Why should a pet owner use a pet sitter?
Many veterinarians and pet experts believe that keeping pets in their familiar surroundings helps to alleviate the stress imposed when their owners have to leave home. Pets are then also able to maintain their diet and exercise routine, and enjoy the personal attention provided by a pet sitter. This also eliminates the trauma of being transported and minimizes their exposure to illnesses of other animals.
What services do you offer?
Long Island Pet Service provides in-home pet care plain and simple. This means our sitters travel to our client’s homes to care for their pets. We provide service for whatever they need; travel, long work hours; a late meeting, recovering from surgery; working from home but not enough time to walk the dog, don’t trust the kids to care for the animals properly. Whatever the reason, we’ll be there! Our client’s are mostly cat and dog owners
Our clients can customize how long they would like their Pet Nanny to visit with their pets. We will also bring in the mail, take out the trash, rotate the lights and open and close the curtains to give the home a lived-in look. We also offer a variety of premium services that our clients can schedule to compliment their pet and house care routines.
How does a client go about getting started?
All are welcome to call or email the office with their questions. The office number is 516-247-6976 and you can email us at this page: CONTACT US.
So, you don’t board animals or bring them into your homes?
No. We believe in in-home care, which is why we have chosen not to have a boarding facility. However, we do have pet care providers who can remain at the client’s home. This is our overnight/house sitting service, which is VERY popular. It’s what I use for my Bulldog when I travel.
What time do the sitters make their rounds and how long do they stay?
Our sitters can visit their clients homes up to 4 times per day.
– The “Morning” time slot is between 6 & 9 AM.
– The “Mid Day” time slot is between 11 & 3 PM.
– The “Evening” time slot is between 4 & 6 PM.
– The “Late Night” time slot is between 7 & 9 PM.
No longer than 12 hours ever goes in between visits. For example, if your pooch were visited at 8pm, the sitter would arrive to your home no later than 8am the following morning.
We offer 15-minute, 30-minute, and 60-minute visits. The client chooses the duration of the visits and can mix and match to design the best plan for his or her pet.
Note: The 15 -minute visit option is not offered to clients using the Travel & Occasional Service for their dogs. We don’t believe that 15-minutes is enough time to visit with a dog that is by him or herself for an extended period of time. As much human interaction as possible is best to keep the hounds happy and calm until their parents return home.
What is the registration meeting?
The registration meeting is a visit that allows the client to get to know our service and their assigned Long Island Pet Service prior to the start of their service. During this visit their pet care provider will introduce themselves, spend some quality time with the pet, confirm and review the pertinent information about the home and pet care routine (e.g. vet information, emergency contact, special requests, etc.), and answer any additional questions the client may have. We do NOT provide service until this meeting has taken place. There is a fee of $15 fee for the registration meeting. This fee covers administrative costs related to their account creation, as well as the sitter’s time.
So, after a client has completed their registration meeting can they schedule service anytime?
Absolutely! All clients are provided with unique login information to their secured Long Island Pet Service account. From this gateway they are able to schedule service, check their personal service calendar, update their billing information and also update their password. It’s a handy little tool! All scheduling requests are confirmed during our regular business hours, which are 9AM-4PM Monday through Friday.
Can your clients schedule directly through their sitter?
No! For the safety of our client’s pets all visits MUST be scheduled through the Long Island Pet Service. We use a high-tech scheduling program, which ensures that “no pet is left behind.” If a client schedules through their sitter and the sitter forgets to inform the office, that takes us out of the loop and therefore unable to follow-up with the sitter to make sure that the pet has been seen. Pet Nanny will not be held liable for visits scheduled without the offices knowledge.
How do you accept payment?
We accept payment by Visa, Master Card or Discover Card
So, you don’t accept checks? Can the clients leave cash?
No, we don’t accept checks. The clients can leave a cash gratuity for their sitter if they so wish, but payment for services must be made by credit card. Payment is due prior to the start of service.
Are there extra costs for services rendered on a holiday?
We consider the following to be our major annual holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Eve Day, and New Years Eve. There is up to a $25 surcharge plus the standard charge for the service being provided on these dates. 100% of these fees are paid to the sitters.
How about last-minute requests?
We’re more than happy to schedule pet care for last-minute needs, however we cannot guarantee that a sitter is going to be available on short notice, (though 99% of the time it really isn’t a problem). We also only schedule service during our regular business hours (9AM-4PM Monday through Friday).
What is the Long Island Pet Service’s cancellation policy?
Since I understand what it’s like to have a busy and ever-changing schedule I have implemented an extremely flexible cancelation policy:
At least 24 hours prior notice: $0
Same Day Cancellation: 50% (50% of scheduled service rate is owed).
Holiday Cancellation: 100% (100% of scheduled service rate is owed).
Pet Care What happens if a client’s primary sitter is not available for a pet sitting request?
Our sitter roster is chock-full of excellent pet care providers that would love to care for a client’s pet if their primary sitter is unavailable. Since we have all of the client’s pet care information in our secure database it’s really not necessary for the client to meet with the alternate sitter, however; if the client feels more comfortable with having a meeting with the alternate sitter, we are more than happy to schedule a “Pre-Departure Meeting.” The cost of this meeting is $20, which covers the sitter’s time and expense for driving over to the client’s home.
Do you care for pets that have aggression issues?
If the pet has aggressively bit someone in the past then no, we cannot provide service.That is too much of a liability issue. If the pet is skittish and maybe just growls around those he doesn’t know, then we will be happy to work with the client to see if a pet care plan can be designed that works. Our sitter will interview the client and the pet to determine if this is possible. If additional visits are necessary to socialize the pet with our pet care provider then the client needs to be present at all visits and pay the normal service fee until socialized. If at any time our pet sitter or pet owner feels that it is unsafe to perform a service, we will reserve the right to discontinue service without notice.
Do you administer medication?
Yes we will give your pets medications, we strongly urge our staff to administer all medications to your pet. However, when that is not possible and your pet needs its medicine, we will contact another staff member then we will attempt to administer medicine orally, insult shot and ointment only.
How do the pet care professionals discipline the pets?
Long Island Pet Service believes in positive reinforcement ONLY for the pets in our care. We will never hit, spank, slap, yank the leash, yell, shock or grab your pet. If there is a disciplinary problem, i.e. toilet training issues, running away, etc., we inform our client of the incident(s) and together we workout a solution.
What happens if a pet becomes ill and the client is out of town or unable to leave work?
If we suspect that something is wrong with a pet, we will call you at the emergency phone numbers we have on file. If the client believes the veterinarian should see the pet, we will transport him to the veterinarian’s office for examination and treatment. In the event we cannot reach the client, we will decide if the veterinarian should see your pet. If necessary, we will take your pet for treatment. You will be billed for any extra time we spend for these services.
