Happy Holidays everyone! Thank you for sticking with me for another year of business growth and lots and lots of pet cuddles!
2023 was a great year for Devon’s Dog Sitting LLC. I attended my first professional pet sitting conference with the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (you can watch the vlog of my experience here!), I passed 100 clients as a solopreneur (and have been steadily climbing ever since), I left my bartending job to do this work full time, I launched my DDS Youtube Channel to combine my pet care/business start up knowledge with my production skills, and grew my professional support system through meeting folks at the conference, online, and in my own neighborhood.
This upcoming year, 2024, will be our third full year in business and I am very excited for the changes that the year will bring. The biggest change we will see in the new year is the addition of team members! Reach out to me for the job listing after January 1st and please forward to anyone you believe would be interested and a good fit!
Building a team means, obviously, that it will not be just me anymore. Unless I hear from you, I will assume that you agree to potentially having a new walker/friend for your pet sometime in the future. We will discuss ahead of time when a new team member will be assigned to your walk and schedule a meet and greet if requested (and you will always be able to see who is assigned on your Pet Pocketbook account), but it will eventually no longer be me every single time. I understand that this might be disappointing (and believe me, it will be hard for me too!) but these are necessary changes in the evolution of Devon’s Dog Sitting.
I am moving slowly with the hiring process to be sure that I am bringing on the best possible team members and have the training set up perfectly in time for them to join. Rest assured, official background checks will be completed and passed before anyone is hired. Building a team will ensure that someone will always be available if a walker is sick/away (I have certainly learned how important this is in the recent past with my bout with Covid!) and will, in the long run, be the best for everyone. I hope you are as excited as I am to meet these new friends!
A few services this year will see a slight rate increase, as well as an additional early morning/late night fee.
New Rates in the New Year
15 min - $20
30 min - $28
45 min - $40
reminder Hourly - $45/hr
Before 8am/After 8pm additional fee $5
I also want to remind everyone of a few of the lesser known services that we provide, which include Doggy Wedding Date, Photoshoot Dog Handling, and Pet Taxi Services. Reach out with any questions or inquiries!
Hopefully in the near future, I can add selective boarding in my home to one pet at a time, as well as add a photography package to any 45+ minute visit, to include some high quality, professionally edited, frameable photos. Keep an eye out on our social media (@devonsdogsitting everywhere!) to see when we begin offering these services.
Continuing into the new year, Devon’s Dog Sitting will be unable to provide overnight services, however, we have a recommended list of other trusted providers we can share upon request.
Have you seen our new merch? Check it out here and let me know if there’s anything missing that you’d like to see!
In the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I want to share that a couple of my goals for the New Year are to get my Fear Free Certification and begin to work my way toward becoming a certified dog trainer! I was also recently nominated at the New Hampshire Theater Awards for Best Actress in a Professional Production of a Play for my work in Masked at the Hatbox theater in Concord this summer, and I hope to do some more theater this year as well!
Do you have goals for 2024? I’d love to hear them! Send them my way on Instagram or Facebook and let me know how I can support you.
I hope you all have a very happy holiday season! Please stay warm and safe, and I will see you in 2024!
Devon (& Gemma)
Photo by Alba Lumos Photography
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