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.

Of course! We have many clients who contract Head to Tail to visit their homes while they travel to do all of those things. This gives them peace of mind that their home is safe while they are out of town. So, no, you do not have to have a pet to use our service. We can come to your home to collect mail, packages and check on the home.

The registration meeting is a visit that allows the client to get to know our service and their assigned Pet Sitter 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 $26 fee for the registration meeting. This fee covers administrative costs related to their account creation, as well as the sitter’s time.

Checks made out to Tami Truex, cash or Zelle (cash or check must be sent to or dropped off at my home address). Tips are greatly appreciated especially at this time but not expected.

We’re more than happy to schedule pet care for last-minute (less than 24h notice regular, 72h Holiday) needs for an additional charge of $10 regular and 20% for Holiday, 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).

Head to Tail 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 but we’ll also visit rabbits, birds, frogs, guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, iguanas, etc.

Our clients can customize how many visits they would like their Pet Sitter 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.

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.

Absolutely! All clients can call, email or text to request service. Please make sure to get a confirmation and an invoice. All scheduling requests are confirmed during our regular business hours, which are 9AM-4PM Monday through Friday.

No, we don’t accept credit cards at this time. The clients can leave a cash gratuity for their sitter if they so wish, but payment for services must be made by cash or check to the office or PayPal. Payment is due prior to the start of service at time of booking.

What is your cancellation policy?

Credit only no cash refund.

The sooner you let us know the better! Mid day is 24 hours notice. Other services require more notice.

Daily Dog walks for our regularly scheduled clients M-F: 24 hour cancellation required. Afternoon clients need to cancel by 7am on the previous day to avoid cancellation fee. Full payment will be charged otherwise.

Pet Sitting Visits: Any visits that are scheduled outside of our regular weekly dog walking clients M-F 9am-4pm are considered pet sitting visits. Cancellations made more than two weeks notice will have 100% credit applied to account. Cancellations made 1 week in advance from the first scheduled visit will be required to pay 50% of the services. Cancellations made 48 hours or less from the first pet sitting service will be charged for the full reservation.

If your pet sitting visits fall during a Holiday, cancellations require full payment.

Winter Weather: Please take measures to ensure that your steps, garage and driveway are free from ice and safe for our walkers and your pets, during the winter months.

Holidays:

Visits: 50% additional per visit

Overnights: 50% additional on Holiday Eve and Holiday Night

* New Years

* Martin Luther King

* Presidents Day

* Easter

* Memorial Day

* Independence Day

* Labor Day

* Columbus Day

* Thanksgiving Day

* Christmas Day

Holiday Charges that apply for 2021:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Jan 16-18

President’s Day: Feb 13-15

Easter: April 3-4

Memorial Day: May 29-31

Independence Day: July 3-5

Labor Day: Sept. 4-6

Columbus Day: October 9-11

Thanksgiving: November 24-28

Christmas: December 24-Jan 1

Holiday Charges that apply for 2022:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Jan 15-17

President’s Day: Feb 19-21

Easter: April 16-17

Memorial Day: May 28-30

Independence Day: July 2-4

Labor Day: Sept. 3-5

Columbus Day: October 8-10

Thanksgiving: November 23-27

Christmas/New Years: December 24-Jan 1

Returning home early:

Because there has been a reserved time for pet sitter visits, money will not be refunded or credited.

Late Booking Fee:

Clients who book less than 24 hours in advance will be charged a $10 late booking fee. Please note that the 24 hour window applies to the beginning of the requested time frame. (Ex: for a 9-11 AM visit, request must be received prior to 9:00 AM the day before.)

Payments are due before or at the first day of service. $10 late charge per week. Invoices are usually sent the Sunday before services begin. If you have a credit card on file and payment is overdue we will charge your card on file for services in order not to add additional late charges.

We are only accepting Credit Card Payments for new clients.

Cancellation Policies:

Daily Dog walks for our regularly scheduled clients: 24 hour cancellation required. Full payment will be charged otherwise. 24+ hours notice gets credit applied unless client offers to forfeit.

Pet Sitting Visits: We require 100% deposit to reserve your pet sitting visits. We have a 2 week cancellation policy for our pet sitting visits. If you cancel before this time you will receive your deposit as credit to your next service. Any cancellations made after the 2 week notice will result in forfeiture of your deposit. Cancellations made 24 hours or less of scheduled pet sitting visits will result in full payment.

Holiday cancellations require full payment. Returning home early: Because there has been a reserved time for pet sitter visits, money will not be refunded or credited.

Why We Do Not Job Share When Pet Sitting

We often get requests from prospective and existing clients asking to book us to care for their dogs and cats when they have friends, neighbors, or family covering some of the visits.  Unfortunately, due to liability issues, we are unable to job share when pet sitting with anyone other than a sitter taking jobs with Head to Tail.  When under our care, we let clients know if there is anything off or unusual with their pets or home.  However, with job sharing when pet sitting, if there is a problem with a clients home or their pets while they are away or upon their return, we do not want to be held liable for anything that may happen when their pet isn’t in our care.

See below for 7 examples of why we won’t job share when pet sitting.

• • If a clients dog or cat is on a limited ingredient diet, we don’t want to be responsible for food they may be given or can get into on their own if you have someone outside of Head to Tail providing care.
  • If a door or gate is left unlocked or ajar, we do not want to be held responsible if your pet is able to get out when no one is home.
  • If the other caregiver is responsible for unlocking or locking a gate or closing or opening a doggy door before or after a gardener or pool cleaner comes over, we do not want to be responsible if your dog gets out.
  • If a clients pet gets injured during play time or on a walk when they are not in our care, again we do not want to be responsible.
  • If a pet takes medication, we don’t want to be liable if the medication isn’t given properly.
  • If a clients friend or family member does not show up for their visits we may not know if a visit, meal, or medication was missed.
  • If a client returns home to something broken or missing, we do not want to be held responsible for something we did not do.

The above are only a few of many possible examples where pet care can be compromised when job sharing when pet sitting or splitting visits with friends, neighbors, or family of clients.  It is not that we are trying to make more money by asking a client to book all the visits with us, it is for the safety of our clients pets and to eliminate liability issues playing a game of he said, she said that prohibits us from job sharing when caring for clients pets.

When you book pet sitting visits for your pets, do you ask your pet sitter to job share with friends, neighbors, or family?  If you do, how do you handle it when there are issues with either your pet or your home upon your return?

All are welcome to call or email the office with their questions. The office number is 219-462-2911 you can call or text and the email is headtotailpetsitting@yahoo.com. When they’re ready to get started we have a very simple registration process that will be explained to them. We can get started as soon as the registration meeting has taken place.

– The “Morning” time slot is between 7 & 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.

Our visits last usually 15 min for cats and 30 min for dogs or other large pets. However, a sitter may have extra time to spend with the pet if they do not have another pet sit assignment right after. We try to tailor our visits around the pets needs.

If your pet requires meds, ask to have Tami do the pet sitting.

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 are happy to provide our clients with proof of insurance and our bond. We can easily email them a copy or our certificates.

Our all-time goal is to provide our clients with guilt free tailor made service that they know their pets and their home are in the best possible hands. We want our clients to leave their homes confident that their pet is receiving the love, attention and exercise that they deserve. We accomplish this by following our Code.

The 10 steps are:

– Be Professional

– Reasonable and Competitive Rates

– Tailor Made Services

– Safety

– First-Rate Staff

– Experience and Educational Development

– Patience and Understanding

– Unsurpassed Personal Service with Outstanding Communication

– Follow-Up

– Genuine Love of Animals

At time of booking is when you text me or email or book through my website. Payment is required to book and hold reservations. Nothing is confirmed until paid in full. For Holiday booking payment must be paid at time of contact with me to reserve your pet sitting. If Holiday booking is not paid within 24 hours a 10% late booking fee will apply. If not paid I will remove the reservation so another client can book and pay.

Head to Tail Does not give refunds in the form of cash, we only give credit on your account. Credits are issued when ample notice is given for cancellations. Mid Day clients must give 24-36 hours notice to get credit applied to their account. Vacation clients must give 1 weeks notice. Vacation clients that have booked for December 24 – Jan 1st that cancel will pay a cancellation fee of 25% of total bill and will only get credit if 3 weeks notice is given. Head to Tail cannot give you credit if airline delays or cancels flight. Always discuss this with Head to Tail.

Head to Tail take Checks (not post dated) made out to Tami Truex, cash and Zelle ( due to the new law I might not take Zelle anymore, please check with me first). If I am charged the fee client is responsible for reimbursement in the form of cash.