Company Policies

To Maintain the Highest Level of Service for your Pets

Welcome to Around the Block Dog Walking & Pet Care, LLC. To maintain the highest standards of safety, transparency, and reliable care for your pets, please review our comprehensive service policies.

Part I: Pet Care & Service Policies

Our Pet Care Providers are all carefully vetted selected for their genuine love for animals, trustworthiness, reliability, honesty, and overall good character.

• Dog Walking: New clients will have a complimentary meet-and-greet with their walker prior to starting. While we make every effort to provide a consistent walker, we reserve the right to substitute with another vetted contractor due to emergencies, over-capacity, vacations, or scheduling conflicts. Clients may request a meet-and-greet with the new walker at any time.
• Drop-In Visits & Overnight Sitting: Jobs are offered based on contractor availability. If a contractor has previously cared for your pet, they are given first priority. If unavailable, the job is opened to our other team members. A home meet-and-greet is required prior to the stay.

Booking & Cancellation Policies

Because we reserve dedicated time slots for your pets and turn down other business to do so, we enforce the following policies:

• Dog Walking & Drop-In Cancellations: We require a 48-hour cancellation notice. Cancellations made fewer than 48 hours before the service incur a 100% cancellation fee. To allow for emergencies and sick days, we waive two cancellation fees per client each calendar year.
• Overnight Sitting Cancellations: We require a 7-day cancellation notice. Cancellations made fewer than 7 days prior to the stay will incur a one-night cancellation fee of $120.
• Provider Availability Cancellations: If your regular provider becomes temporarily unavailable, we will seamlessly replace them with another vetted contractor. You are welcome to request a meet-and-greet with the substitute. Canceling a regularly scheduled visit solely because your preferred walker is unavailable will still incur the standard 100% cancellation fee.
• Late Booking Fees: Last-minute requests require rearranging schedules. Bookings made fewer than 24 hours before a Dog Walk/Drop-In visit incur a $5 late fee. Overnight Sitting booked fewer than 7 days in advance incurs a $25 late fee.

Arrival Time Windows & Durations

• Dog Walking Windows: For dogs over 1 year old, we require a 2-hour arrival window. For puppies under 1 year old, we require a 1-hour arrival window.
• Drop-In Visit Windows: We require at least a 1-hour arrival window.
• Overnight Sitting Windows: We request a 2-hour window for arrival and a 1-hour window for departure at the end of the stay. Contractors stay overnight but will likely leave during the day; daytime durations are collaborated directly with the client based on the pet’s needs. Overnight bookings can be requested in advance but are officially offered to contractors up to 3 months out.
• Visit Durations: We offer 30 and 60-minute visits. Timing begins exactly when the caretaker arrives in your parking area/driveway and ends when they depart the parking area. This total time includes entry, care, walking, feeding, cleanup, and locking up.

Routes & Walking Constraints

• Dog Walking Limit: To ensure safety, we walk a maximum of 2 dogs simultaneously per client family. We strictly do not offer group walks or walks with other clients’ pets. Households with more than 2 dogs may book additional back-to-back walks.
• Routing & Schedule Changes: Walkers plan daily driving routes optimized for time management, fuel efficiency, and vehicle wear-and-tear. Because our routes include tightly reserved time frames, we cannot accommodate same-day time change requests, as this creates a disruptive ripple effect for all other pets scheduled that day.

Standard Operating Hours & Surcharges

Our regular administrative business hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

• Dog Walking Hours: Available from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Monday–Friday. Weekend and off-hours walks are available based on walker availability.
• Drop-In Hours: Available 7 days a week from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
• Surcharges: Any walk or drop-in visit scheduled after 6:00 PM or on a weekend will incur a $5 surcharge.

Client Portal, Invoicing & Payments

We utilize PetPocketbook.com for all scheduling, billing, pet profiles, and daily digital report cards (complete with visit updates and photos).

• Weekly Services: Invoiced weekly for the previous Monday–Sunday cycle. Invoices are emailed and payment is due the following Monday.
• Pet Sitting / Vacation Care: Invoices are emailed upon service completion and payment is due upon receipt.
• Payment Methods: We accept Cash, Check, Zelle, Venmo, or direct payment through PetPocketbook (manually or via AutoPay). Please note that PetPocketbook charges a 5% processing fee for digital payments made through their system. Contractors are paid directly by the company, though tips for excellent service are always appreciated.

Severe Weather Policy

We commit to showing up for your pets rain or shine, but extreme weather poses safety risks to both human couriers and animals. We ask for your empathy, flexibility, and adjusted expectations during these times:

• Extreme Cold: When temperatures drop into the single digits or lower, or during heavy snow/ice, outdoor time will be significantly shortened for the safety of your pet’s paws and our walker’s exposure. The remainder of the visit duration will be spent indoors providing love and mental stimulation.
• Extreme Heat: When temperatures reach the mid-90s or higher, outdoor walks will be cut short to prevent heat exhaustion and burnt paw pads. Remaining time will be spent indoors keeping your pet cool.
• Heavy Rain: We walk through light rain, but during downpours or thunderstorms with limited road visibility, outdoor time will be limited to quick potty breaks, with the remainder of the time spent indoors.

Conduct, Feedback, & Complaints

Performance Concerns: Around the Block strives to provide top-tier, compassionate pet care. If you ever feel your pet has not been adequately cared for, please report your concerns directly to the business owner immediately so we can address it.

Zero Tolerance Policy: We have a diverse team of pet care providers. We enforce a zero-tolerance policy for any type of racism, sexism, ageism, bias, microaggressions, harassment, or mistreatment of our team members.