Frequently Asked Questions
Here at Red Dog we assign sitters to jobs on a weekly basis. If your service request is for services within the same week you are requesting, then yes, you will see your assigned sitter shortly after it is approved. If your service request is for the future then your assigned sitter will show up in your Time To Pet portal with the approver’s name – either our Operations Manager, Jessica Whyte, or myself. This will not change until we get closer to your scheduled dates. Sometimes you may see a sitter assigned for services that are farther out, however, this is usually for our Overnight Slumber Party and 24/7 Vacation Camp requests so that we know we have availability for those services. NOTE: IF you do have a sitter assigned it is ALWAYS subject to change at a moment’s notice.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee this. We will always try our best to accommodate your preferences, but we are striving to ensure all of our very qualified sitters are familiar with all of our fur clients. This ensures you will never be left without a sitter due to staff and client emergencies.
We have multiple answers to this question.
A1: If you would personally like to meet any of our sitters, you can always schedule a Meet and Greet or PreService Information Meeting at a cost of one 30-minute visit equal to $33.
A2: If we deem it necessary, due to complicated circumstances such as medication administration, reactivity, pet anxiety issues, etc. we will either schedule a PreService Information or Meet and Greet with you and the newly assigned sitter prior to them caring for your pet, OR the new sitter will be assigned as “Staff Training” with your regular sitter for the first visit. Please note the following:
- If you require meeting another sitter, it will be scheduled at a cost of one 30-minute visit equal to $33
- If we deem it necessary to have your regular sitter introduce your pet to one of our other sitters due to a shared job situation, then you will NOT be charged for both sitters but rather just your regularly scheduled sitter. The other sitter will still be paid and it will show as “Staff Training” on your invoice
A3: This year we are going to try to do a quarterly Meet and Greet with all of our staff at Good Girl Brewery. This will allow any clients who are interested to stop by and meet each of us, ask any questions, and share a beverage if so desired.
RDPS
RDPS FAQs – Report Cards & Visit Timers
Here at Red Dog we use Time To Pet (TTP), the industry standard software for the pet services. TTP is the go to place for clients to store all the important information about their pets and for our staff to access all of that information when caring for clients’ pets. Today I want to talk about the most often viewed, and what we believe to be the most valued feature, of Time To Pet – Report Cards
Report Cards will arrive in your Time To Pet portal as soon as we complete a visit. If you use the Time To Pet app, and you have Notifications turned on, you will receive real time alerts when your sitter arrives and completes a scheduled visit.
Here are some frequently asked questions with regard to Report Cards.
Q: I scheduled a 30 minute dog walk. Will my sitter be there at the exact time I scheduled?
A: Although we strive to get to your home as close to the scheduled start time as possible, our staff members have a 30 minute grace period on either side of scheduled visits. This allows for issues with traffic, weather or previous visits that may have run longer than expected. Because we believe that communication is the key to a trusting relationship, all of our staff have been trained to notify the Red Dog Operations Manager, and the client, through their TTP portal, that they are running late. This is standard practice in order to prevent our clients from undue worry.
Q: Does my assigned staff member really stay the entire scheduled service time?
A: YES! Actually doing what we say we are going to do is VERY IMPORTANT to us at Red Dog. If you have booked a 30 minute walk for your dog, then we will be with your dog for the FULL 30 minutes.
Q: How do I know my assigned staff member has actually been with my pets for the full amount of time that I requested and paid for.
A: Red Dog staff members also use TTP to see all of their scheduled visits and the associated client information for those visits. In the Staff App, your assigned sitter will click the Start Timer button when they arrive at your home. That is when the timer starts counting down the scheduled amount of time for your visit. The staff then member receives a “5 minutes remaining” notification when the visit time is almost up. This is when your assigned staff member will write up the report card and attach cute pictures. If clients are home, the assigned staff member will usually do this in their vehicle, in your driveway, for the remaining 4-5 minutes. If the client is not home, then the assigned staff member may cuddle with your pet on the couch or floor while writing. We pride ourselves in giving complete and fun report cards, so this takes a few minutes. Once the 30 minutes are up and the assigned staff member has finished the report card they will click the Stop Timer and Complete buttons. If you have the TTP app and notifications enabled, then you will receive a message that the visit is complete and you will now be able to view the report card and pictures.
*Note – If you click the MORE details in the report card you will see a full report of the stop and start times for that visit.
Q: How can I check to make sure my assigned sitter was there the full amount of scheduled time?
A: At the bottom of your report card you can click the blue button that says Show Details. This will give you the Date, Start and Stop times. See example below.
Scheduled:
Feb 16, 2025 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Staff Assigned:
Event Notes:
Started:
Feb 16, 2025 11:20 AM Edit
Stopped:
Feb 16, 2025 12:12 PM
Q: Will there ever be a time when the sitter does not fulfill the entire visit time?
A: Although it is rare, there are some circumstances where your sitter may stay for the entirety of the scheduled visit time. This will ONLY happen under special circumstances such as;
- You have added a visit very last minute due to an emergency or such, and we have agreed to squeeze you in
- We are short handed and your assigned sitter is sick or has been in an accident, etc.
- Extenuating circumstances such as hurricanes, snow, etc.
We will ALWAYS get there to ensure your pet gets out to potty and fed, but in circumstances like these we may need to cut the visit short by a few minutes. However, we will never do this without informing you of the circumstance and our need to do so prior to the visit.
If you have not already downloaded the TTP app, now would be a great time to do so. You can do all of the same functions – scheduling, view and pay invoices, cancel or change requests, send us a message, etc. as you can in the full web version of your portal. Your log in and password will be the same in the web version or app.
I have included a link below to an article on Using the Time To Pet Client app.
https://help.timetopet.com/article/314-using-the-time-to-pet-client-app
As usual, if you have a question that I have not answered, feel free to send me a note or give me a call at 443-823-9788.
