Sandy and Joanne McCullough are a husband and wife team who have been operating their pet sitting business since
March of 1997.
Joanne started the business alone but it has grown to such great proportions that Sandy came
on board full time in February of 2003. Both Sandy and Joanne are animal lovers which is why they love their business
so much and have achieved such great success with it.
We take care of your pet(s) either in our own home or in yours.
We board in our spacious, clean home. It is basically as if the pets live here. They are walked every morning
and every evening and the rest of the day it is, again, just as if they live here. We have four big fenced in yards
for when they do need to go out and play or, obviously, go to the bathroom. The pets basically have full run of the
house except we do keep the larger dogs and the smaller dogs separated.
When boarding we work on a referral-only
basis. Once the decision has been made to board with us, we mail out our Contract and Pet Profile form as well as our
referral sheet, flyer, brochure and business cards. The fee for boarding in our home is $35.00* per day per pet. UNFORTUNATELY
WE CANNOT ACCEPT ANY PETS IN OUR HOME THAT HAVE NOT BEEN SPAYED OR NEUTERED. Thank you for respecting this policy. Approximately
3 years ago we instituted our "dropoff and pickup" program. This is how it works: we choose a mutually convenient
time at which we come to your home and pick up your dog(s) and bring them to our home. When you return from your vacation
we return your dog(s) to you as well. We find that this is so much easier on the pets. It allows for any separation
anxiety to be dissipated. It is also convenient for you, the owner!! and of course for us. Our hours are as listed below
as far as picking up and dropping off your dog(s).
Once the dogs are here we follow a pretty specific routine as
far as introducing the dogs to each other. We first walk the "new" dog all around our property so that he/she can
sniff around and get a feel for our property. We then bring the dog into our home and put all the other dogs outside. We
allow the new dog to sniff all around the house by him/herself; once again, so that he/she can get accustomed to our home.
We then bring the dogs back into the house one at a time so that each dog can be introduced to the new dog and the new dog
is not swarmed by a huge crowd of canines!! This process has worked extremely well for us.
***We
are sorry but for those of you who come from out of town we do NOT allow for visitation of your pets once they are boarding
with us. We tried to do that several years ago when we first opened our business but it became just too traumatic for
the pets. The pets would be here and adjusted and having a ball and then the owners would come and visit and/or take
their pets out with them for a few hours or a day or whatever the case may be and the poor things would have to come back
and go through their adjustment period all over again. It was extremely confusing to them as to why their owners would
continually take them and then leave them again. Therefore, if you are looking for a place where you can come and get
your pets "whenever" - this is definitely not the place for you.
We are fully insured
and members of two different professional pet sitting organizations. We are entering into our eleventh year of business
this year.
When we make visits to the home the price varies - can be anywhere from $15 to $25 per visit,
depending upon how far we have to travel, how many pets and what type of pets we need to take care of, etc. When we
visit the home we do basically whatever is needed. Of course with the dogs we walk them, feed them, always provide fresh
water at each visit, if any medication is needed we are able to do that - pills, shots, anything like that. With cats
we change the litter boxes as well. We also take care of horses, birds, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, etc and tend
to whatever needs they may have. We come to the home as many times a day as you need and whatever hours. We are
generally on the road making visits between 6:30 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
When we come to your home we do provide
services which are included in the charge such as bringing in your mail, bringing in your paper, taking out your trash, watering
your plants, etc.
**** NEW****OVERNIGHT PACKAGE****NEW****OVERNIGHT PACKAGE** We also have an overnight package
where we spend the night in your home. This is $85.00 per day for up to three (3) pets and what it consists of is: We spend
approximately a 10 hour night at your home with your pet(s) - usually time is approximately 9:00 or 10:00pm to anywhere between
7:00 and 9:00am. We make sure all pets have been taken care of before they go to bed at night (dogs are walked, etc.). In
the mornings, we make sure all pets are again taken care of and dogs walked. All pets are fed in the morning before we leave
if this is their daily routine; also all waters are changed before we go in the morning. We will then make two additional
trips to your home during the day - one usually around noon and one usually around 5:00- to walk the dogs, feed whatever pets
need to be fed, change waters, change litter boxes, etc. Each of these two visits is generally about 45 minutes to one hour.
As is always our practice, we follow your routine as closely as possible. Also included in our overnight package is taking
out the trash, watering plants, bringing in the paper,etc., bringing in the mail, etc. For each additional pet (over 3),
the rate is an additional $5.00 per day. We can also accommodate additional visits and/or time spent in your home. Just
let us know and we'll work it out.
*There is an additional fee for medical
boarding, ie., any pets who require shots and/or pills.
