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.
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.
