A pet sitter is a person who is contracted to care for a client’s pets and home while they go out of town, or on vacation. The pet sitter is responsible for the health, welfare, safety, and happiness of the pet in their care. They are the ones who ensure the pet’s daily life goes on as uninterrupted, as possible, ensuring all of their needs are met: food, water, medications, exercise, lots of cuddles, and a safe, comfortable home.
Daytime dog walking is pet sitting on a weekly, ongoing basis. A daytime dog walker is usually hired to walk or visit dogs that need a regular break during the busy work day. A dog walker may be scheduled for daily visits or just a few days week, often once or twice a day depending on your work schedule and the needs of the animals. The most common dog walking visits are scheduled for somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. The time the dog walker walks with your pet will be dictated by the weather. We will not walk the pet for the entire time requested, if conditions are not favorable. If there is time remaining in the visit, the dog walker will remain in the home to play and snuggle.
Professional pet sitters are certified in pet first aid and CPR, and trained to deal with such issues as illness, injury, death, animals getting out of a yard, dog fights, heart attack, heatstroke, seizures, wound care, and more. When it comes to housing issues, pet sitters have been faced with break-ins, fires, floods, broken water pipes, etc. Taking these responsibilities seriously and knowing how to handle the unexpected in an efficient, professional manner are all factors that set professional pet sitters apart from neighbor/family/hobby sitters.
Veterinarians, and pet experts alike, agree that keeping pets in their own environment helps reduce the anxiety they experience when their owners leave home for an extended period of time. Not only is it less stressful for your pet to remain at home, it greatly decreases their exposure to sickness from other animals. A professional pet sitter is able to provide the personal attention your fur baby needs to feel safe, secure, and loved.
When you are ready to get started, complete our Contact Us form, and we can get started immediately by sending you an activation link to our scheduling and billing software, and scheduling a Meet & Greet.
No, we do not board or bring pets to our home because we believe in in-home pet care. We have professional pet sitters who remain at your home. This is our Overnight Pet Sitting service, which is VERY popular. Your pets will remain in the comfort of their own home.
A meet and greet is a visit that allows the client to get to know our service and their assigned Team Member prior to the start of their service. During this visit their pet care provider will introduce themselves, spend some quality time with the pet(s), confirm and review the pertinent information about the home and pet care routine (e.g. current health of the pet, vet information, emergency contact, special requests, entry and exit protocol of alarms etc.), and answer any additional questions the client may have. We also collect two keys. One key is for the sitter and the other goes into the company lock box in case of emergency. We do NOT provide service until this meeting has taken place. The meet and greet is FREE.
Our sitters can visit their clients’ homes up to 3 times per day.
No longer than 12 hours ever goes in between visits. For example, if your pooch were visited at 8 pm, the sitter would arrive to your home no later than 8 am the following morning. We offer 30-minute, 45-minute and 60-minute visits. 15-minute visits are offered as a compliment to regular 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 as a regular visit and does not include feeding or refreshing water. 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 or until their next visit.
Absolutely! In fact, you don’t have to wait until after your meet and greet. In order for us to send you a quote of services, you may request services as soon as you have validated your account with your signed contract, and forms and completed the My Info and Pet Profile sections. All clients are provided with unique login information to their secured Time To Pet account. From this portal you are able to schedule services, check personal service calendar, update your information, pet information, password and other information. It’s all right at your fingertips!
No! For the safety of our client’s pets all visits MUST be scheduled through the Time To Pet account. Our scheduling program, ensures that pets are not forgotten. 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. Elite Pet Service will not be held liable for visits not scheduled through Time To Pet. Also, please note that our staff are under non-solicit agreements and do not accept pet sitting offers from clients.
If you decide you don't want overnight visits the frequency of visits will be something you will negotiate with your pet sitter, once the pet sitter interviews the situation and determines your needs and wishes. Dog clients MUST be seen a minimum of 3 visits per day, cats MUST be seen at minimum once a day. Most indoor only dogs will require a minimum of 3 visits per day (at least morning, afternoon, and evening).
Yes, professional pet sitters require an Meet & Greet before services will be provided. This consultation will give the sitter, the client, and their pets determine if the working relationship is a good fit between requests and responsibilities. The Meet & Greet provides the opportunity to learn about your pets, complete missing paperwork, required tasks, and to collect keys from you. Most sitters offer the first consultation for free, or will credit any consultation fee to your first visit. If you would like a follow-up consultation at a later date, be aware that there might be an additional fee for this. Please be sure to call far enough in advance to schedule your consultation.
If your primary sitter is unavailable, we will utilize another qualified sitter, or your visit will be completed a little behind schedule. You will be notified in these situations. We have all of the client’s pet care information in our secure database, so 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.
Yes, we can administer pills, topical, creams, and injections. We require you to complete the Pet Medication Authorization Form, provide written instructions on how you feel is the most successful way to administer the medicine to your specific pet. Each medication must remain in the prescription bottle from the vet, and each pet needs a separate authorization form, even if it's the same medication.
At Elite Pet Service, we provide services for the following pets: dogs, cats, fish, birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, iguanas, bearded dragons, chameleons, rabbits, hamsters, rats, and gerbils. We do not currently offer farm animal services.
A dishonesty bond gives you peace of mind that you will be reimbursed if anything is stolen from your home. Anyone that has contractors enter their home should be sure that they carry dishonesty bond. We also carry a liability insurance policy that protects from financial loss in the event that we were liable for accidents that occur while caring for our clients pets. Any responsible, professional business should carry liability insurance.
We work with clients in New Smyrna, Port Orange, South Daytona, Daytona Beach, and Daytona Beach Shores who are searching for first class pet care and true peace of mind while they travel or when they have to leave their pets for long hours due to work or other obligation. There is an additional charge of $.58 for each mile over 3 miles from 6100 S. Williamson Blvd. Port Orange, 32128.
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 reserve the right to discontinue service without notice.
Yes, we provide additional services current clients are able to request.
Key Pick Up & Drop Off Service
$15 - Perhaps you don’t feel comfortable providing your sitter with a key, using a lockbox or using a hide-a-key option. No worries! We’ll come and pick up your key before you depart, as well as return it after you get back
Litter Box Overhaul - Current Clients
$15 per box - This can be the most dreaded responsibility of cat owners. Some cats will not use their litter boxes when they’re dirty, and that’s when you’ll find them relieving themselves outside of their box. We will empty, scrub, sanitize and refill their box
Light Brushing - Current Clients
$10 - Struggling to keep up matting with all that fur? Are you nervous that your groomer is going to yell at you? Well, we can help keep your baby looking fresh from the groomer. We can brush their hair after their regular pet sitting visit. This includes brushing the hair out, detangling matting under their arms and ears
Ear & Eye Cleaning - Current Clients
$10 - We know this is a chore some pet owners may not want to do, so we can do it for you. We’ll clean out the goo and gunk, and finish with a relaxing face massage
Wedding Day Pet Attendant
$85 per hour - This service includes a consultation, dressing your dog/s, wedding day photo attendant, ceremony attendant, potty breaks and rides to and from the wedding. Weddings with three or more pets require a second Wedding Pet Attendant at $50 per hour
Your Time To Pet client portal will require you to have a credit card on file before you are able to schedule services. Invoices are due in full prior to your trip, or by Monday for weekly clients. If you have not paid, your credit card will be charged on Tuesday mornings.
Cancellations For Daily Pet Sitting / Dog Walking / Cat Sitting Visits
Must Be Made 1 hour Prior To Visit To Avoid Being Charged Full Price
Cancellations For Vacation Sitting Reservations
100% refund of deposit refunded - if cancelled 3 weeks prior to scheduled service
50% refund of deposit refunded - if cancelled 2 weeks prior to scheduled service
No Refunds - if cancelled less than 24 hours prior to scheduled service
Cancellations For Overnight Reservations
100% refund of deposit refunded - if cancelled 3 weeks (21 days) prior to scheduled service
50% refund of deposit refunded - if cancelled 2 week (14 days) prior to scheduled service
25% refund of deposit refunded - if cancelled 1 week (7 days) prior to scheduled service
No Refunds - if cancelled less than 1 week prior to scheduled service
Early Return Home
No Refunds or Credits
Same Day Last Minute Booking $10 surcharge
Late Payment Fee
$15 - Past due balances will incur a late charge, after 30 days, and will continue to accrue weekly until the balance is paid in full
We consider the following to be our major annual holidays:
New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Father's Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day.
There is a $20 daily fee for services being provided on these dates.
A pet care professional normally only carries keys that are needed for the current week. All keys are required to be locked on their key rings with proper identification tags. Client key tags are coded with a combined alphanumeric code. For homes using key fobs, they are also required to be to be locked onto your pet care professional's key ring. For code entry homes, your pet care professional can access your code in our secure database in Time To Pet database. We never put your private information on the key tags. Periodic key checks are conducted for quality control.
Our essential goal is to provide our clients with the peace of mind that their pets are in the best possible hands. When our clients leave home, we want them to be convinced that their pet is receiving the love, attention and exercise they would get if you were home. We achieve this by following our Peace of Mind Protocol.
*You can read all the details about our Peace of Mind Protocols here*
No, because we believe your pets deserve our full attention, we do not pack walk. For the safety of the pets in our care, Elite Pet Service offers one-on-one care. We will walk as many dogs as belong in a given household. Additionally, all of our sitters are residents of the areas in which we cover, so if an emergency were to crop up, someone is close by. Note: For our clients with more than three dogs, we split the group up in order to have the best walking experience.
Elite Pet Service believes in positive reinforcement for the pets in our care. While we respect our clients who use various forms of discipline, we will never hit, spank, slap, or grab your pet. If your pet makes an attempt to ingest something that could cause danger to their health, every attempt will be made to retrieve it. This could possibly include opening your pet’s mouth. If there is a disciplinary problem, i.e. toilet training issues, jumping, excessive barking, pulling, running away, aggression etc., we inform our client of the incident(s) and together we work out a solution. In unresolved cases, a trainer might be needed to provide assistance.
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 be seen, we will transport your pet. In the event we cannot reach the client, we will decide if the veterinarian should see your pet. Since we have your pet’s veterinary information in our database, an attempt will be made to call the vet’s office to seek advice. You will be billed for any extra time we spend for these services (due upon receipt of invoice) and all vet bills.
We ONLY employ mature adults who are committed pet care professionals; not someone trying to make extra cash. We work with sitters who have practical experience in the pet care field and see their time with Elite Pet Service as part of their career path. We are also not afraid of hiring retired military personnel, teachers, stay at home moms and people with special needs. We look for the best fit for our company and our clients. We have an extensive screening process, which includes a written email screening, personality test, phone interview, multiple face-to-face interviews, and reference checks followed by a thorough background check performed by Acutraq. All sitters are then hired on a trial basis until we have followed up with enough clients to ensure that they are a perfect match for Elite Pet Service. All sitters employed by Winter Park Pet Concierge sign and promise to abide by our Code of Ethics. The sitters will then attend an orientation where they learn about the standards of Elite Pet Service and the policies and procedures that we follow to put our Peace of Mind Protocol into action. This is closely followed by shadow training. This is a period of following the lead pet care provider during the course of a regular work day. Shadow training periods vary depending on the qualifications of the new employee. Once the shadow training period is over, the rolls will be reversed. The lead pet care professional will take the shadow position to watch (and correct, if necessary) and make sure the sitter is following all guidelines. When an employee has successfully completed their trial period, they maintain daily communication with the office and their clients, and are required to post a journal of their visits on our secure database in Time To Pet at the completion of their day.
In Florida, our most common weather concerns are extreme heat and thunderstorms with occasional chance of hurricanes. During the summer we cut our mid-day walks short due to heat, but we do provide time inside for play or cuddles. During downpours and thunderstorms, we still let the dogs go potty outside but in cases of extreme winds or lightening, for the safety of the walker and the dogs, walks will be short. We will also provide time inside for play or cuddles. If you are out of town and there is a chance of a hurricane, we will coordinate with your emergency contact. It is important that the contact person be local. Often with hurricanes there are curfews in place that do not allow us the option to drive. When this happens, we will contact your emergency contact so that they can either take your pet(s), or if they live close enough, can go to the house after the storm passes. Because hurricane possibilities are given with advance notice, a plan will be put in place in advance. Pet owners will be kept in constant contact and updated as plans go into place. It is recommended that each family develop an inclement weather plan complete with supplies for them and their pets.
Copyright © 2015 Elite Pet Service - All Rights Reserved. (386) 479-3552/Port Orange, FL 32129
Powered by GoDaddy