Policies & Procedures

Initial Contact:
This is the very first step to having Go Away Pet Sitting take care of your pets. You may reach us through our website, phone or email. Our goals are to determine the location for pet sitting service (10 mile radius of West York) and what your pet sitting needs might encompass. We will need to get your contact numbers as well as information specific to your pet(s). Then it's time to set-up 30 minutes to meet for your personal, private in home CONSULTATION.

Consultation:
Before a pet sitting visit can take place, we will schedule your initial visit. This is a time for pets, pet sitter and owner to get acquainted. At this time, we will obtain keys and answer questions. Your CONSULTATION is complimentary. If we need to come back to pick up keys, you will be charged $20.



Quantity of Visits
Dogs must have a minimum of three visits per day for clients that will be away more than one overnight. The only exception to three visits per day for dogs are clients with a secured backyard with a doggie door and then two visits are acceptable. First day and last day of requested service visits will vary depending on departure/arrival time and it is possible those days will only have one visit.

Cats require one visit per day.

Payment Options & Requirements:
Payment for services is requested to be made in full and in advance of all scheduled daily visits. You will receive an invoice and if you would like, you can pay online using a debit or credit card. If not paying online, a check or cash must be at the house when we arrive for our first visit.

Holiday, Overnight Stays and Vacation Visits must pay 1/2 the invoice to be put on our schedule. The other 1/2 is due 28 days before the first day of service.
See Cancellation Policy for more information.

Return Check Policy: Checks returned for any reason will be charged a $25 service charge.

Reservations:
Schedule Portal Users: Please allow a minimum of 24 business hours for all reservations to be assigned and confirmed. New clients please - give us reasonable advanced notice for all consultation and pet sitting requests to better serve everyone. Thank you. For your security and protection, all pet sitting reservations MUST be confirmed before you leave. Submitting your pet sitting request on Go Away Pet Sitting website for confirmation is key! We cannot accept voicemail or email requesting pet sitting UNLESS by Written Exception. Again please be sure that we have responded to your request, (your confirmation/invoice will be emailed to you), and have put your pets on our calendar before you assume that we will be there.

Safety:
As a safety measure, if you are traveling or have been out of town overnight, we request that you contact us by phone or text (prefer text to 717-659-3673) indicating that you have safely returned and our responsibility is over. If we do not receive this communication from you by your expected return date/time, we will try to reach you by phone. If we cannot reach you to confirm that you have safely returned home, we will continue the routine care that was planned and mutually agreed upon for your pet until you do safely return home. This will be billed to you at our last minute rate for service.

Late Reservations:
There will be a $5 late booking fee for any day-before and $10 for same-day requests. This is where I always try to say “yes”, but sometimes we can only tweak our schedules so much and still provide the exemplary care you have come to expect.

Holiday Surcharge
Certain holidays will have an additional surcharge of $5 per visit added. Including the day before, these holidays are: New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Easter,  Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, Christmas Eve and Day and depending on how it falls, it could include an additional day or two. 100% of this charge goes to your sitter as a “Thank You” for spending time away from their families and working during the holidays. To book the holiday, you must pay in full.

Cancellation Policy:
We understand that you may need to cancel your scheduled pet visit and will be happy to cooperate with you on this issue. Please let us know as quickly as possible so that we can make our plans accordingly and effectively. Please use the online portal to request your cancellation.

Overnight/Vacation stays need to be cancelled at least 18 days in advance for a full refund. 11-17 days will receive a 50% refund; 10 days or less, there is no refund. Vacations that include holiday visits can cancel 18 days in advance for a full refund. No refunds with be given within 17 days. Please use the online portal to request your cancellation.

NO REFUND will be given if you return home early. Once Overnight, Vacation or Holiday visits have begun, we will not refund any money. Depending on the circumstances, we might give credit towards future visits, but this is highly unlikely. We have rearranged our schedules (family events, vacations, appointments) to be available for you, please respect our commitment to you, because we take our commitment to you seriously.

Monday through Friday daily visits/dog walks (NOT VACATION visits) cancellations should be made by 9:00 am. If you know the night before, please be courteous of the walker's time and let us know as soon as you know. Please text the cancellation request to 717-659-3673. If we are en route to your home, we will not refund the charge for that visit.

Journals:
After each visit the Go Away Pet Sitting assigned sitter will send a Journal of that visit. You will receive an email with a link to your Journal. You can also download the Precise Petcare App for easy access to your client portal/journals. Every effort will be made to send your Journal update as soon as possible following the completed visit however the update will be sent within 2 hours of the completed visit. In the event that something should occur that needs your immediate attention, advice or approval, you will receive a phone call unless other arrangements have been made.

Keys:
Please have two(2) keys available for us at the consultation. We will keep your keys on file for future services or in the case of emergencies. You can also call upon us if you lock yourself out. If you prefer we do not hold onto your keys, there will be a $20 fee to pick up your keys the next time and $20 fee to return them.

Please note that if you do not provide keys and only provide us with garage or electronic codes to enter your home and there is a power outage that prevents us from entering to care for your pets, you will still be charged for the visit. Additional visits after power is restored will be billed at your pet sitting rate.

We have had several people call us with medical emergencies, where they were in the hospital, either themselves or their spouse and because we had their key on hand, we were immediately able to go give their dogs a break.

Pulling on Leash
We walk dogs that are leash trained. If your dog pulls on the leash and does NOT listen to commands, we have the right to refuse service to your dog. If you need help with leash training, I recommend reaching out to a professional (and the age of the dog doesn't matter - OLD dogs CAN learn leash manners aka new tricks)

Aggressive Pets/Biters Policy:
It is the responsibility of all pet owners, spouses or informed parties to inform Go Away Pet Sitting during Consultations, Profile Creation and/or at any time after any occurrence of pet aggression and/or attacks, (including attempted biting) where any other animals, children or adults had any potential involvement, (in writing). Please contact the office via email at goawaypetsitting@gmail.com at least 72 hours before you want to schedule service.

We reserve the right to refuse any Aggressive or Uncontrollable Pets for bookings - thank you, Go Away Pet Sitting

Immunizations:
For your protection and ours, it is our policy that all pets that we are caring for are current on all their immunizations. Pennsylvania law requires that all owned dogs and cats must be vaccinated against rabies by three months of age. Of course, we do make exceptions on a case by case determination.

Cats:
We request that cats are provided with daily visits for their own protection. Every other day visits will be considered, not promoted, but considered, because you know your cat and their needs better than we do.

ID Tags:
Dogs must wear their ID tags if we are walking in public areas (or at least let us know where their tags are) Dogs who remain on their own secured property or while inside are free to be naked.