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The Placid Pet, Inc. Pet Sitting and Daily Dog Walking
 
"Thanks so much for minding the girls. You did everything so professionally and were so friendly. The rates were very reasonable and you exceeded all of my expectations."
John T.

Sedro-Woolley, WA                    More Testimonials

About

FAQs
Licensed * Bonded * Insured
Bellingham * Ferndale * Blaine * Everson * Spokane
info@placidpets.com * 360-223-3825
FAQs About The Placid Pet, Inc.

1. What did you base your pricing on?

2. Why do you charge an Excess Travel Fee that is "per minute?" Why not charge "per mile" like everyone else?  How do you determine what this fee will be?

3.
Why do you have a New Client Cancellation Fee?  How would I incur this fee?

4. What does "licensed, bonded and insured" mean?

5.  I am a bit confused regarding what exactly is included in the overnight service. 

6. I was recently a victim of identity theft, and I'm a little nervous about having a pet sitter I don't know very well have access to my home when I'm out of town.  How can I trust you?


FAQs About Pet Care in General

The following FAQs and their respective answers were developed by Bobbie Ruth Langley, President of The Placid Pet, Inc.  The ideas and opinions expressed are just that – ideas and opinions. Please forward all questions or comments to info@placidpets.com.  No payment – of any kind (unfortunately) – was received for the product endorsements made below.

7. How much exercise does a dog really need?

8. The dog poop in my backyard is out-of-control and just plain embarrassing.  I’m really bad about not cleaning it up, but I just hate to get out there and pick it up with bags!  What can I do?

9. My 10-year-old cat, who has been with me since he was a kitten, and who has always used the litter box, suddenly started peeing on the sofa and my bed.  I just got a new boyfriend. Could my boyfriend be the reason? What can I do to get my cat to stop peeing where he shouldn’t?

10. What is the best way to store dry pet food?

11. What kind of cat litter do you recommend?

12. How can I get rid of a flea infestation in my home?


1.  What did you base your pricing on? 

Please refer to our Annual Report to Clients for background information on how our fee schedule was developed:

September 1, 2007 Annual Letter to Clients
August 7, 2008 Annual Letter to Clients

There are a number of characteristics that set The Placid Pet, Inc. apart from other pet sitting and dog walking organizations in Whatcom County.  For example:
  • We are licensed, bonded and insured.  Often you may see organizations that are licensed for one city (Bellingham), and bonded, but not insured.  For an explanation of what "licensed, bonded and insured" means, please see FAQ #3
  • The Placid Pet, Inc. invests time, money and energy in recruiting and retaining top notch employees. (Please review the staff bios on our About page.) Criminal background checks and driving history checks are performed on every employee before an offer of employment is extended. 
  • The Placid Pet, Inc. intentionally recruits and hires qualified employees who live throughout Whatcom County. This is very different from many local pet sitting and dog walking providers who only serve the Bellingham area.
  • Every employee is expected to complete the Red Cross course on Pet First Aid and CPR within the first 6 months of employment.
  • The Placid Pet, Inc.also pays for additional training that can be used on the job.  For example, accredited dog trainer Barb Kennedy of Whatcom Dog Rehabilitation is often called on to provide professional training to our staff.  
  • The Placid Pet, Inc. has developed a procedure for caring for pets that has proven to be highly successful and reliable and well-liked by our customers.  The procedure exists to ensure that our customer's pets will never be the victim of missed visits, or incomplete service.  We do not take new clients "at the last minute."  A minimum of 5 days advanced notice is required for all new clients.   We provide complimentary "reassurance calls" after every first visit for every pet sitting job, to let the client know that we have indeed started to care for their pet(s).  We also utilize a client-approved checklist specific for each client to ensure that none of the details are overlooked. Pet sitters and dog walkers "check off" completed items for each scheduled visit, and also provide additional detailed notes about the visit for the client's review.  After scheduled pet sitting visits are complete, if we don't hear from a customer, we will contact the customer to make sure that they are home and caring for their pets again.  
  • Many of The Placid Pet, Inc. staff members are volunteers in the wider pet care and rescue community. Weekly (if not daily) employees volunteer their time to help the Alternative Humane Society, Whatcom Humane Society and/or The Grateful Dogs Off-Leash Association.
  • The Placid Pet, Inc. believes in giving back to the community:  
    • From September 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009, we have renewed our commitment to donate 1% of gross receipts to the Whatcom Humane Society (WHS), 1% of gross receipts to the Alternative Humane Society (AHS), and have increased our monthly donations to include .5% of gross receipts to The Grateful Dogs Off-Leash Association of Bellingham and Blaine.
    • We donate the annual cost of server space and Web site design, development and maintenance for Grateful Dogs. 
    • The Placid Pet, Inc. is also a member of Sustainable Connections -- www.sconnect.org, and routinely purchases equipment, safety gear, and other products used on the job from locally owned shops.
Those of us who work for The Placid Pet, Inc. enjoy regularly exceeding our customers' expectations.  The value of our service easily stands up against the best pet sitting and dog walking organizations in Washington State.  We welcome the feedback of our clients via e-mail or snail mail (please see our Contact page) and by rating our services on one of several Web sites where The Placid Pet, Inc. is listed along with a rating feature:
2. Why do you charge an additional "per minute" fee?  Why not charge "per mile" like everyone else?  How did you determine what the Excess Travel Time per minute travel fee would be?

Prior to 9/1/2007, we accepted the long-held model for additional miles by charging a per-mile fee for any mile over 10 miles, one-way, from the pet sitter's home to the client's home.  (This is a very typical way of handling extra mileage for pet sitters.)  

However, during the course of our first year, we realized that the base fee for any visit, even when combined with the additional per-mile travel fee (when applicable), was simply not adequately compensating our staff members for both the often significant amount of time spent in transit and the related expenses (like gasoline).  

In short, we found the "per mile over 10" fee to be antiquated.

On average, a pet sitter will spend 20-30 minutes driving (round-trip) for each pet sitting or dog walking job.  That means, for example, for a 30-minute job the pet sitter actually works 60 minutes and burns about one gallon of gasoline.  

For even part-time pet sitters, it is not uncommon to an hour or more in the car every day, with daily business miles ranging between 15 to 120 miles per day. 

Therefore, starting 9/1/2007, we decided to modify our rates and our compensation plan so that both take into account the time (vs. the miles) spent going to and from a client's home.

Staff members of The Placid Pet, Inc. are paid by the hour -- for both on-site work and travel time.  Therefore it just makes sense for use to base an excess travel fee on time, vs. mileage.

The Excess Travel Time rate charged to customers as of 9/1/2008 -- $.23 per minute -- is based in part on the Washington State minimum wage.  This fee is variable, and will change whenever the minimum wage changes.

To control the cost for our customers, we provide the customer with a "cap" or maximum possible excess travel fee.  http://maps.google.com is used for determining a customer's "cap."  The "Get Directions" feature includes a travel time calculator with two values:  "about XX minutes" corresponds to an approximate travel time.  There is a second (and always higher) "in traffic" estimated value.  We will use the first/lower value for the customer's "cap."


3. Why do you have a New Client Cancellation Fee?  How would I incur this fee?

As a new or potential client, you will be charged a New Client Cancellation Fee only if you accpet the estimate for requested pet care sent to you, submit a completed New Client Questionnaire, and then cancel service without rescheduling.  

The Placid Pet typically spends a minimum of 1 hour preparing job materials on behalf of a new client, including but not limitied to pet care schedule(s), a detailed pet care checklist, a client detail report, and invoice(s).  The pet care provider spends timescheduling (and sometimes rescheduling) the Meet & Greet as well as pet care.  By the time we arrive at your house for the Meet & Greet we have already made a significant commitment of time and energy into being as prepared as possible to provide outstanding care for your pets. 

Unfortunately, we have been “burned” in the past -- potential clients have approved estimates and schedules, submitted questionnaires, and then cancelled service at the last minute. By the time they cancelled, we had spent hours preparing the necessary paperwork and fitting them into our busy schedules.  In some cases, we may have even turned down other work.

In order to protect ourselves against lost time and effort, we will not begin working on job materials, or schedule the Meet & Greet for a new client, until a completed New Client Questionnaire is received.  


4.  What does "licensed, bonded and insured" mean?

"Licensed" means that The Placid Pet, Inc. is registered and licensed with the State of Washington as a "Domestic Profit Corporation."  We have a Unified Business ID# and an Employer Identification Number (EIN).  We are registered to pay state and federal taxes, industrial insurance and unemployment insurance.

"Licensed" also means that The Placid Pet, Inc. purchases annual business licenses for each city in which we do business.  For 2008, The Placid Pet, Inc. has purchased a business license for each of the following cities: Lynden, Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale, Sedro-Woolley, Mount Vernon and Burlington.

"Bonded" means that The Placid Pet, Inc. annually purchases a "dishonesty bond" from Insurers of the Carolinas (http://www.petsitterinsurance.com/).  The Pet Sitter Dishonesty Bond protects customers of The Placid Pet, Inc. from loss as a result of theft committed by an employee of The Placid Pet, Inc.

To say to a client "we are bonded" demonstrates the confidence The Placid Pet, Inc. has in its staff.  By purchasing a bond, The Placid Pet, Inc. is essentially buying a "credential" that we hope will help our clients and potential clients feel more comfortable about allowing a pet sitter into their home to provide care for the pets.

"Insured" means that The Placid Pet, Inc. purchases an annual liability insurance policy from Insurers of the Carolinas.  Coverage includes (but is not limited to) damage to property in our care, custody and control (including pets and home), as well as coverage for lost keys.


5.  I am a bit confused regarding what exactly is included in the overnight service. 

The overnight service is designed to provide full pet sitting service in the evening, then companionship for your animals throughout the evening, and then full service again in the morning.

 “Overnight Pet Sitting” includes thorough care for your pet(s) around dinner time (typically 30-60 minutes), thorough care for your pet(s) in the morning (typically 30-60 minutes), and overnight care where the pet sitter sleeps in your house.

Mid-day visits are optional and scheduled separately.

After the dinner-time visit, the pet sitter may choose to stay at your house until the next morning.   If they do leave for an hour or two, they will return at a reasonable hour -- no later than 9:00 p.m. -- to spend the evening. 

Overnight pet sitting is available on a very limited basis.  A 2008 Survey found that only 50% of all professional pet sitters who are members of Pet Sitters International even offer overnight pet sitting.  As of October 2008, only 1 member of The Placid Pet's staff is consistently available for overnight pet care on a regular basis. 

We have found that the following alternative schedule to overnight pet care works very, very well for homes with dogs:

  • 30 Minute Dinner Visit
  • 15 Minute Late PM Visit (for a quick potty break before the long evening)
  • 30 Minute AM (Breakfast) Visit
Please note:  This a la carte option is actually less expensive than the cost of overnight pet care.

6. I was recently a victim of identity theft, and I'm a little nervous about having a pet sitter I don't know very well have access to my home when I'm out of town. How can I trust you?

The Placid Pet, Inc. proactively addresses this issue in several ways:

The Placid Pet, Inc. invests time, money and energy in recruiting and retaining top notch employees. (Please review the staff bios on our About page.) Criminal background checks and driving record checks are performed on every employee before an offer of employment is extended.  The Placid Pet, Inc. has contracted with EasyBackgrounds.com to perform in-depth custom searches of county, state and federal criminal databases on each potential employee, specifically to cast a wide enough net to catch identity theft related crimes.

Also, the complimentary Meet-and-Greet gives you the opportunity to meet the prospective pet sitter, before even agreeing to scheduling services.  If you are at all uncomfortable, we will walk away, no questions asked.


7. How much exercise does a dog really need?

Exercise is critical to the physical and psychological well-being of any animal, including humans and canines. The amount of exercise a dog needs depends on the individual dog -- breed, age, and general health. A one-year-old 50-pound hunting dog in excellent health is going to require more daily exercise than an elderly 10-pound dachshund.  Unless they are injured, all dogs need at least some daily exercise.

According to the ASPCA's Web site:  

"...dogs need exercise to burn calories, stimulate their minds, and keep healthy. Exercise also tends to help dogs avoid boredom, which can lead to destructive behaviors. Supervised fun and games will satisfy many of your pet's instinctual urges to dig, herd, chew, retrieve and chase. 

"Individual exercise needs vary based on breed or breed mix, sex, age and level of health—but a couple of walks around the block every day and ten minutes in the backyard probably won’t cut it. If your dog is a 6- to 18-month adolescent, or if she is an active breed or mixed-breed from the sporting, herding, hound or terrier groups, her requirements will be relatively high."

For a healthy dog (large or small) I would recommend at least one 30-minute leashed walk and/or 30 minutes of some other supervised exercise (such as fetching a ball, playing at the dog park, swimming, etc.) once a day.  This would be a minimum recommendation.  At least once a week, throw in a 60-to-90 minute hike, run, walk, or play date.


8. The dog poop in my backyard is out-of-control and just plain embarrassing.  I’m really bad about not cleaning it up, but I just hate to get out there and pick it up with bags!  What can I do?

Incentives to regularly (at least 3 times a week) pick up the dog poop in your yard:

  • If you don’t pick up the poop in your yard, your dog is going to step in it and track it into the house.  Dog poop in yard = dog poop in house.  (Yuck!)
  • If you don’t pick it up, your dog may eat it.  (There are lots of poop-eaters out there! It’s an instinctive behavior.)  Dog poop in yard = dog poop in your pooch’s kisses. (Double Yuck!)
  • If you don’t pick it up, your dog may eat it and develop worms that you then have to spend money to get rid of.  Dog poop in yard = $ out of your wallet.
  • Dog waste can contaminate ground water.
There is a way to keep back-yard poop “under control.”  Put together and use a “Poop-Scoop Station.” 

Develop a system that works for you, and that you will actually follow, to clean dog waste from your yard on a regular basis.  My recommendation (what works for the Langley Family):
  • Buy a small lidded out-door galvanized trash can.  You don’t need anything expensive or fancy. I recommend something like the Container Store’s classic galvanized pails. Lowe’s has a small (~10-13 gal) galvanized trash can (with lid) for $15.
  • Line the trash can with a plastic kitchen garbage bag. Consider recycling plastic grocery bags, or buy kitchen garbage bags made from recycled material (such as Seventh Generation kitchen garbage bags) and/or that are biodegradable (like BioBag bags).  BioBags also makes a fantastic dog poop bag for your leashed walks.
  • Buy a pooper scooper set like The Scoop Pooper Scooper by Flexrake.  These sets are GREAT because 1) you don’t have to bend over or get your nose anywhere near the poop to pick it up, and 2) you can completely bypass the often nauseating experience of feeling cold dog poop through a thin plastic bag.
  • Place the can and scooper set in a convenient spot -- near a wall or fence. EXTRA TIP: Use an old plastic cat litter container or bucket to keep the scooper set in an up-right position.  Keep a little clean water in the bucket to cut down on smell.
  • Here’s the trick….find a time of day that works for you, and regularly use these nifty new tools to clean up your yard!  I recommend the mornings, after you walk your dog or before you go to work. 
  • Don’t worry about having to keep your pooper scooper set terrifically clean all the time (although you certainly can by hosing them off from time to time).  Flying insects will gladly help clean off small amounts of residual waste.
  • Then, once a week, the night before the Sanitation Department picks up your trash, close up the trash bag securely, replace it with a new bag, and put the closed used bag out with the trash to be picked up the next day.

Believe it or not….there are professional poop collection services that will go to your house once or more a week to pick up the dog poop in your yard, like the Pacific Northwest’s http://www.poopertrooper.net/.

 The Placid Pet, Inc. will provide poop collection service as an “add on” for dog walking or pet sitting customers.  (Sometimes we even do it for free…just to be nice.)


9. My 10-year-old cat, who has been with me since he was a kitten, and who has always used the litter box, suddenly started peeing on the sofa and my bed.  I just got a new boyfriend. Could my boyfriend be the reason? What can I do to get my cat to stop peeing where he shouldn’t?
 
Anytime a pet suddenly makes an abrupt change in behavior, make an appointment with your vet. 
 
In the meantime, don’t dump your boyfriend without cause, and don’t get rid of the cat!  I’d be willing to bet that 9 out of 10 times when a cat starts peeing outside of the litter box it’s due to a urinary tract infection. 

(The Langley felines have all been victims of urinary tract infections at one time or another, and poor little Emma has essentially had chronic urinary tract infections most of her life. We've had lots and lots of conversations with lots of different vets over the years on this topic.)

There are many different types of crystals that can form in a cat’s urine, and some of them are very “spiky” in shape and incredibly painful.  If your cat has developed a urinary tract infection, then he’s associating where he pees with his pain, so he’s trying out new locations to see if that will solve the problem.  

10. What is the best way to store dry pet food?
 
Let me answer this question by first relaying some information that recently came to me from an employee of PetStop in Sehome Village (Bellingham, WA).
 
Although I’m willing to bet it is one of the most common ways pet owners in the U.S. store dry pet food, it is, in fact, not necessarily a good idea to store dry pet food by pouring it out of its original bag into a plastic container of any kind, even those nice big air-tight containers with screw-top lids, or expensive Tupperware-like containers.  Why?
  • Even the hardest plastics can be scratched.
  • Pet food contains oils.
  • If you put dry pet food (which is rough) into a plastic container, the plastic will get scratched.
  • The oils from the pet food can get trapped in even the tiniest scratches in the plastic.
  • The oil goes bad and becomes rancid.
  • The bad oil rubs onto the new dog food.
  • Your dog ingests the new food with the bad oil and becomes ill.
The FDA Web site recommends:

“If you store dry pet food in a container other than its original bag, be sure to wash the empty container with soap and water before adding food from a new bag. The residual fat that settles on the bottom of the container can become rancid beyond its shelf life (the date stamped on the bag). This spoiled fat may contaminate fresh food added to the container, causing vomiting or diarrhea when fed to your pet.”

However, some folks would argue that even cleaning the plastic with soap and water will NOT solve the problem.

The PetStop employee I spoke to recommended that you always keep the pet food in it’s original bag, and keep the bag of food in an air right plastic container.  When the food is gone, throw the bag away, and put a new bag of food in the container. 

Getting a large dog food bag to fit into some of the older container models can be tricky, but it is possible.  The pet product industry has (of course) made available a new type of air-tight container with a new shape that makes putting in the entire bag of pet food a piece of cake.

11. What kind of cat litter do you recommend?

I recommend you buy the kind of cat litter that works for you and your cats.  It's kind of like asking a chiropractor what kind of mattress you should sleep on.  This is a purely personal choice based on what's important to you.

Having said that...the staff of The Placid Pet have the benefit of having lots of experience scooping waste out of all different types of litter boxes, and working with all different types of cat litter, in all different types of homes.  


For homes where spending a little more on litter is an acceptable way to use disposable income, you'll find lots of folks who buy (and champion -- are true devotees to) either World's Best Cat Litter (made from corn) or Swheat Scoop (made from wheat).  In my experience, these are terrific litters. They control the cat waste odor, and they don't add any smell to the environment (like the perfumes found in other litters).  The cats I've cared for who use these litters readily use them -- there's nothing about these litters that seem to deter cats. Also, both brands also claim to be biodegradable and flushable (a selling point for some folks).  

In 2008, the Langley Household deliberately tried out a wide variety of litters to see which worked best for our multi-cat, multi-litter box household.  Swheat Scoop worked beautifully -- controlled the odor better than any other cat litter product we tried.  The cats loved it -- no transition time.  It clumped beautifully.  You could walk right by the litter boxes and not know they were there -- no perfumes.  Well worth the money. However, a family member has an allergy to wheat, and this posed a little bit of a problem.   So, we switched back to a Tidy Cats multi-cat clumping product.  Seems to clump better than any other similar product, controls odor fairly well, is reasonably priced, and the cats actually preferred Tidy Cats to other leading brands (including Worlds' Best) when given the choice. We're not crazy about the Tidy Cats perfume smell, but it beats the smell of cat waste any day!

There are several cat litters that I (and my cats) would definitely not recommend, and I'd be happy to discuss our bad experiences on an individual basis.


12. How can I get rid of a flea infestation in my home?

Super question...and I'll tell you why:  if you have an infestation in your home, of any sort, The Placid Pet respectfully reserves the right to refuse to provide pet care to your pets.  Fleas must be taken seriously. They are a serious threat to your health, the health of your pets, and the health of those who live in proximity to you.  If you live in an apartment, you run the risk of infecting apartments around you. If you take your dog out into public on a regular basis, you run the risk of infecting other dogs.

In doing research for a client (a "one time" client) with a very serious flea infestation who didn't want to use chemicals to fix her problem, I did a lot of data gathering, and here's what I've learned form talking to various vets, and pest control experts:

Prevention:
  • First and foremost:  Do the responsible thing, and prevent fleas by using a widely tested and effective product like Program, Frontline or Advantage.  Mark your calendar and apply these products on a regular basis as directed (usually monthly).  It's a lot cheaper to buy a year's worth of Frontline from a source like CanadaVet.com or 1800PetMeds.com than it is to pay for a professional exterminator to go into your home and fix a problem that could have been prevented.
  • Another act of prevention:  Buy up cheap flea collars when they go on sale and store them with your vacuum bags.  Every time you replace a vacuum bag, cut a flea collar in half and put it in the bag before putting the bag into your vacuum.
Where to look for fleas on a pet: 
  • Look at the base of your pet's back, just above the tail.  If your pet is sensitive is this spot, that's a clue.  Get a brush and brush the area by the tail.  You may see fleas or flea dirt.  If so, you've got a problem.  
If you find fleas or flea dirt on one of your pets:
  • Check all of your other pets for fleas. 
  • Go to your vet and ask for a Capstar pill (a single pill) for each pet on which you found fleas or flea dirt. Capstar will kill all adult fleas in just a few hours.  It is a great way to get rid of existing fleas while using another follow up product like Program, Frontline or Advantage will help prevent them from reoccurring again later.
  • Also from your vet, purchase a can of  Mycodex Plus.  Follow directions on the can.  Essentially you'll want to use this spray in any areas of your home where you think there may be fleas (closets, pet bedding, rugs, between mattresses, etc.) However, before using Mycodex...clean your home thoroughly!
What do I mean by cleaning your home thoroughly?
  • Vacuum floors and carpeting and dispose of the vacuum bag -- seal it into a plastic bag, and take the plastic bag to an outside garbage bin.
  • Mop wood, tile or laminate flooring.
  • Wash all bedding your animal has contact with.
  • Open your windows -- air out your house!
Fixing a serious infestation:
  • If your problem is so bad that you need professional help:  FleabustersRX 1-800-488-3532.
It may seem that I'm advocating the use of a lot of chemicals to solve your problem...and....well, I am. Believe me:  The negative affect of a flea infestation on your health, the health of your pets, and the health of anyone who enters your home or lives near to you, far outweigh any risk posed by the heavily tested and veterinarian recommended products mentioned here.
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