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Life as a (new) Pet Owner

Last week, I was at Panera working on my laptop while worryingly watching the webcam where Zuma was spending his first morning at a new doggie daycare and I thought about how in just 18 short weeks, Zuma has had such a huge impact on how I view my business, pet ownership, and my life in general. Amanda’s Pet Care’s tagline has always been ‘the absolute best for your pets’ and that’s what we always strive for. If you’ve read my bio on our website, you know that I’ve had almost twelve years of professional experience working with animals and pets, starting with my job working as an assistant zoo keeper when I was 19 and nearly every job I’ve had since then has been pet or animal related. But even with such a long history of working with animals, I’ve learned and educated myself so much more since becoming a pet owner, and my definition of ‘the absolute best’ has changed. And with it my ideas and vision for my business have also changed.

One of the first changes I’ve made is the start of this blog, where you can read topics on pets and about my life as a dog walker, pet sitter, pet expert, and most importantly a pet owner to Zuma, an energetic Labrahound who makes everyday an adventure. In the coming months, I’ll also be working on some changes to the Amanda’s Pet Care website and we’ll be adding some new services so stay tuned!

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The Arlington Pet Guru is written by Amanda Carlson, a professional dog walker, pet sitter, and pack leader of Amanda’s Pet Care in Arlington, VA. www.amandaspetcare.com

Rates for Pet Sitting Services

Our first guest blogger post is an article on pet sitting rates written by Karin Howland of Pets Stay Home in Winnepeg, MB, Canada.

Rates for Pet Sitting Services 

If you have done any comparison shopping for pet sitting services you will likely have noticed a wide range of prices for services. Why is that?

Well, price is actually arbitrary for this type of service, so comparison of each individual service is needed. While the adage, “You get what you pay for.” may be true for many types of services, pet care services are the exception.

When rates are very low, will that service provider be around tomorrow? Low rates usually mean many bookings a day to keep the business afloat, and that leads to burnout. Are corners being cut to keep rates extra low? As with any type of service, when someone is the cheapest, ask why.

On the other hand, when another service is more expensive, ask why are they so expensive. Do they, for sure, have liability insurance? Surprisingly, not all do. You may be asked to sign a waiver that the service provider will not be held accountable in the event of problems because they don’t have insurance. Or insurance may not even be mentioned, because there isn’t any.

Before comparing services, realize that operating a pet service can be expensive. The largest expense is in a vehicle, and that vehicle must be reliable. A car held together with hope, just won’t cut it when time is of the essence. Next, a liability insurance policy costs about $600 a year. That’s a lot of pet sits to cover the cost of that policy.

So what to do? Compare the service providers. Are they pleasant to deal with? After the initial contact, if you have more questions, how quickly do they respond? Do they have a contract? Do they have a contingency plan in the event of emergencies? Are they insured? Is the business registered or are they operating under the table? Are they organized? That point is very important. Missed visits, forgotten requests or carelessness, can all be avoided through effective scheduling, record keeping and time management.

Don’t base your decision on price alone. Make an informed decision.

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This guest blogger post was written by:
Karin Howland 
Pets Stay Home
Winnepeg, MB, Canada.

Missing Dog in Alexandria/Arlington!

UPDATE 7/16/09: Leo has been found!  You can read the update on his blog.

Help Find Leo: http://findleo.blogspot.com/

Leo is a foster dog with border collie rescue that has been missing since Sunday, June 7th. He escaped from his foster home in the Park Fairfax area of Alexandria, which is bordered by N Quaker Ln on one side and West Glebe Rd on another. Both roads border the city of Alexandria and the county of Arlington.

Leo is a red & white border collie or mix, is fearful of humans but is not aggressive. He has white feet, a white stripe down his nose, and white on the tip of his tail. He is approximately 45 lbs and has green eyes.

He was wearing a collar with a tag from border collie rescue in Richmond.

If you see him, please call 804-337-9715! DO NOT CHASE him! He’ll run from you, and you won’t be able to catch him.

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The Arlington Pet Guru is written by Amanda Carlson, a professional dog walker, pet sitter, and pack leader of Amanda’s Pet Care in Arlington, VA.

PetAirways Set To Take Off

PetAirways, the nation’s first pet only airline, is set to take off one month from today.  On PetAirways, pets fly comfortably in the main cabin instead of the cargo area of the plane.  However, one downside to the airline is they currently don’t accept dogs taller than 33″ or over 120 lbs, so your Great Dane will have to stay home for now.

The airline will make two cross country trips per week, flying from New York to Los Angeles (with stops in Washington DC, Chicago, and Denver) on Tuesdays with a return flight on Thursdays.  The inaugural flight is set to take off from New York on Tuesday, July 14.  Flights start at $149 each way.

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The Arlington Pet Guru is written by Amanda Carlson, a professional dog walker, pet sitter, and pack leader of Amanda’s Pet Care in Arlington, VA. www.amandaspetcare.com

Happy Earth Day!

In honor of Earth Day today, here are five simple ways you can go green with your pets:

1. Use biodegradable poop bags and save the grocery bags for the recycling bin (or even better carry your groceries in reusable bags made from recycled plastic bottles). Millions of tons of pet waste are produced each year by pets in America alone and a lot of this poop-lution has been fossilized in plastic grocery bags that can take hundreds of years to degrade.

2. Use an eco-safe biodegradable cat litter such as Feline Pine or Yesterday’s News. Besides the impact clay litters have on our environment, most clumping clay litters contain sodium bentonite that may cause serious health problems for your cat.

3. Choose all natural pet food. Many of the foods at supermarkets and national pet store chains contain low-grade animal by products that aren’t fit for human consumption so why would we feed it to our pets? Organic pet food contains quality ingredients that are minimally processed without adding chemicals which is better for the environment and our pets.

4. Buy all natural or recyclable toys for your pet such as Planet Dog’s Orbee-Tuff Glow for Good ball. In addition to being recyclable, Planet Dog donates 100% of the sales from the ball to the Planet Dog Foundation whose mission is to support canine service programs.

5. Our favorite Earth Day tips for pets…buy a recycled pet. Right now, there are 272,808 pets on PetFinder.com that need a forever home. There are over 70,000 puppies and kittens born each day in the United States, so when it’s time to add a new furbaby to your family, please consider adopting from your local shelter or one of the many rescues in the DC area.

What are you and your pet doing to go green this Earth Day? Send us an email and let us know!

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The Arlington Pet Guru is written by Amanda Carlson, a professional dog walker, pet sitter, and pack leader of Amanda’s Pet Care in Arlington, VA. www.amandaspetcare.com

Rainy Day Fun

If you’re looking for fun indoor games to play with your dog on rainy spring days, check out the Nina Ottosson line of interactive dog games, available from Jeffers Pet. The Dog Brick is one of our favorites because it can be adapted for increased difficulty.  Watch the video below to learn more about The Dog Brick.

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The Arlington Pet Guru is written by Amanda Carlson, a professional dog walker, pet sitter, and pack leader of Amanda’s Pet Care in Arlington, VA. www.amandaspetcare.com

Meet Zuma!

It has been a month filled with fun and adventure at Amanda’s Pet Care as we welcomed a new four-legged member to our family. My husband and I had been looking for the perfect dog to add to our family for several weeks but with no luck. I was driving by the Animal Welfare League of Arlington one afternoon though and decided to go in and check out if they had any new dogs since the last time we were there. About halfway down the line of kennels I met a happy, wiggly, energetic black Lab/Hound mix and it was love at first sight. After spending close to an hour playing with him, I called my husband Steven to tell him I had found the one. We went back to the shelter that night so Steven could meet him and two days later we brought him home. Zuma is now 6 months old and has been adjusting to his new home well. He’s a friendly and energetic pup that loves to play! Stay tuned for many more updates on our Adventures with Zuma.

If you’re looking for a new pet for your family, please consider adopting from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington or one of the many other shelters and rescues in the area.

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This Arlington Pet Guru is written by Amanda Carlson, a professional dog walker, pet sitter, and founder of Amanda’s Pet Care in Arlington, VA. www.amandaspetcare.com

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