Things To Consider When Getting Help With Your Pup
Philadelphia, PA
Philly is going to the dogs as dog ownership is up across nearly every neighborhood in the city. If you are one of the many Philadelphians with a pup, chances are that at some point you will need to hire someone to help you with either dog walking or pet sitting. We love our dogs and it’s important for us to find the best care possible, so we put together some important factors to consider.
Before starting Pups On Passyunk, I often relied on dog walkers and doggy day care to help with my dog when my career kept me at the office or when I headed out of town and couldn’t find a friend to watch her. This company is built around the qualities that I looked for when trying to find help, and we focus on delivering exceptional client service.
Here’s a list of important considerations, listed roughly in order of what we think is most important:
Insurance/Bonding: animals are unpredictable, and you want to be sure the person you hire is covered if there is an accident. Insurance and bonding provide you protection in the rare occurrence of an accident.
Meet your walker: Most companies offer a free meet and greet, and you should expect to get to meet the manager or the person who will be taking care of your pup.
Responsiveness: During your initial contact with a company, pay attention to how responsive they are. Do they get back to you quickly and fully address your questions?
Confirmation of services and service reports: How will you know the services have been completed? Will the walker leave a note? Many companies now offer immediate service confirmations and reports that provide GPS tracking, photos, and notes so you know the services were fully completed when you expected them.
Understand the appointment process: You should know their expectations for making appointments and cancellations, including how much notice is needed for appointment requests. While this often varies based on demand, they should be able to give you some guidelines.
Understand pricing: Know their regular rates and surcharges for after-hours, weekends, and holidays.
Referrals: For most business, you will find plenty of reviews or online comments. If you're hiring an individual, be sure to ask for references.
Why choose Pups On Passyunk? There are a lot of pet services businesses in Philly and we know you have a lot of options. We strive to provide the best pet care in Philly with the highest level of customer service.
Professional. We are insured and bonded to protect you. Our walkers have earned a pet CPR certification and receive ongoing training. Since this is our business, we take it seriously and provide exceptional client service and pet care.
Reliable. You will receive instant reports after each service that provide GPS tracked routes, time in/out, photos, notes, and more. We have never missed an appointment or had any incidents, and we keep procedures in place to insure it doesn’t happen.
Local. We are locally owned and operated. You can meet and get to know us, including the owner and your regular walker.
Flexible. We often are able to help with last minute requests and always try our best to do so.
Pups On Passyunk currently provides dog walking services for all of center city Philadelphia, Rittenhouse, Midtown, Fitler Square, Washington Square, Washington Square West, Old City, Society Hill, Queen Village, Bella Vista, Italian Market, Pennsport, Graduate Hospital, South Philly, and more. We are rapidly growing and expanding our service areas, so please contact us to learn more.
A note about on-demand services such as Wag, Rover, Fetch, and similar services. These often fall under a lot of criticism and other businesses love to hate them. While it usually is better to have a local company where you can meet the owners and walkers, we think these other services provide a good role in certain circumstances. If you frequently need last minute walks (deciding at 3:00 pm that you need a walk for that afternoon), many local companies are unlikely able to meet that request. These on demand services can even be used to supplement your regular walking service when you need these last minute appointments. Although they are great for last minute services, they are often more expensive than local companies and it can be difficult to keep a consistent walker.
Learn more about us at www.pupsonpassyunk.com