Teamwork in Pet Care: How Pet Parents Can Support Their Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters

We show up for you and your pets. Here’s how you can show up for us.

We're your dog's best friend (second to you, of course)! Your cat's favorite playmate. We make your vacations guilt-free and your long work days manageable. As a pet owner, it's hard to do it all! And when it comes to showing up for your pets, we got you! Have you ever wondered about how you can show up for your pet care providers? Maybe you have! A client reached out to us to ask how they can support us, and well, we went straight to the source - our FurAmor dog walkers and pet sitters! Here's what they had to say.

Have your pet supplies ready and accessible.

This is a BIG one! There are many ways you can make your pet care provider's life easier by ensuring your pet supplies are easy to find. If you are a dog walking client, having a pet supply station by the front door is extremely helpful for our team. The pet supply station could include leash and harness, poop bags, wipes, towel (emphasis on towels on rainy days), treats, cleaning products, and anything else needed to care for your pets.

We want to spend as much time possible providing care for your pets. At times, searching for supplies takes away from that! We also of course want to respect the privacy of your home and it's never comfortable having to look through closets or drawers searching for supplies. Same thing goes for pet sitting clients (both dogs, cats, and small pets). If you are a pet sitting client, having food and supplies in an easy to find spot is key! For cat sits, having food, extra litter, litter scooper, bags, toys, cleaning supplies, and treats all in one supply station is extremely helpful!

Give us the neighborhood 411.

Does your dog have a nearby friend or foe? We want to know! If there is a dog in the neighborhood you would prefer us to steer clear of, please give us a heads up! It can be startling (for us and your pup) to walk by a home with a territorial dog barking behind a fence! If there have been any negative interacts with neighborhood dogs, please keep us in the loop.

Same goes for neighborhood friends! Unless given specific permission to do so, we will not allow your dog to interact with any other dogs while we're out on a walk. However, if your pup has a golden retriever friend 2 houses down that has a similar walk schedule, give us a heads up and if we see them out and about, we'll be sure to let them say hello!

Additionally, if your dog has a favorite walk route, or if there is a nearby park, we'd love to know!

Leave out treats - not just for the dogs!

Our dog walkers absolutely love their job and are passionate about the work we do. But being on our feet all day in all weather conditions can be pretty taxing! A snack, or cold bottle of water or Gatorade goes a LONG way!

Many of our walkers, especially full-time, have fully booked schedules from morning until late afternoon or early evening. It is our goal to get to all of our visits within their scheduled time block, and our most popular time block is mid-day, right around lunch time! So having a mid-day snack ready for your walker helps them keep up their energy levels and stamina in order to provide your dog the exercise and enrichment it deserves.

It is also incredibly important that our walkers stay hydrated, especially during the summer. Leaving a cold bottle of water or Gatorade in the fridge would absolutely make our day!

 Ensure we have convenient access to your home.

Picture this: walker Karen is on her 5th walk of the day and it's only noon! She has a full schedule and is ready to take on the day and care for your pets. She does not have much time between visits in order to reach everyone on time, so she is hoping her day goes swiftly and smoothly. She shows up to a walk to discover that key is not in the lockbox where it should be. She contacts management, who then contacts the pet owner. 15 minutes pass and we do not hear back from the owner. This has now put her behind for the rest of her walks for the day, and she is spending uncompensated time during her work day because she could not access the home. What a bummer! We know life gets busy - that's essentially why you need assistance with pet care, right? It's hard to remember all of the to-dos each day, but please make note each morning before you leave for work that your home is accessible to our team.

Here are a few ways you can ensure our team has convenient access to your home:

• Double check the key is in the lockbox, and try the code to make sure it is accurate in your profile and the lockbox is not jammed (especially in the winter!). Sometimes bulky keychains cause the lockbox to jam.

• If you have multiple keys in your lockbox, ensure your house key is properly labeled.

• Check your door keypad or garage pad regularly to make sure it has plenty of battery.

• If you live in an apartment or condo building, be sure to give clear description on where we can access free parking, and how to locate your unit inside the building.

• Make sure we have been given access to your building either by the leasing office or an entry app.

• Salt your sidewalk and/or steps in the winter to prevent injury entering and exiting your home.

• Is there any construction going on in your neighborhood? Be sure to give us a heads up so we can prepare!

Utilize Precise - It's a great tool!

The Precise Petcare app is how our walkers receive their schedules, and all the info they need to know about your pet's care. Please utilize the Precise Petcare app for communication with your managers and walkers, scheduling requests, and all imperative information needed for your visits.

One super helpful feature is the visit notes feature. You can leave notes for your walkers and sitters in the notes section in your scheduled visit. Rather than calling your manager to then pass along a note to your sitter, or leaving out a written note for that day, you can add the note directly to your visit for your walker or sitter to see.

Additionally, Precise has lots of helpful features to make our lives (and yours) smooth! Check out our other blog here on getting the most out of the Precise Petcare software.

And reminder - please always direct schedule change requests to your branch manager through Precise. No cancellations or walk requests should go through your walker.

Ensure your Precise Petcare instructions and details are up to date, accurate, and clear.

The most important way you can help us properly care for your pets is to ensure we have all of the information we need. Precise Petcare has different sections for you to input information and instructions on both your home and your pets . Please ensure we have up to date, accurate, and clear information on how you would like us to provide care.

In your profile, be sure to include things that go beyond the basic info and instructions for your pet's care. For example, does your dog have any food allergies we should be aware of? How do they typically react to people entering the home? What are your pet's likes and dislikes? Or does your dog know any commands, or is it working through a training program? If so, let us know which commands your pup is currently working on or has mastered. The most helpful tips for excitable dogs are commands to lessen leash pulling or jumping.

If you have overnights or extended pet sits on the schedule, share your WiFi information with your sitter, or other related information about the home that may not be relevant for typical dog walking.

Interact with us in Precise.

After hanging out with your pets, our team takes the time to send thoughtful updates and photos. Did you know that you can message in response to our journals in Precise? We love reading your responses and recognition that you read our notes and saw the photos, it means a lot to our team!

 Another way to recognize our walkers for providing great care for your pets is by rating them through Precise. After each visit, you have the opportunity to rate our walkers 1 - 5 stars. These ratings show up in their Precise account for other pet owners to see. Receiving a 5 star rating is a great way to give your walker a quick confidence boost during their workday!

At the end of the day, dog walkers and pet sitters are more than just service providers - we're part of your pet's extended family. By showing appreciation, staying communicative, and trusting our expertise, you help create a partnership that keeps your pets safe, happy, and loved. Behind every tail wag and purr is a team effort, and a little support goes a long way. And we want every visit to turn into a moment of FurAmor!