Pet Sitter Emergency Procedures

Last Friday, the owners of the Green Acres boarding facility in Gilbert, AZ, were sentenced for the deaths of the 23 dogs in their care. Over the weekend there was news of 14 dogs dying from heat exhaustion in a boarding facility in Canada. Gross negligence was involved in both of these tragedies.

It made me think, again, about the trust involved in pet care. A solemn trust that the care taker will not only provide the best care but will also have emergency protocols in place. 

This is a matter we take very seriously, particularly since the Monument Fire of 2011 when 10,000 people were evacuated (myself included) and the entire Hereford area was closed to all traffic with the National Guard, the Border Patrol and local law enforcement agencies preventing access.

Interestingly, not one client has ever asked us about our emergency procedures for pet care. What would we do in the event of a forest fire? A massive power outage? A water contamination event? We have handled all of these situations, and more.

During the fire we had to evacuate client pets, first in the Palominas area then north over the course of days as the fire moved and threatened Three Canyons, Ramsey Canyon and the Moson Road area. It was an incredible experience for the entire community.

We have had several water events; from contaminated wells servicing specific neighborhoods to a big freeze that froze pipes (which then leaked when it warmed up). Our clients don't know (but should!) that we monitor many social media outlets to learn of these events to cross reference with the pets in the affected areas who are under our care. We stand ready to haul fresh water and immediately remove contaminated water from pet access.

Power outages can cause problems, too. Air conditioning will go out which will cause homes to become hot and any length of time without power can be detrimental to aquariums and pond fish. We are going to know where power is out so we can provide whatever relief is possible to those pets.

Throughout all of these scenarios, we will be in constant contact with our clients and/or their emergency contacts. 

Our advice to pet parents is to ask questions. Know what your boarding facility or pet sitter will do in the event of an emergency. Does the boarding facility have sensors in place to notify staff of emergency conditions? Does the pet sitter have a plan to care for your pet and possibly evacuate them? You should not be afraid to ask "What If" questions and if you're not happy with the answers you will know that you should seek other care arrangements.

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Dog Walk GPS Route Report

Last week we posted about our Pet Sitter GPS Visit Location report. This week we show you our Dog Walk GPS Route report. 

Our clients love being able to see where we walk their dogs! The report includes the arrival and completion time stamps (not shown) and a link to open the route map. 

In this report we walked the senior dog around the small block so she could mosey along smelling bushes and occasionally flirting with the people who are out and about. The big loop is for the younger girls who have abundant energy!

The visit report will include a note about the dog walk to let you know about the fun things that happen - like a bird dog coming nose to nose with a rather surprised dove while not breaking her stride!

You'll LOVE our customer service and your pets will LOVE our visits!

Pet Sitter GPS Visit Location

We embrace all of the technology available to us to be transparent to our customers. Our scheduling system has a lot of features that our customers love; like being able to schedule their visits with just a few clicks of the mouse, managing their pet care profiles, being able to view visit reports in their account and by email and much more.

Our visit reports also include a map that will show the GPS location stamp where the pet sitter marked the visit arrival and completion as well as the location of the client's home.  

As you can see, our visits are action packed! The above map shows the pet sitter had quite a few chores taking care of the four dogs, cleaning the back yard, moving the parrot cage into the spare bedroom for bedtime peace and quiet and checking the mail. 

Our clients can simply click on the Visit Map to see the map or satellite overview of the arrival and completion location while the visit report captures the time in and out.  

The note will let you know how everything is, if there are any problems, a description of the activities and an informative report as to how the visit went. Our clients love the personal touch and you will, too!

At Creature Comforts we hope to exceed your expectations for service and care!

Why Do Dogs Fight?

Many people experience it; the sudden fight between their dogs that seems to come out of the blue. It's a highly charged situation that is loud, scary and dangerous! Whether you have Rottweilers or Shih Tzus, dog fights can happen. 

Why do dogs fight? There are a few common triggers:

• Most of the time dogs will fight when they are overly excited about something. This may be over toys, food, the doorbell or games like fetch. One of them will get it in his mind to be dominant.
• Sometimes one dog, who may consider herself alpha among the dogs, will try to be controlling over the others when they are excited about being let out to run in a field or even in the back yard. She will attempt to correct the excitement level and a fight is on.
• Dogs can get into a fight if they see another dog outside the yard. They will focus on the stranger until their excited frustration gets the best of them and they turn on each other.

You'll notice that excited dominance is always the culprit in these scenarios. It is uncommon for truly aggressive dogs to be able to live peacefully within a pack and those dogs will need professional help.

Hank was badly injured by a visiting dog

If you think back to when  your dogs have gotten into a fight you will likely find excited dominance at the core. Luckily, you can correct this behavior by learning their triggers and working on obedience. Practice keeping your dogs calm around each other and keep their excitement periods under control by limiting the time they are allowed to play (with each other or games like fetch) and breaking for a few minutes with calming obedience tactics like sitting for a treat or being on a leash when out running in a field.

This becomes even more important when you have an "Omega" dog. His body language and energy is very submissive. He is the kind of dog who seems to always be picked on by the other dogs and he's always giving up his toys or bed. These dogs will bear the brunt of the excitement of the more dominant dogs in the home. In the case of Hank and his brother Worf, they occasionally get into it when playing fetch. The injuries you see are from their uncle that the client was watching for her daughter for a few weeks. They came home from work one day to find Hank had been attacked and he was in pretty bad shape!

In closing, work with your dogs to reinforce your place as their leader by doing basic obedience and going for walks. Keep their excitement over their triggers under control. Never allow one to be dominant over the other(s) during any activity. With practice and determination you can create a peaceful coexistence between your dogs. 

We'd love to hear about your experience in the comments!