We have a simple golden rule at Oh, Fur Pet's Sake. It's so simple that I never thought of it as our golden rule until a recent meet and greet with pet parents interested in overnight dog sitting. "Where do you sleep when you're here?" I explained that the answer doesn't come from me. Instead, I gestured to their sleeping dog and said, "It's up to him." To which I got zero response from the freshly empowered, decision-making pup.
Regardless of his (dis)engagement at that moment, he, like all of our pet clients, is the decision-maker. Where we sleep, when we sleep, when we walk, eat, play, read books: It's up to the pet.
That golden rule applies to everything we do, including our drop-in visits. Some dogs love to go for walks. Others want a lap to sit on. Some cats live for treats. Some are happiest to have someone nearby. Most guinea pigs love apples, but others prefer dandelions. Hermit crabs sometimes want their coconut in bite-sized chunks rather than flakes.
I think you get the concept. So when asked what happens at a drop-in visit, we turn the floor over to the pet we'll be visiting.
Our pets need their routine to help them feel safe and assured.
I recently went thru Fear Free certification. In a nutshell, Fear Free is the practice of watching for any signs of anxiety or stress in an animal and finding ways to mitigate it before it worsens. Our premise of in-home pet care is one massive move in that direction. By keeping our pets at home, they know where their food is, how to take a potty break, and where their safe spots are. Our pets need their routine to help them feel safe and assured.
We can take it one step further by feeding them exactly when and how you do, walking them on their schedule, sticking to their usual bedtime, and sitting in their favorite chair each afternoon.
That's one of the many things that makes Oh, Fur Pet's Sake unique. It's always about the pet and making our time together feel magical. We aren't a big business. We're not trying to break sales records. We are two people who retired early from intense careers and now want to do something rewarding and something that we love. So if that means a 30-minute drop-in takes 47 minutes because a cat needs extra TLC, that's what we'll do. If you're a current client, you've experienced our squishy departure times and know what I'm saying. If you're not a client, what's taking you so long?
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