Comfort Zone Critter Care offers Fear Free®, force-free, positive, reward-based dog training, dog walking, and pet sitting in your pet’s comfort zone – your home!
As a professional pet sitter, I offer pet sitting and dog walking services in your home if you are traveling for work or pleasure. I can also check in on your pets during the day while you work (whether from home or while you are at the office) to provide them with the necessary exercise and enrichment to keep them happy.
I provide care for a variety of critters, such as small animals, exotics, cats, and dogs.
An in-person meet and greet consultation is required before booking dog walking or pet sitting services.
My pet sitting and dog walking service area is limited to a five-mile driving radius from my home office in Lancaster, NY, and includes, but is not limited to: Depew, Elma, Lancaster, S. Cheektowaga, and West Seneca, NY. Please note: I may not be able to provide service to all areas within the zip codes of 14043, 14059, 14086, 14227, and 14224. Please reach out to me to confirm you are within my service area.
Note: I highly suggest that new clients reach out to me at least one month before they need services to ensure that they are within my service area and that I have ample time in my schedule for the meet and greet.
Please Note: I choose not to use any shock, prong, choke collars, or other coercive or punitive tools, as I follow the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and the Pet Professional Guild‘s Guiding Principles. If your dog has a choke chain or prong collar, those tools will not be used by me on our walks. Please either supply a flat collar or harness, or notify me if you do not have one and I will supply one for the walks.
Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Services Rates:
| 15-minute pet-sitting visit or dog walk | $20 |
| 30-minute pet-sitting visit or dog walk | $27 |
| 45-minute pet-sitting visit or dog walk | $30 |
| 1-hour pet-sitting visit or dog walk | $37 |
PLEASE NOTE: Daily dog-walking clients who cancel before 8:00 a.m. will be credited to their account. Refunds will not be given for services paid in advance, they will be credited toward future visits. If the walk/visit is not canceled before 8 a.m., no credit will be given.
*Payment for new clients is due in full for the first booking at your initial consultation. If you are an existing client, payment is due in full before, or at the time of, the first visit.*
**Prices are subject to change without notice!**
Holiday Services Fees
Comfort Zone Critter Care will charge an additional $15.00 Holiday Service Fee per day on the holidays listed below:
– New Year’s Day
– Easter
– Memorial Day
– Fourth of July
– Labor Day
– Thanksgiving
– Christmas Eve
– Christmas Day
– New Year’s Eve
*PLEASE NOTE: The Initial Meet & Greet Pet Sitting Consultation is FREE when you schedule and pay for a pet sitting or dog walking service. If no service is contracted, there is a $30 fee for the consultation. If you would like to conduct an interview at no charge, please feel free to do so over the phone.
During a pet-sitting visit, I perform a variety of tasks, including:
- Feeding the pets and changing their water bowls
- Providing exercise and playtime (may include walking the dog)
- Cleaning litter boxes and cleaning up any other pet messes
- Administering pet medications, if needed*
- Lots of TLC!
Pet Sitting services also include house-sitting duties to give your home that “lived-in look.”
These duties include bringing in your mail/newspaper, rotating lights, or window treatments.
*Please Note: A “trial run” will be required for pets on medication (with and/or without the client present) to ensure it can be done safely. This can be done at the initial consultation or another agreed-upon time (at an additional cost).
I accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
I also accept PayPal, Venmo, check, or cash as forms of payment.
NOTE: I choose not to use choke chains, shock collars, prong collars, and other coercive or punitive tools, in accordance with the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and the Pet Professional Guild‘s Guiding Principles. If your dog has a choke chain or prong collar, I will not use those tools on our walks. Please either supply a flat collar or harness, or notify me if you do not have one and I will supply one for the walks. It is the client’s responsibility to disclose all previous bite, aggression, and health history of their pets. It is also the client’s responsibility to disclose ALL possible safety hazards in and around their home. I don’t allow strangers to pet my client’s dogs (even if they state they know your dog). I will not/do not let other dogs approach, I will not/do not do pack/group walks, and I will not/do not do dog parks. Even if a client ensures me that their pet is “friendly”, I will not allow any such interactions.
“Dana has been a wonderful pet sitter for our critters! We have birds, dogs, a snake, and a bearded dragon and she has cared for them while we were away twice now, and we already have her lined up for a third time. She is dedicated to caring for our pets as if they were her own and we feel so at ease knowing that they are in good hands. It’s always so nice to get her text updates, with awesome photos, every time she stops by during the day while we are gone. We highly recommend Dana and our pets do too!”
-Catherine Sucharski
Fear Free Pet Sitter Pledge:
I pledge to:
🐾 To do my part in employing and advocating for practices that protect and promote the physical and emotional well-being of animals in my care, realizing that I am in a position of influence to guide pet owners to sound, complete, quality support for their animals.
🐾 To refer to and partner with veterinary professionals, including Fear Free Certified Professionals and the pet’s primary care veterinarian, realizing that physical and emotional health go hand in hand and that collaborative efforts are integral to providing high-quality, complete care.
🐾 To learn to recognize and respond appropriately to even subtle signs of fear, anxiety, and stress (FAS) with animals I am caring for.
🐾 To be committed to remaining within pet sitter boundaries. This includes not diagnosing conditions or advising clients on medical conditions, medications, or dosages. The pet sitter may provide general information that is currently available to the public, while guiding the client to seek veterinary assistance for health and medical information, including medications.
🐾 To use the skills I learn in the Fear Free Pet Sitter Certification Program as well as those learned during extended Fear Free education. This includes the partnership with the veterinary team and the use of concepts such as Considerate Approach, Gentle Control, touch gradient, and immediate and appropriate response to signs of FAS in a pet with the actions recommended in Fear Free courses.
🐾 To continue to educate myself in Fear Free techniques, and to seek always to elevate my professional commitment to preventing and relieving FAS. This includes promoting preventive efforts and continued enhancement of the emotional well-being of animals under my care. This also involves remaining current with research and education related to the emotional well-being of animals.
🐾 To encourage my pet-sitting colleagues and veterinary and pet professional partners to adopt the Fear Free approach to relieve and prevent animal suffering.
🐾 To recognize that Fear Free is a whole-lifestyle approach to pet care and belongs in the home, the car, and places where pets receive professional services such as veterinary care, grooming, pet sitting, or training.
🐾 To do my best to use scientifically sound, reward-based methods that positively affect not only the animal’s behavior, but also the underlying emotional state. This includes avoiding methods that use fear or force to motivate the animal. The Fear Free Pet Sitter should never use force-based, punitive methods. This includes not advocating for or using correction collars, including prong/pinch collars, choke chains, or electronic shock collars. These rely on force and fear as primary motivators and can increase FAS and cause the pet physical and emotional harm.
🐾 To maintain individual pet sitter or pet sitter business insurance. Exceptions are permitted only for pet sitters in countries that do not have this type of insurance.
🐾 To at all times be in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and directives of any nature relating to the housing, handling, transporting, nutrition, sanitation, and humane treatment of any and all animals owned or otherwise held and/or cared for.
Signed,
Fear Free Certified Professional
