Holiday weeks like this one are a great time to get out of town. The extra days off of work and school allow for more time to enjoy sightseeing, relaxing, and bonding. Yet, traveling over holiday weekends can come with a challenge for those that rely on family and friends to care for their pets. And, they can burn pet parents that don’t choose their pet care options carefully. We can assure you that holiday pet sitting requires a pro. The following are our five top reasons to choose just that before you head out on your next holiday adventure.
Family & Friends Aren’t Available
Even if your family, friends, and neighbors are staying in town for the holiday, they may not be available to care for your pets. And, even if they seem willing to help, they may suddenly become unavailable. Unless you wholeheartedly know that your family, friend, or neighbor would pass up the opportunity to go to a concert, attend an event, or leave town for a fabulous day trip, you should expect others in your life to want to live up the holiday weekend just like you plan to do.
We’ve seen it time and time again. We get last-minute calls from pet parents that planned to leave their beloved pets in the care of a loved one only to learn that the person or persons’ availability suddenly changed. Unfortunately, because we often book our holiday pet sitting visits weeks in advance, we are usually unable to help with such short notice requests. It breaks out heart to deny these desperate pet parents but it happens so often, we’ve come to expect these calls around holidays and long weekends.
Family & Friends Are Distracted
If you’re lucky and your family, friends, and neighbors are willing to dedicate their long weekend to caring for your pets, they are likely sharing their time with other goings-on in their lives. From BBQs and gatherings to home improvement projects, people like to take advantage of long weekends to have fun and/or be productive. Some might even have a Netflix binge on the agenda and we all know that’s hard to interrupt when the show starts to get good.
Because people may have other plans, your pet may not get the care they need or deserve. Visits might be rushed, emergencies might be missed, and messes may not be cleaned up like they would be when you hire a professional. If you insist on having a friend or neighbor care for your pets while you’re away for a long holiday weekend, just know that what you save on services may end up costing you in the long run.
Family & Friends Aren’t Trained
The family, friends, and neighbors we ask to care for our pets as a favor may be pet lovers but they aren’t pet professionals. They may have the keen ability to notice when their own pet is not quite right but may accidentally overlook signs and symptoms in someone else’s pets. Even if they spend lots of time with your pet(s) socially, caring for a pet when their family is away for days or weeks at a time is a much greater responsibility than sharing a couch with a pet for a few hours.
At Shoreline Happy Paws, we hire avid animal lovers and train them to be extraordinary pet sitters. They learn Pet First Aid & CPR, how to properly approach a fearful pet, how to administer medication in ways that limit stress, and more. Sure, your pet will likely be fine in the care of your trusted friend or neighbor but they may not be able to provide the knowledge-based approach to pet care that our team prides ourselves on providing. Especially in emergency situations, training can mean the difference between life and death or the difference between your peace of mind and an early return home.
Family & Friends Don’t Have Our Experience
When it comes to using equipment properly, reading prescription bottles, understanding feeding instructions, and scooping poop, or refilling boxes, you can either hope your friend or neighbor remembers your instructions, or you can count on a professional that has worked with thousands of pets in the past. We’re confident that training and experience matter, especially to the pets and homes that benefit from them.
In addition, friends and neighbors may think they’re doing you and your pet a favor, specifically dogs, by bringing them along for holiday festivities. You won’t be the wiser until they call to report that your pet was injured, lost, bit someone, etc. Because professionals are held to insurance policy requirements, we consider liability, risk, etc. before making decisions that can negatively impact you and your pets. Your neighbors may have the best of intentions but they just don’t have the knowledge and know-how we do.
Family & Friends Don’t Have Back-up Plans
Oftentimes, when we get calls about pet care plans falling apart because friends’ and neighbors’ availability changed, it’s because the pet parent put all their eggs in one basket. It’s the day or night before their trip and the friend cancels due to an unexpected family emergency, injury, etc. In even worse situations, the family or friend cancels while the family is already on their way or at their destination. Panic sets in because family and friends that pet sit as a favor don’t have back-up plans or back-up pet sitters.
Working with a professional pet sitting service like ours, you get a built-in back-up plan. Your primary pet sitter will be assigned visits while you’re away but, if anything were to cause an interruption in their availability, our team will ensure that your pet’s care is not subsequently interrupted. If that’s not peace of mind, I don’t know what is.
Imagine having to leave your highly anticipated vacation or weekend away because your friend bailed. What a mess! How disappointing! When you work with a professional pet sitting service, that just doesn’t happen. We have systems in place to ensure that the pets in our care are seen as scheduled. Even in an unimaginable worst-case scenario, we will work tirelessly to figure out a solution without interrupting your much-needed break.
Holiday Pet Sitting in the CT Shoreline
When hiring a professional pet sitter, you don’t have to worry about cutting corners or rushing visits over holiday periods. Pet care is our job, our vocation, and our passion. You can rest assured that this isn’t the first holiday we’ve given up to care for pets therefore we’ve planned our lives accordingly. We love what we do, which is why we do it. We usually have our scheduled visits mapped and planned days in advance, our car stocked with paper towels and poop bags, and our weather-appropriate outfits and shoes picked out.
At Shoreline Happy Paws, we take pet care very seriously. We hire and train employees that take the work we do just as seriously. When you hire our team, you can count on us to do all we can to ensure your holiday travel plans go off without a hitch, at least where pet care is concerned. Car maintenance before a road trip is on you!
We specialize in dog walking, dog hiking adventures, and pet sitting services in the following areas:
- Old Saybrook
- Essex, Ivoryton & Centerbrook
- Deep River
- Chester
- Westbrook
- Clinton
- Old Lyme
- East Lyme
- Niantic
Certain Parts and Certain Service Hours in:
- Lyme and Madison
- Waterford, New London, Groton
- Uncasville, Gales Ferry, Mystic, Noank
Please contact us by phone or text at 860-964-0464 or via email at info@cthappypaws.com to learn more.
