Pause for Pets LLC - Service Agreement/Policies - UPDATED 1/22/2026
Consultations:
An in-home consultation is required for all new clients/pets prior to service. It allows us all to meet and become familiar with your pet(s) and their routines. Please have your account information updated and the veterinary release, credit card on file, and this service agreement read and accepted BEFORE we meet.

Communication:
We kindly request that ALL business communication (schedule requests, updates to pet info) be managed through our on-line portal/emails. Texts and phone calls are difficult to respond to and manage as we are out driving or in the field caring for pets. Emails through the portal are received immediately and best allow us to manage information and prioritize our administrative tasks. Additionally ALL cancel requests should be submitted on the portal, but for last minute requests, you can text/call Susanne directly. Our typical “office hours” are 10am-6pm.

Keys:
We are a keyless pet sitting company. Keys are kept by clients/on site, in a lockbox, or we require 2 other modes of entry to your home. Even in cases where we are using a garage code or keypad, we need the back up of a key. We can provide a lockbox for a $20 refundable deposit. Please make sure your lockbox is in place with keys and functioning properly before our planned visits.

Visit Times and Scheduling:
Visit times are approximately 30 minutes for a Standard Visit, approximately 20 minutes for an Express Visit and approximately 45 minutes for an Extended Visit. All visits are requested by the client on our portal and then confirmed by email when added to our schedule. **We will email you immediately if we are unavailable.
For pet sitting, we focus on the pets’ needs and direct our attention to providing exercise/companionship for your pets in your absence. If you request additional services or extra cleanup is required, additional charges may apply due to the extra time required.
•••We will do our best to accommodate emergency visit requests from our established clients, but additional fees of $10 apply to due to late hours/extra travel for visits made less than 24 hours in advance.
We will always attempt to visit your pets at the ideal time you would like, but we CANNOT offer an exact time. Instead, we will guarantee a two-hour time block for each visit. Dogs in extended care will wait approximately 10 hours, but never longer than 12 hours, from a last visit at night until the next morning visit.

Pet Sitting/Minimum Visits: 
In order to insure that your pets are safe and healthy while adjusting to your absence, we require a minimum of 3 visits per full day of pet sitting for dogs, and for cats, we require 1 visit per full day.

Payment: Payment is due at the time of the first visit or before. For ALL requests to be accepted, we require a credit card to be on file in your account, and for pet sitting, we require a 50% deposit to be paid upon receipt of your invoice in order to confirm and hold dates. Any invoices over a week past due, will be automatically charged to the credit card on file. In order to streamline payments and accounting, we have moved to accepting only credit card payments through our online portal. In you’d like, you can add a tip to your payment which will automatically be divided up for each visit on the invoice and given directly to the sitters performing the work. Additionally, if you would like to leave cash tips instead for your sitter, they are always welcome.

Cancellations:
For Dog Walking/Regularly Scheduled visits: In order for our business to run smoothly and to best accommodate the needs of everyone’s pets, we do have a 48 HOUR CANCELLATION policy for daily dog walking. With the exception of emergencies or illness, we will only credit for cancellations MADE ON OUR PORTAL at least two days in advance.
For Pet Sitting/Extended Care: For cancellations made at least one week in advance, your deposit will be credited for future services. Cancellations made less than one week before your trip (with the exception of major holidays BELOW) will forfeit your 50% deposit. Because we may have turned away other clients for your reserved time, we cannot credit for early returns or cancellations made less than a week in advance.

Holidays:
All visits occurring ON the holidays listed below are subject to a surcharge of $10/visit. The days surrounding these holidays are subject to a $5/visit surcharge. This fee is paid directly to our staff who are taking time away from their family celebrations in order to care for your pets.
For pet sitting/extended care that overlaps the holidays listed below, we require an 50% deposit at the time of booking in order to “hold” dates. This deposit is non-refundable but may be credited for future visits. Cancellations made at least two weeks in advance of your departure date will be issued a credit for the deposit that can be applied to future services. We appreciate your understanding that we have blocked out that time in order to accommodate your requests, and our staff has blocked out that time instead of celebrating with their families. No credit will be issued for pet sitting that overlaps any of these dates below, and is canceled less than two weeks before your departure date. ***For major holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas) we require cancellations be at least 1 month in advance for a credit.
Holidays: New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day Weekend, 4th of July/Weekend, Labor Day Weekend, The week before and weekend after Thanksgiving, weekends and days around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and the week in between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Extreme Weather / Emergencies:
While our staff are prepared to walk/visit in all types of weather, walks may be shortened or delayed due to extreme weather. For the safety of your pets, during extreme heat/cold, visits may just be short walks and will include more playtime and petting inside. Your pet care professional will use their discretion, but please make us aware of any special circumstances for your pet(s). Additionally, if the weather/roads are making travel difficult, we may have to delay or shorten visits in order to service all of our clients.
In the unlikely event of emergency conditions that would prohibit us from safely accessing your home to care for your pet(s), we recommend that you have a back up care giver (i.e. a neighbor). Please know that we will do our absolute best to care for your pets when promised, but for the comfort of your pet(s) and your peace of mind, it’s helpful to have a contingency plan in place.

Access:
Please ensure that we have clear, safe access to your driveway and areas of your home to care for your pets. This may include leaving lights on, having snow removal service, informing security that we will be visiting, etc. Additionally, please keep all walkways, decks, etc. that are used by pets and our staff clear and free of snow and ice in order to keep everyone safe and avoid injury. Any costs incurred by Pause for Pets (towing, damages to vehicles, medical care etc.) due to heavy snow or unsafe conditions will be charged to the client.

Fenced In Yards / Letting pets out:
Pause for Pets has a strict “no off-leash” policy, meaning that your pet care professional will only let dogs outside off-leash into a fenced in yard or with a dog trained on an Invisible Fence with a collar on. It is Pause for Pets’ policy to actively monitor all dogs while they are outside, however, we cannot be held responsible for gates/latches that are not secure, or dogs that bust through Invisible Fence lines / weak areas of a standard fence. For their safety, we do not let cats outside while we are pet sitting.

For the safety of all our pets, we require clear and sanitary access to all areas of the yard to properly monitor the dogs and attend to them. If the yard is not clear of feces, Pause for Pets will pick up the waste for clean and safe access to the yard, and will be charged back at rate of $20 per half-hour for labor. We will always pick up after your dog(s) while they are under our care.

Supplies/Equipment: In order to best provide for the well-being of your pets, we require some basic supplies and equipment: we are providing our own Harness Lead for a secure fit, but we ask clients to provide poop bags, food, medication, cleaning supplies & litter. If these supplies are not provided or deemed inadequate by your pet care professional, Pause for Pets will buy the necessary supplies and charge the cost back to the client with a fee for time and transportation costs at a rate of $20 per half-hour.

Photos/Social Media:
All photos taken by our employees are the property of Pause for Pets. We use these pet photos to promote our business. This includes using pictures we take of your pets on social media and our website. However, any photos published will not include any identifying information about you, your family or your home. If we refer to your pet specifically it will only be by first name only. Your signature on these policies acknowledges your agreement to release these photos for Pause for Pets’ use.

Release of Claims other than negligence:
Pause for Pets cannot be held responsible for damage to the client’s property, theft or injury to pet(s) unless these are the direct result of willful misconduct or negligence on the part of Pause for Pets or our pet care professionals. In order to avoid miscommunication and liability confusion, we strongly prefer to be the only providers caring for your pets. If the client chooses to allow another person access to the home during our service period, the client relinquishes any claims against Pause for Pets and its employees, except those claims arising from direct negligence or intentional harm caused by Pause for Pets. Additionally, we require that any other visitors during our service period sign a log with the date and time and indicate any food, medications or other care provided.


Limits of Liability:
The pet owner will be responsible for any damages or medical expenses resulting from an injury to any person(s) or domestic animals that the pet encounters, including Pause for Pets’ sitters. It is the policy of Pause for Pets to be cautious with pets on walks in order to avoid any negative encounters. However, the pet owner will be liable for medical expenses and/or damages that result from a bite, scratch or fall injury due to pet behavior. The pet owner agrees to hold harmless and defend Pause for Pets in any claims made by a domestic animal’s owner or other persons injured by the pet.

Additionally, Pause for Pets is not responsible for any injury to the pet or damage to the property of the client or others unless such damage is caused by the willful misconduct or negligence of Pause for Pets or its employees. We make every effort to ensure that gates/fences are secure and leashes/collars are properly fitted before taking pets outside. However, the pet owner is ultimately responsible for maintaining the security of locks/latches/gates and for making sure their home and yard are pet proof. Pause for Pets will not be liable for the injury, loss, death or fines associated with any pet given unsupervised access to the outdoors.

Pause for Pets Guarantee: Our goal at Pause for Pets is to provide the most compassionate and professional care for your pets while you are away, and your comfort and peace of mind are extremely important to us. To that end, Pause for Pets guarantees that we will provide the services stated in this agreement in a reliable, caring and trustworthy manner. If you have concerns or are unsatisfied, please notify Pause for Pets management within 48 hours, and we will make it right.

Please sign that you have read and agree to the above policies and service agreement.

Client(s) Signature/ Date: Client(s) Printed Name:

Pause for Pets LLC Signature/ Date: