. They fill out a screening survey, have at least one phone interview, two in-person interviews, 3-4 references checks, and have a background check done. They also go through training for at least 2 weeks (25+hours of training) before they take on any new clients. Employees come to us already Pet First Aid & CPR trained or become certified during their two week training period. All of our employees also participate in on-going professional development opportunities to learn new skills and build their overall knowledge of the best practices in animal care.

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We specialize in individual visits because you are paying for us to take care of your pets. Therefore, your pet(s) will be our only focus during our visit. If you sign up for a group walk because you have a social pup and want him/her to meet new friends, we will never walk more than two (2) large dogs or three (3) small dogs at one time.

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There are many pet care services to choose from. Depending on your pet’s needs, we can schedule a quick potty break to a 60 minute visit. If you want a specific walk length, we suggest choosing a visit length that is 5-10 minutes longer than the walk.

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At our Meet & Greet, the Owner/Pet Care Manager takes detailed notes with the dog walker/pet sitter listening. Later, she’ll put it in the scheduling software so everyone has a reference to go back to. You can edit your profile at any time.

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If you have special commands you’d like us to use or have anything you would like us to work on with your dog, please let us know. We do have one dog trainer on staff working towards becoming a professional dog trainer. We also work with a wonderful force free trainer named Janet Vera, the owner of For the Love of Dogs, so we would be more than happy to provide a consultation and develop a plan to help you and your pup be happy as possible.

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When we provide dog walking visits, we spend the first few minutes of our visit giving our furry friends some extra love and getting ready for the walk. Our dog walkers are specifically trained to walk in a way that’s comfortable, relaxing, and fun. The first few minutes are spent “sniffing” so they can have some structured down time. After the dog goes potty, we should have time to pick up the pace and get some good exercise in. We will walk as briskly as your dog can comfortably and safely walk. If your pup decides to pull or lunge, we’ll use distraction techniques to get them to refocus. We use “watch me,” touch,” “sit, or “let’s go.” We always have treats and will use them to reward good behavior. If your dog wants to stop to admire the scenery or sniff around a new spot for a moment, that’s okay. Mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise. You may see us talking with the furry friend on our walks. We love to tell them stories and shower them with praise! Everyone loves routine and structure, but we also vary our walking routes to prevent boredom and to provide new exposures.

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We supply our own poop bags, but it would be great if you had extras in case we run out. You don’t have to worry about your neighbors complaining that your dog walker left a mess all over their yard. We pick up everything and throw the bag(s) away in the specific place that we discussed at the Meet & Greet.

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Our visit reports are automatically sent to your email after each visit using our scheduling software and you get a push notification through our scheduling app. We like to be detailed in our notes so we can make note of anything that’s different with your pet’s behavior or potty routine. We encourage lots of communication between the Pet Care Manager, Dog Walker, and owner, all of which can be seamlessly integrated into your scheduling portal. No matter how long or short the note is, it means we were there and we are watching your pet really closely. The Pet Care Manager (Angela) oversees all visits and makes sure everything is going well and as planned.