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December 2011       doodlebugdogwalker.com       571-969-5717

Doodlebug Dog Walker has just passed our 5 year anniversary! We are very excited to have come so far and wanted to extend a big thank you to all of our wonderful clients who helped to make this possible. We promise to continue working hard to provide quality pet care, and to keep improving our services as we have over the first 5 years. When I think back to leaving my corporate job and pursuing my passion of caring for pets full time, I am so grateful I took that leap of faith. Thank you and your precious pet for being a part of our “Doodlebug Family” on this amazing journey.

What days do you service around the holidays for daily dog walking clients? Remember, regular contracted midday daily walks do not occur on holidays, unless separately scheduled. Holidays include: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. If you need to cancel additional days because you will be home for the holdays, please do so ASAP, so we can get our schedule updated! :) This year Christmas falls on a Sunday, so if you have off Monday December 26th, or additional days around the holidays and will not require dog walking, please let us know so we can cancel your visits. Do I have to tip my dog walker/pet sitter? I get this question asked a lot, so here’s my explanation! In no way are you required to tip your walkers/pet sitters during the holiday season. If you feel so inclined to leave little goodies or a tip as a thank you, it goes directly to the dog walker/pet sitter! They would be most appreciative, but tips are certainly not required.

Pet Name: Mia Owner: Steve and Deb Why they were chosen: Mia's previous owner passed away, and Steve and Deb opened their home to her. Mia was a little nervous coming to her new home, but has really come into her own. It has been amazing to see Mia blossom from shy and scared into a dog she's always been at heart. She's just a sweet and loving babydoll. Congratulations Mia!

With the holiday joy (family, food, and fun), so to comes winter weather; please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our policies: Inclement Weather Policy for Dog Walking Clients: We post WALK or NO WALK status on the following communications when inclement/bad weather is expected. The notifications are posted on: DoodlebugDogWalker.com, the Doodlebug Dog Walker Facebook page, Doodlebug Dog Walker voicemail 571-969-5717, and Twitter (doodlebugdw). If yes, we are providing WALKS, and you will be staying home that day OR your company is closed, please email doodlebugdogwalker@yahoo.com or text/call 571-969-5717 by 9 a.m. so we may make accommodations. If you live in an area where our walker cannot reach your home safely, because of poor road conditions, service will not be provided. You will receive an email notification if this happens. If it takes our walker additional time to reach your home due to road issues, lack of cleared access area, etc, the additional time will be counted as part of your walking time. If this happens, we will notify you within 12 hours via email. Example: If it normally takes a walker 15 minutes to reach your home and b/c of snow and ice, it takes the walker 30 minutes to reach your home, your visit will be shortened by 15 minutes to make up the difference in driving time. Your animal will still get the potty break they need. This policy is the only way our walkers can keep on schedule when bad weather strikes to ensure all of our clients at least get a 10-15 minute potty break on these challenging days. Inclement Weather Policy for Pet Sitting Clients (Two Options): Option One: During inclement weather, our policies require a local resource (friend or neighbor) as a point of contact we can call if inclement weather threatens our ability to service your pet while we are pet sitting. If this happens, we will pass off care of the animal until our pet sitters can safely resume servicing your home. Should this be the case, you will be notified via email at the address we have on file for you. Option Two: Alternatively, when possible (after determined by our dog sitter availability) we can provide round the clock service, and stay in your home at a rate of $90 per day, until it is safe for our walker to resume going to and from your home as scheduled.