A Kenneling Alternative

friends

October Is Adopt A Shelter Dog Month

by Leave a Comment

While I believe that every month is Adopt A Shelter Dog month, apparently the month of October is its official celebration. You might also hear it referred to as Adopt A Dog Month.
 
There are numerous ways to celebrate the month, but let’s take some ideas from the Humane Society of Charlotte. They have 5 great ways to celebrate, but I’m sure that we can come up with even more!
  • Mental health. Many of us were finding our limits tested during the lockdowns of the pandemic. If you didn’t bring a pandemic puppy into your home, you could open up your home to a pet and reap the benefits of stress reduction and see both your pet and your blood pressure decrease just by petting them! It’s true.
  • Exercise. Walking a dog can get you outside more often. It also gets you moving and that is not only good for your weight, but your emotional health as well. And a dog that gets plenty of walk and sniff time is a healthy family member.
  • Dog people. It is a thing! You’ll meet people on your walks with their pets and could very well strike up a new friendship. Another benefit of adoption.
  • Unconditional love. No question, the adage that a dog is the only thing that loves you more than itself is true. And that kind of love will change your world. Doubt it? Try it out and see.
  • Saving lives. Without a doubt, bringing a pet into your home not only saves that pet’s life, but opens up slots for other dogs that might not survive in some shelters. While many have moved to a no-kill philosophy, that isn’t the case for all facilities.
With all the benefits of having a canine companion, we encourage you to consider your local rescue or shelter when picking out a new pet. The experience will be life-altering for all involved. What other ways can you think of that celebrates pet adoption?

Take Your Pet To Work Week

by Leave a Comment

No matter whether you are back in the office or still working from home, you can participate in Take Your Pet To Work Week June 20-24th. 

Created in 1999 by Pet Sitters International (PSI) to highlight dog companionship and to encourage adoptions, Take Your Dog To Work Day has grown. What was once a single Friday event just for dogs has expanded to a weeklong event that includes cats. 

Monday, June 20th, get out your hashtags and kitties and #takeyourcattoworkday. PSI will share their favorites photos from the submissions they receive.

For the rest of the week, head over to PSI’s Facebook and Instagram pages and take part in their Take Your Dog To Work Week activities.

If you need to participate virtually, ideas can be located at www.petsit.com/takeyourdog.

If you are bringing your pet into work, PSI recommends a few things to make the process work well:

  • Get permission first.
  • Keep your pet comfortable.
  • Don’t force your pet on your coworkers.
  • Have an exit strategy if your pet isn’t feeling the office. 
  • Have a purpose, i.e. involve a shelter or rescue to fully realize the impact of the day.

No matter how your participate, have a good time. And feel free to post your pictures on our social media or tag us in addition to PSI. We love seeing our friends online and in person!

Update on Holiday Scheduling and the Floofins Waitlist

by Leave a Comment

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to let our clients know about the status of holiday scheduling and our first ever Floofins & Co. waitlist.

EARLY BOOKING

While we have always stressed booking visits as early as possible, this holiday season presents additional challenges. We highly encourage our clients to book your holiday trips in the system as soon as possible. Why?

Our commitment to the highest level of service. 

Like all industries, demand and staffing are in flux. Particularly at high volume times, like the holidays, we encourage early booking to meet pet care needs. We never overbook because that negatively impacts our clients.

We have seen a drastic increase in the volume of pet care requests. This likely results from many factors including increased travel from last year, new floofins additions to households, and the unfortunate decrease in pet care providers resulting from COVID’s hit to small businesses everywhere. 

WAITLIST

We appreciate your referrals and encourage you to continue to suggest us as an option for your family and friends. As a caution, some new clients, depending on their service location, may be placed on our waitlist.

New clients may temporarily be waitlisted clients until we can provide Floofins & Co. caliber service. We encourage you to establish your pet with us so that we can quickly transition to providing service as soon as possible.

Floofins & CO. appreciates all of our clients, new and established. We promise to continue to give you the service you have come to expect. And for new clients, we will make your pet a member of our Floofins Family as soon as we can.

Thank you and enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday.

Floofins and Company Celebrates 10 Years In Business

by Leave a Comment

Floofins & Co. celebrates their tenth birthday today.

Ten years means we have a lot of memories. We have lots of lessons learned and a bunch of great stories. We have great clients. And we had planned to celebrate with a number of ideas we’ve been discussing since last year. Ways to say thanks for keeping us busy and referring us to your friends and neighbors.

And as we’ve learned over the years, even the best laid plans can get knocked off course. We couldn’t have imagined the way 2020 was going to shape up.

First, we learned that NAPPS had named us their 2020 Business of the Year. It is an incredible honor and one that we wanted to celebrate with both staff and clients. Because we know that without both, our business would not be what it is today. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Like all small businesses, we are trying to weather this current shelter-in-place order. We continue to provide service to our clients working as essential service members, our staff as they manage smaller routes, and still keep the lights on at Floofins HQ. It has been challenging, but we are hanging in there with all of you.

We know that you want to get back to normal as soon as possible and so do we. We miss your floofins!

Until that time arrives, we plan to do as much of our 10-year anniversary celebration as we can manage. We will be doing a video series in the coming months highlighting the top 10 questions you have about Floofins & Co. Have you wondered how something works? What it take to have a dog walking company? What courses we teach at Floofin U? You ask and we will answer! Send your questions to info@floofinsandco.com with the subject line Video Questions. If you’re feeling adventurous, send us a video of you or your floofin asking your question.

Thanks for being with us during the last ten years and we hope to be back out at full capacity caring for your floofins soon.

Helpful Holiday Floofins & Co. Hints

by Leave a Comment

The holidays bring with them a mix of stress and joys. We here at Floofins & Co. want to help you minimize the stress and maximize the joy. Therefore, we are offering up some of our Helpful Holiday Hints!

Planning

Planning ahead is always best. If you can, be sure to book any holiday visits as soon as possible so that you can be sure that we can accommodate your floofin while you travel. It also helps us to ensure that our staff are booked in the most efficient manner. This helps them be home as much as possible with their own families and floofins. [Read more…] about Helpful Holiday Floofins & Co. Hints