No, we don’t have a boarding facility and do not privately board in our homes.
See Why We Don’t:
Our approach of ‘In-Your-Home-Pet-Care’ actually is a true ALTERNATIVE to the overall well known and widely available pet boarding where you take your pet to a boarding kennel or a Veterinarian office to stay while you are away.
Pet sitting on the other hand allows for your pet to stay at home, in his/her own environment, where your pet feels comfortable in the mids of all the smells, favorite launch areas, sounds, going potty in their own yard and everything else he/she feels so good with.
So here the care is actually turned around: Instead of the pet going somewhere and having to adapt to a facilities routine, WE come visit your pet in his/her own home and match your and your pet’s routine as close as possible which results in happy and content pets.
The risk of picking up on a contagious disease like kennel cough with being surrounded by other pets is almost eliminated and especially for the very young kittens and puppies as well as the elderly pet ‘stay at home’ care is the safest and most comforting pet care you can gift to your beloved fur kid.
Now that we know how Ms Kitty and Fido benefit from staying home while Mom and Dad are out, let’s look at:
Who Doesn’t Like Convenience, Don’t You?
No need to pack all your pet(s) belongings to take all to a boarding kennel for comforting your pet.
Your pet is waiting for you right at home, no matter how early or late in the day it is or what day
of the week you return. Your home has no office hours!
Over are the days where you need to count the minutes to run home during lunch to let your dog
out for potty. Instead there can be a lunch date with a friend.
Pet care at any time with just picking up the phone or jumping online and request service 24/7.
Yay, I once again can SPONTANEOUSLY have an over-nighter or a mini weekend vacation even with
having fur kids~ no 6+ month in advance booking for pet care.
Jump Right On And Give It A Try
Since you are most likely reading this because you googled for a boarding kennel for your dog or kitty and found out now that there is an alternative and what the advantages are, why don’t you just give it a try with our professional pet sitters towards a happy pet and convenience for you?!
We primarily care for dogs and cats, simply because Fidos and Ms Kitties are the most common furry family members to be found out there.
Of course, we also look after most small domestic animals like hamsters, guinea pigs, reptiles, fish and birds and even the “big guys” like horses and life stock.
What is important to us is, that your pet or animal is non-aggressive, non-dangerous to our pet sitters and you are providing us with your detailed routine and care information.
We do NOT have an age requirement to care for your pet.
We care for the youngest puppy and kitten to the elderly furry family member. With in-your-home care we do not need to require full sequences of shots as boarding facilities do, since your pet is not exposed to other pets and we can attend directly to your pet’s needs.
The age might determine if more visits per day are needed and specific times if a medical condition exists or more outside time for potty is needed for puppies and elderly dogs but this is what In-Home Pet Sitting is all about-
Customized and individualized care to your and your pet’s specific needs!
Yes! We are open 365 days so also on all minor and major holidays so you can spend time with family and friends.
We do add a holiday surcharge of $4.50/per visit on all federal holidays and holiday blocks for Thanksgiving and Christmas / New Years. This goes to our care takers pretty much like a gratuity as known in the restaurant industry.
We actually have two sets of hours:
Work/ Pet Visit Hours:
Mon – Sun (7 days/week): 7:00am – 9:30pm
Office Hours:
Mon – Fri: 8:00am – 8:00pm
Sat: 9:00am – 2:00pm
Sun: closed
Initial Consultations are scheduled Mon – Fri 10:00am – 8:00pm
Yes, EaseMyMind is insured through Travelers and all EaseMyMind Staff is also background checked.
While we can work with a certain level of protectiveness with prior to departure appointments for assessment and Meet the Sitter Visits before leaving town, we cannot work with animals with a biting history or no improvement in behavior.
If for any reason a pet attacks a pet sitter on the first visit we will not be able to enter your home anymore and risk the health of our pet sitters. You will be notified in such event.
It is of very importance that you as the pet owner are truthful about the level of timidness of your fur baby to avoid disturbances of this nature while you would like to enjoy your trip, the risk that your pet could not be seen and potential medical bills arising from an attack.
Here it really depends on the condition of your pet and the severity of the illness.
If it is something minor which just requires medication once or twice a day then we are happy to still care for your pet and we keep you updated during your trip.
In the event of a more serious illness which needs more monitoring and a condition which potentially could get dangerous for your pet then we unfortunately won’t be able to take this high risk liability with this pre-condition. Here it is advised to either reschedule the trip or consult with your Veterinarian to possibly board under their care.
Will You Need My Pet’s Shot Records/ Medical Records?
Being that we provide pet care in your own home and not at a public place with many other pets around, we do not have the need to require vaccinations like boarding kennels do. With our service you are exempt of needing any other shots but rabies.
We do ask to let us know where you keep your pet’s medical and shot records just for the event of a Vet visit needed during our care for your pets or to set the file out for us.
We do not necessarily need to keep copies in our files which would always need to be updated every time your pet was seen by a Veterinarian.
Also crucial for us is, that you keep your online profile of your pets in our data base up to date which allows us to provide best care and what to watch for when your pet has a certain medical condition.
Rabies Boosters
The only shot record we require to be current is rabies, for the event that one of our sitters should get bit or scratched by accident severe enough to require a visit to the doctor’s office or hospital as it might raise questions of sufficient rabies immunization.
Being able to say that the pet is current on his/her rabies vaccination less likely starts a process of the hospital contacting you as the pet owner and forcing the sitter to receive rabies shots which is a painful process.
We Accept Titering
We at EaseMyMind do accept the Titer Test as an alternative to the rabies vaccination and other shots and actually encourage to look into titering instead of eventually over-vaccinating with annual shots for the numerous diseases.
Oral medications like antibiotics, allergy pills or any prescription or over the counter pills and supplements can be given by any of our sitters.
Insulin shots for your diabetic cat or dog are also no problem for us to administer.
We ask for detailed instructions like the name of the medication, what condition it is for to note if it is for a temporary or permanent ailment of your pet. Also, how often it must be given and what your routine is or your Vet’s instructions if it needs to be given with food to avoid upset stomach as well as, of course, the exact amount and if you have to “trick” your kitty or pooch a certain way like giving it in peanut butter or crushing it in wet food.We want to match your routine but also appreciate knowing an easy way out with no trial and error ?
It is very important to always keep us updated on your pet’s medical needs as we cannot be aware of changes unless being told at each future booking but our state of the art online account system allows every EaseMyMind client to log in when a change in pet care happens to update it immediately so it’s not forgotten until next time you need us.
No, we do not. In our believe, there should not be an extra charge for administering needed medication though it is common for boarding kennels and even in the pet sitting industry to have those added surcharges.
We want to keep it as simple as possible and also not “punish” a pet owner for an ailment of a beloved pet.
Your pet sitter will draft a pet journal after every visit with your pet and minor observations will be addressed in this update, like if Fido has soft stool on his walk or Ms Kitty hasn’t eaten much.
Anything more of concern of which we think you should immediately know about while we keep monitoring, you will receive a text message about and for true emergencies which would need immediate Veterinary care, you will receive a phone call from our office to determine the next step to take.
In the event of a needed Vet visit, we get either get on the phone with you or keep you posted through text messages during examination and the suggested treatment plan.
One example why it is always important to keep your personal profile with us up to date with your phone number and email address and we always encourage to take advantage of our pet journals and read them along the way.
Yes absolutely!
We utilize a state-of-the-art system, allowing your Pet Sitter to write a Pet Journal after visiting with your pet, letting you know how the visit went and what occurred. And that’s not all- you even get to see your pets with pictures your Pet Sitter snapped during the visit!
You will get an email notification every time a Pet Journal is posted for you in your account and you can either access the journal via the link in the email notification or with logging into your account and going to your schedule.
You are going to LOVE it!!
Yes, we are always available for you doing business hours to answer all the questions.
Booking, scheduling and major questions must be directed to the office at office@easemymindllc.com or 254-319-5460 as well as through a private chat in your account with us online.
Our Pet Journal updates also allow for commenting and communicating regarding visits with your pet sitter directly but our Pet Sitters are not able and authorized to answer any questions regarding booking or invoicing.
No, you don’t need to put your mail on hold while out traveling. Your Pet Sitter will be happy to get your mail from the mailbox if you leave us a key and a note online or at your home. Open mail boxes we automatically check once a day and delivered packages at the front door, of course, we’ll bring in.
Yes, we will be happy to water plants and yard for you.
However, we need detailed information in your home profile about location of your plants and detailed watering instructions. If you have many plants throughout and/or yard, you want to book our add-on service to your normal pet visit to cover the extra time needed.
If you need your yard watered, it is highly recommended to set up hoses with sprinklers for time saving purposes as then your Pet Sitter can turn those on at the beginning of a visit and can turn it off upon leaving.
We require TWO house keys or better said two forms of entry, which could also be one house key and one garage code.
House keys can either always be exchanged before and after a trip or, and this is what most of our clients do, opt for our ‘Ready Key’ Program and file a set of house keys with us.
This simply adds the convenience for everyone that getting the key to and from every time is eliminated and we can accommodate even when an emergency calls you out of town or jump in when you lock yourself out of your home.
A $10.00 fee applies for each key pick up or drop off as it requires a separate trip for us, similar to a visit.
Garage codes only are NOT an accepted form of sole entry, we must have at least one actual key to your home.
In the event of a power outage or a failing battery, your garage pad would not work and we would be stuck outside, not being able to get to your pets. Often even just muggy weather causes electronic pads to act up or fail due to the moisture in the air and in either event we would have to call a Locksmith service out, then causing additional costs for you for the Locksmith as well as our additional time to wait for Locksmith.
Our key tags NEVER carry a name or an address on the key tag.
We label your key with the unique Client ID our software creates for each client account so even if a key ever would get lost, no one would be able to track the key back to your home.
When we don’t have any visits scheduled for you, your house keys are safely stored away in our office.
We do NOT accept hidden keys for our way of entry and do NOT agree to retrieve your key from under the door mat to start a service.
The risk is just too high that someone could watch and then have free access to your home. We do not take responsibility and are not liable for any hidden keys on your property.
Most clients opt for taking advantage of our ‘Ready Key’ program and file their house keys with us for most convenience and as an emergency back up for themselves if they would have to rush out of town or the event that they lock themselves out of their home. This ‘Ready Key’ program is for no cost.
We encourage to have a set of two house keys ready at the Initial Consultation as a key pick up fee would apply for us to come out additionally to get your keys and the same if you wish to get your keys back.
A time can be agreed to, for you to drop your keys off at our office if you still need to make copies but as a word of caution, these copies need to be tested to ensure the new keys work.
In the event that a house key doesn’t fit, we will engage a Locksmith service to open your home in order to be able to care for your pets as per our Service Agreement.
Locksmith expenses as well as our additional time on site will be billed to you.
New key copies should always be tested before handing them over to us to ensure the keys work properly.
While we try and like to keep the routine up to send always the same Pet Sitter, we cannot guarantee that a Sitter still has availability at the time you book services and we rather be able to say that we can care for your pets instead of that we don’t have availability.
We prefer to have an average of two Pet Sitters accustomed to a household and the pets for our internal back-up procedures in the event of a Pet Sitter calling in sick or having time off.
Our experience shows that pets do absolutely fine with more then one Pet Sitter and it actually has shown positive effect in rather shy pets in the means of socializing outside of immediate family members.
We highly recommend to book services as soon as travel plans come up, especially when you plan on traveling on and around major holidays like Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
For those holidays we are always booked months in advance as, of course, those are peak times when everybody is trying to visit family and friends.
Throughout the year it is more flexible and even last minute requests can be accommodated for spontaneous day or weekend trips or when work calls out of town.
With less then a 24h notice, a late notice booking fee of $15.oo may apply for logistical and administrative reasons as schedules have to be changed and Sitters rerouted.
We utilize a state of the art online booking system for safe and secure scheduling. Each client of EaseMyMind get his own account with us, featuring personal, home and pet profiles, schedule tab to book services and view past, current and future schedules as well as viewing invoices. All in one place.
Scheduling online is the safest way as booking request show directly on our master schedule. Email, text message or phone call requests always bare the risk that they could slip when emails don’t get through or we receive messages and calls while on the go.
For each booking we also need to know your day and time of departure and your day and time of return so we can ensure that your pets are seamlessly cared for.
Your personal, home and pet information in your account must be up to date and detailed to avoid billed overtime due to not being able to find things or having to retrieve information from you while the Pet Sitter is on site.
We cannot accommodate requests with what we call ‘Third Parties” involved anymore for liability reasons. EaseMyMind and all of it’s Pet Sitters are insured but the liability will cease when anyone else but EaseMyMind enters your home during booked services with us.
Shown in the past:
For those reasons, we no longer accept booking requests shared with friends as just too many things can go wrong and we need to guarantee seamless care for your pets to ensure their well-being.
In the event, that we take over from a friend or family member or a friend or family member continues care after us, a waiver must be signed releasing EaseMyMind from all responsibility and liability.
We MUST be notified when the friend or family member has seen your pets the last time before we take over care or MUST notify us when taking over care after we have completed our care as otherwise we will dispatch continued visits which leads to additional costs.
We reserve the right to return keys and part with a client in the event that this policy was disregarded and Third Party involvement not disclosed to us.
Yes, your friend’s or family member’s pets can be added to our care in your home. However, additional paperwork must be filled out as those pets are of different ownership.
We do require higher timed visits, depending of the care routine and how many pets total are cared for and it must be guaranteed that all pets get along. It is not advised to opt for this scenario if it is unknown or uncertain that pets get along.
Our visit times are depending on how many visits a day you wish to book for your pets:
Once a day [for cats and small animals only]: we keep a 24 hour schedule from the time you depart to the time you return
Twice a day: we keep a 12 hour schedule from the time you depart to the time you return
Three times a day: Between 7:00am and 8:30am – between 2:00pm and 3:30pm – between 8:00pm and 9:30pm
Four times a day: Between 7:00am and 8:00am – between 11:30am and 12:30pm – between 4:30pm and 5:30pm – between 8:30pm and 9:30pm
Times and how many visits on your departure and return days are determined by the time you leave and the time you return to your home so those departure and return times always must be given with each booking request.
We accept personal checks as well as and convenient and safe online payment option via ACH and credit card.
We require payment before services are rendered by the due date indicated on your invoice.
For General Reservations:
Payment is due by the time we start services for you, generally 1-2 days before service start.
For Holiday Reservations:
Payment is due at the time of booking to guarantee the desired slot.
This avoids the seen tendency to hold slots and then cancelling close to the holidays, leaving us with vacant time slots while other requests had to be turned away.
We confirm reservations via email however, those email confirmations solely serve the purpose to ensure that dates and times are correct and give the chance to catch errors.
Bookings remain in pending status until payment is received.
Our general requirement is that payments are due before services are rendered and for holiday reservations at the time of booking to guarantee the desired days and times.
It is possible to make several payments toward the total balance until the total is paid off. This should ideally happen before services start but on a case to case basis, when communicated to us, a payment plan might be agreed upon.
We do not grant this option for accounts which are not in good standing, so accounts with a history of late payments.
After 30 days we assess a late payment fee of 1.5% of the total invoice amount [18% annually].
After 60 days the account is turned over to collections. In this event, the total invoice amount, assessed late fees [3%] and all additional fees arising from collections is subject to collections.
Invoices are automatically created as soon as we confirm your services, directly in your online account with us.
The total amount on the invoice is changeable, allowing for instance to make several single payments until total is paid in full, or to add a service tip for your pet sitter.
Invoices are automatically charged to the payment method on file on the due date of the invoice if no manual payment had been made prior.
Check payments can be mailed in before service start:
EaseMyMind,LLC
P.O. Box 12047
Killeen, TX 76547
Our pet sitters are not authorized to collect payments from your home for logistical reasons.
We assess a $25.oo fee for any returned checks and returned ACH and credit card payments as we get charged a fee from the bank for returned transactions as well.
We apply a Holiday Surcharge of $5.00 per visit to the following holidays:
Overtime: $5.00 per additional 15mins [in 15mins increments]
Late Notice Booking: $15.00 within less then 24 hours due to logistical and administrative reasons
General Cancelations:
Holiday Cancelations:
Key Pick-Up/Drop-Off: $10.oo per trip
We always try to accommodate specific time requests and encourage to let us know a time preference.
However, scheduling visits is considering many things like when you depart and return back to your home. Our priority is to ensure seamless care with evenly spaced out visits, then also taking times in consideration for medications were applicable, feeding times and so fourth.
From an internal standpoint we also have to look at how we route our sitters and how to make their schedules most sufficient in time management and mileage for gas purposes.
So it is a lot to consider every time we take visits on schedule but in most cases we are not far from meeting your requested times and will communicate about adjustments.
Our morning visits take place between 7:00am and 8:30am and our night visits are happening between 8:30pm and 9:30pm.
We always ask to book visits with sufficient length of time depending on how many pets you have and their routine, also keeping in mind that you are with your pets every day while your Pet Sitter might need a bit more time to accomplish what is routine for you though EaseMyMind staff is trained to work sufficiently.
It happens though that when starting out services that you and us have to find the perfect setting for your pets in the means of which lengths of visits to pick best to built a perfect care plan. We will communicate with you about eventually necessary adjustments.
Unforeseen circumstances like a pet with upset tummy, hence accidents to clean up or potty in the house or your pooch decided to shred papers or eat a chair might get your Pet Sitter to get into overtime because, of course, we would never not clean up after your pets.
Our visits are time tracked through our virtual time clocks and over time will be billed in 15 minute increments a $4.00/15mins.
This is something we customize with you at our Initial Meet & Greet and is personalized to your pets routine, feeding schedule and potty frequency.
We do have certain requirements and then also an average what seem to work best for most pets.
At least once a day for cats and small animals on an every 24 hour schedule from the time you leave your home until the time you return to your home. We do NOT come in less then that, an every other day or once or twice a week is not what we do.
For dogs, it must be a minimum of twice a day on an every 12 hour schedule from the time you leave your home until the time you return to your home. This also applies to outside only dogs and with doggy doors in place.
