Policies

💩🐶 We operate on a prepaid monthly subscription—simple, flexible, and contract-free. Payment is made at the beginning of each month, allowing us to keep your service on a consistent, reliable schedule. No long-term commitments required.

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🚪 Do I Need to Provide Outdoor Access?

Yes. Since all services are completed outdoors, access to your yard is required.

• We do not enter homes during service
• You’ll receive a two-hour arrival window so you know when we’ll be on your property
• Please ensure gates are unlocked and provide a lock code if needed

For safety reasons:
• If we cannot access the yard, or if a dog is aggressive, the visit will be charged
• We will not enter yards with excessive brush, tall grass, debris, or unsafe conditions, as this poses a risk to our team (insects, snakes, falling debris)

Your safety—and ours—always comes first.

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🐕 Adding Pets to Your Service

Clients must notify 4 Pets’ Sake if additional pets have access to the yard. This ensures accurate pricing, proper scheduling, and thorough cleanup.

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🗑️ What Do You Do With the Waste?

We handle disposal responsibly and professionally.

• Waste is collected according to Charles County standards
• Properly disposed of at the county landfill
• Double-bagged using biodegradable, county-approved waste bags

Clean yard. Clean conscience.

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🌦️ Inclement or Hazardous Weather

In cases of hazardous conditions—such as rain, snow, temperatures below 32°F or above 90°F—we may need to skip a scheduled visit.

• Skipped visits will be made up by removing double the waste at the next visit
• No credits are issued for weather-related skips

This policy helps keep our team safe while ensuring your yard stays clean.

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📝 Are There Contracts?

No contracts—ever.

• A standard 4 Pets’ Sake customer agreement is required for intake and cancellation policies
• We ask for 24-hour notice to cancel a scheduled visit
• Missed visits without notice will be charged

Easy, flexible, and commitment-free.

Our initial client interview is free with at least one week notice of service needed. A $20 consult fee applies for consults with less notice, and for any update consults that are requested.

4 Pets’ Sake reserves the right to charge for any additional time incurred on visits due to cleaning animal waste, delayed access to the property, or animal behavior compromising the safety of the sitter.

An additional fee of $25/visit will be assessed for all Federal Government observed and 4 Pets’ Sake holidays:

– New Year’s Eve

– New Year’s Day

– Martin Luther King Jr. Day

– Presidents’ Day

– Memorial Day

– Easter

– Juneteenth National Independence Day

– Independence Day

– Labor Day

– Columbus Day

– Veterans Day

– Thanksgiving Day

– Christmas Day

– Christmas Eve

Clients will be responsible for the cost of any damage caused by their dog to a boarder’s home, plus an additional 25% fee to reimburse the sitter for time and inconvenience.

Boarding requirements include that your dog is spayed or neutered, housebroken, up to date on vaccinations, and able to get along well with other dogs. If your dog is not housebroken, a $50 fee will be assessed for each incident after the first accident, and you will be asked to pick up your dog. If your dog displays any aggressive behavior toward the sitter or other dogs, you will be required to retrieve your dog immediately.

Extreme weather conditions present a unique problem when visits are scheduled. Visits may be delayed due to unsafe driving conditions and pets that are sick or in need of medication will receive priority scheduling during these times. It’s always a good idea to leave a key with a trusted neighbor for these emergency situations.

Daily dog walks will be canceled on days the federal government closes.

We require 2 working sets of keys to your home at the time of consultation, 1 for your sitter and 1 for the office. As 4 Pets’ Sake assigns additional pet care staff, we may require an additional key(s). For clients with keypad entry systems, we require an alternate way into the home as keypads are fallible (garage code or backup key is requested).

Keys may be picked up or dropped off with prior appointment and notice if not provided to sitters during their visit or consult. If sitters are required to visit clients outside of visits for key drop-off, pick-up or key copy, a $30 fee is assessed for their time and mileage, plus any expenses incurred.

As soon as you have plans to travel, contact our office to secure your reservation. $20 scheduling fee applied for visits with less than 2 business days’ notice.

Payment is due immediately upon completion of services. A late fee of 10% per month will be assessed for accounts over thirty days past due. Checks returned for any reason will result in a $35 return check fee.  Clients having a history of non-payment for over 30 days must prepay for all future services.

A one hour minimum visit charge is required for St. Mary’s and Calvert Counties, or areas greater than 10 miles outside of La Plata.

As part of our service, we are happy to water up to ten plants. Additional fees will apply for more plants and/or outdoor watering.

Our pet sitters are familiar with most types of security systems. We will review your system with you at our initial client consult. Please do not give us your master code but setup a unique code (that we will provide) for our use while caring for your pet.

For the safety and security of our staff, please notify the office if someone will be in your home while you are away. Our staff will not enter your home when it is occupied.