THE PROCESS of Pet Sitting & Dog Boarding Kennels Services in Melbourne

1) Home consultation

After your initial contact, we will come and meet with you and your dog. This is an opportunity to discuss your dogs needs, meet your dogs carer, plan your dogs walk schedule and decide whether to proceed.

2) Dog profile sheet

Should our service be of interest to you we ask you complete a dog profile sheet that includes your preferences such as walk requirements, snacks allowed and health issues etc.

3) Weather

Pet sits take place on all weather days. If storms are forecast while you are away and your dog is scared of thunder.......................... 

OUR FEES AND SCHEDULES

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Why Choose Our Dog/Pet Sitting Services in Melbourne?

Firstly because we are primarily dog walkers (off lead in inner west melbourne parks). And that makes a HUGE difference to you and your dog.

It is actually a massive benefit to have a dedicated and experienced off lead dog walker look after your dog, even if its only for an extremely short term and pet sit stay.This might seem like overkill, but you will find that a lot of pet sitters, now that big corporate directories have sprung up to profit off a lot of low experience people who just say they 'love dogs' and want some pocket money.  You may also consider if they can afford to advertise on TV and radio, where is all your money actually going? But if you go with a generic directory.. and people who don't visit dog parks regularly, you aren't going to get people who know how to read dog behaviour anywhere near as well as us.

These ring-ins are also often more interested in babying dogs (treating them species inappropriately), rather than giving them respect and what they need on the visit.Our visits include a block walk around where you live.  And even in that short time, we know what issues to look out for on that block, because we see a lot higher energy behaviours with unsecured dogs in parks.  Your dog don't need a pet sitter's nervous energy or over exuberance added to their own anxieties because the sitter didn't read the dogs behaviour, body language or energy levels. And without extensive off lead experience, its unlikely that they would just pick up on all the subtle signals.

Dog Sitting Melbourne (inner west)

How else do we differ?Yes we visit, walk and feed your dog. Yes we can fit in other household task like collect the mail and do a quick water of precious plants.  But we understand how dogs can greatly miss their owners (separation anxiety), and we can give them as much pats, OR as much space as each dog needs.We know that not every dog likes being patted, particularly by a stranger.  We know some dogs can't be allowed to stray too close to fences as we walk them around the block.Other dogs may have food guarding issues, or food aversion issues (when being watched).We consult the owner thoroughly to get the full picture of what they think their dog needs and its behaviour levels, and then adapt our own behaviour around the dog - since dogs can act quite differently when the owner is not at home.

Pet Sitting Melbourne

The main difference between dog sitting and pet sitting in Melbourne is of course the client - not all pets are dogs.  We usually find if we are to look after cats for instance, that many times we may not see the cat for the entire time we are there.  We just replenish the food and water and make sure the cat flap is working, or that the doors and windows are secured if the cat is not allowed out.We have also looked after chickens and guinea pigs during our time. And like in the cats case, if the animals are shy or don't need a lot of our attention, we dedicate more of our allotted time to the household tasks that the owner wants.

Dog Sitter - Options

While we can sort out most of your needs over the phone, we invariably like to arrange a quick consult to talk in person, as well as get a good impression of what your dog is likely to behave like when you go away.If its a short term visit or weeks on end, we want to know any peculiarity, any medication, and any questions you have about our client information form. We have pet sat many breeds of dogs and many ages/ health levels of dogs. Not every dog is social, nor do they all want pats, in some cases they can be less social than scared cats .. but if at all possible we like to see if your dog is happy for us to bring another dog along (usually our own dog) so that they at least can have one safe sniff meet and greet during their owners departure.

We find that if your dog is social, that walking with another social dog can be deeply satisfying for a dog that is patently missing their owner. Even if it is only around the block or for a quick visit inside the house.So no, you don't have to have your dog, cat or guinea pig pet sat by an expert dog walker, but you know, for about the same price, it couldn't hurt for once to get much more than you pay for. Exceptional service, care and dog behaviour, knowledge and experience.