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Your Best Friend's Friend - Services

Your Best Friend's Friend - Services

YBFF specializes in caring for your pets in your own home for weekend get-aways, vacations of any length, holiday travel or when you are injured, ill or just too busy to care for your pet. We offer:
  • Personalized pet sitting of all type animals in your home
  • Personalized care of horses (feeding/cleaning stalls/pens) - Care of your home while you are away (mail/trash/papers/plants/flowers/packages/a watchful eye)
  • AM, midday and afternoon walking and excercise programs - Quick vists for a stretch and potty break - Administer medications including injections - Pet Chauffuer service (to/from vet or groomer)- Pet errands (pet store for food and supply)


PET SITTING AND HOME CARE SERVICES

More than 65% of all households have some kind of pet. If you are like most pet lovers, you hate to leave your pets in unfamiliar surroundings while you are away. According to the American Humane Society, pets are happiest when they are at home, surrounded by familiar sights, sounds and smells. The familiar environment, the same diet and exercise routine, along with the personal attention and fun provided by a professional pet care-giver is the perfect answer. Eliminating the trauma for your pet of being transported, minimizing exposure to illnesses of other animals, eliminating the stress caused from the noise and turmoil in a kennel and eliminating the hassel for you of taking and picking up your pet from the kennel are additional advantages to you and your pets alike by staying in their own home.

Prior to any type of service provided by YBFF, we will arrange an in-home visit so that we can meet you and your pets, and you will have an opportunity to get to know us. At that time, we will obtain detailed information about caring for your pets and home, including the number of visits each day you will require. We explain exactly how our service will work for you, and you can ask any questions you might have. There is no charge for this initial visit. We will also request a key to your home at this time. The key will remain in our possession for future service unless you request the key be returned. All keys are safely locked in our office. There is a minimal charge for drop off or pick up of keys after the initial service. Any meetings required after the inititial meeting will be billed at our hourly rate.

The number of visits per day your pet(s) require will be determined according to the type of pet, age of pet, how they are confined and if there is availability to a doggie-door. Special needs, such as medications or special treatments and the time schedule for these are also taken into consideration. Some homes require only one visit per day while others may require two or more.

Each visit we make is tailored to your specific needs which we will discuss at our initial meeting. We spend one-on-one time with your pets, providing exercise, walks, play times, feedings, fresh water, litter scooping, brushings, stall cleaning, administer/inject medications, and lots of love and attention. Each visit is approximately 30 minutes in length.

Also at the initial meeting, or on our first visit, we will take a photo of your pet(s) to keep in our files as a safety precaution should your pet become lost whether in your care or ours.  It's always wise to have a picture on hand.  We will also give you tags to clip on your dog(s) collars while you are away with our name and phone number on it.

Nova

YBFF will seek medical treatment in case of illness or injury, including transportation of your pet to your vet or an emergency clinic, if necessary. We will attempt to contact you with numbers you provided and attempt to contact your emergency contact as well. We do not provide horse (large animal) transportation, but your vet will be contacted in case of illness or injury, and we will remain with the animal or have the owner's emergency contact remain with the animal, if needed, until the vet arrives. Transportation of your pet in case of illness and/or medical emergency will be charged at an hourly rate.

Your Best Friend - HorseYBFF will help secure your home with the impression of occupancy: alternating lights, adjusting blinds, turning a radio on and off, and doing a daily walk through the entire house (all included in pet-sitting fees).

YBFF will bring in newspapers, mail, fliers and all packages each day. We will take your trash and recycling bins to the curb and back on the appropriate day (all included in pet-sitting fees).

YBFF will water flowers and plants inside and out with no additional charge providing it is not too time consuming -- our furry friends are our first priority. We won't forget those outside critters, say the word and bird feeders are filled too (all included in pet-sitting fees).

On occasion a pet will have an accident in the home. We carry supplies with us or will use supplies you leave out to clean up the accident the best we are able.

YBFF will provide a daily note to let you know how our day went, tell you about our fun adventures and fun times and of course tell you of any problems that might have occured.

We welcome you to call or email while you are gone to check on your furry friends.

Upon your arrival home, we ask that you call YBFF to let us know you have returned home safely. This is very important! There will be a reminder note left on top of your folder to help your remember to call us. If we don't hear from you, we will make the next appropriate visit and continue our service until we do hear from you. If you are delayed getting back for any reason, we will be happy to extend our service until you arrive home.  We ask that you make every attempt to contact us by telephone or email immediately if a problem arrises. We check messages the last thing every night and the first thing every morning as well as every hour during the work day.

Your Best Friend - Cat

An invoice with an envelope addressed to YBFF will be left in your folder the last day of service along with an evaluation form we ask you to complete.  We will also leave a short form to be completed prior to your next service with updated information we will need. If you are scheduling service on line, you will not need to complete that form, just make notation the information was sent through the web site (ybffpetcare.com and click on schedule service). Any additional information can be left on that form.

After the first service, we are ready to go for the next service with a request through the web site (schedule service) or a phone call. We ask that you give us three days notice but understand when this is impossible due to an emergency. We will always do our best to accommodate your needs. We do ask that you try to schedule dates over any of the holidays as much in advance as possible. We quickly become booked and will not schedule more work than we can service properly. A fee will be charged for cancellations of service with less than 48 hours notice. (See Rate Page for pet-sitting fees)


OVERNIGHT PET SITTING

YBFF understands there are times when it may be necessary for someone to stay in your home overnight (ill pet, new puppy, etc.). YBFF sub-contracts with a number of home/pet sitters in the area.  Although they are not employees of YBFF, we do a thorough interview process and background check on each and each is covered under the YBFF umbrella of insurance coverages.  YBFF also provides each overnight contract person with a list of YBFF expectations and thorough instructions for each job.  We will schedule a meeting with you, YBFF and the person house/pet sitting for you so you can interview them yourself and go over details of the job.  The home/pet sitter is required to check in with YBFF daily and we do random visits to make sure all is going smooth.  The YBFF staff is available to cover should an emergency arise with the contracted home/pet sitter.  Rates for this service will vary depending on the services required.  All payments will be made directly to YBFF and the sub-contractor will be paid through YBFF.

 


 

NO PETS? NO PROBLEM -- YBFF HOME CARE SERVICE

YBFF offers home care for those of you without pets.

YBFF home care gives you a piece of mind while you are away on business or vacation. You won't need to worry about stopping the paper and mail or worry about packages sitting on your front porch during your absence. If a water pipe breaks, or some unforseen visable problem occurs, we will see the problem during our daily walk through and will call the appropriate numbers you have provided us.

YBFF will help secure your home with the impression of occupancy: alternating lights, adjusting blinds, turning a radio on and off, and doing a daily walk through the entire house.

YBFF will bring in newspapers, mail, fliers and all packages each day. We will take your trash and recycling bins to the curb and back on the appropriate day YBFF will water flowers and plants inside and out. We won't forget those outside critters, say the word and bird feeders are filled too. (See Rate Page for home care fees).


DOG WALKING/EXERCISE PROGRAMS/MID-DAY VISITS

- Is mid-day dog walking needed for your dog when you work long hours or have that occasional late work night or after work event to attend?

- Do you not always have time to "tire 'em out?"

- Is your pet over weight or out of shape?

- Do you have a new puppy or kitten that requires additional visits during the day ... help with potty training ... additional play time?

- Is your pet getting older and requires additional times to go out?

- Does your pet require medication when you are not there to administer it?

- Is it too hot or cold to leave your pet outside all day?

- Do you have a long day planned hitting the slopes or doing something else fun where your furry friend needs a mid-day outing?

Your Best Friend - Caymus & CleoThe number one reason dogs should get their daily exercise is to maintain a healthy weight. Some of the benefits of regular exercise include improved muscle tone, endurance, and preventing cardiovascular disease. Just like us, our pets need to exercise to stay healthy and live longer. Talk with your vet about all the benefits of routine exercise for your pet. Your pet will tell you it's just a blast, makes them happy and they get to enjoy that "dog's life" they so deserve but you will know it's good for them as well.

Because of hectic schedules, illness, emergencies and long hours at work, it's not always possible to walk our furry friends on a regular basis or enough to insure fitness and health.

YBFF can set up regular walk programs for your furry friend. The type (length) of walk and the number of times each week is up to you. You are able to mix it up any way you choose (one day a short walk, one day a long). We are very flexible. Pricing will vary depending on the type walk/service.

Most times, out of shape pups need to start out a bit slower and work up to longer walks. The length of the walk can range from 20 minutes to as long as you wish. We also provide a quick visit for those not needing exercise, just a stretch, a potty break (keeping your home free of accidents) and a little TLC.

We have several clients who send their furry friends to doggie day care one or two days a week for a little change. We are fine with that and in most cases are able to provide the transportation to and from providing it is scheduled in advance.

We try to get to know as many pet care affiliates in our service area as we can so we are able to pass information on to you about their service (doggie day care, kennels, vets, groomers, pet stores).

We are community conscious and will always clean up during our walk and scold those who don't!

At each visit, we will ensure your pet has fresh water when we leave, feed as appropriate, and will leave you a note in your best friend's folder telling you of our adventures for that day. Our flexible scheduling allows for walking in the morning, afternoon or evening to accommodate your needs.

Your Best Friend - RexWe do not charge extra for weekend or holiday walks nor do we charge any type cancellation fee should you be ill one day or just decide you didn't feel like going to work.

Dogs are always walked on leash. We provide our own leashes (short and retractable). If your dog wears a certain colar/training colar, we will use that as instructed. Should your pet require some minor obedience work, we can incorporate that into the walks. We will always reinforce learned behaviors and commands as you instruct us to do.

YBFF can provide one-on-one walks with just your pets or if you have friends in the same complex/neighborhood that need dog walking services, we will be more than happy to combine the dogs, providing they get along with each other and are fairly obedient. The number of dogs we will walk at one time depends on the size and control of each. A substantial discount is given for combined walks.  So get your neighbors to sign up!

Because we have regularly scheduled daily walks, we ask that scheduling of as-needed walks/visits be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance with a preference of 3 days. It is often difficult for us to rearrange schedules and shuffle times to try to accommodate short notice requests. If we are able to provide service on short notice, (less than 24 hour advance notice), YBFF will charge an additional 10% to the regular fee for that service. (Please see the Rates Page for dog walking fees).

Let's get those furry friends out there walking ............ we know all the great places! We will be glad to leave you a map of our favorites so you can share in the fun with your pup as you have time.


PET CHAUFFUER AND PET ERRAND SERVICES

YBFF realizes how hectic a day can be for the owners of our furry friends, so we offer a pet chauffeur and errand service for our clients. This allows you to spend more of the quality/fun time with your pets. We provide:

- Transportation to and/or from vet appointments

- Transportation to and/or from grooming appointments

- Transportation to and/or from doggie day care

- Pick up supplies and/or food from pet stores

These services are charged at an hourly rate and billed per quarter hour. These services should be scheduled at least a week in advance so we are able to work them into our schedules. We know emergencies occasionally come up and will do our best to meet your needs should that happen. (Please see Rate Page).

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