VIP pet care
Answers to Questions
Find answers to our most common questions.
Still can’t find what you are looking for? Send us a note or give us a call and we will be with you as soon as we can.
About Lucky Pup:
First, reach out to us with your needs and tell us a bit about your pets! If we are a good fit we will send you a link to book your New Client meeting. You just need to follow the link and pick a time that is convenient for us to visit you and your pets. New Client meetings usually take around 45 minutes and we like to complete them around 7-10 days before you need us. You can schedule your New Client meeting for the future. We can also update the time and date of our meeting as we get closer to our travel date.
Once your New Client meeting is on our calendar, we invite you to our exclusive web- and app-based Client Program. We also reserve your travel dates or your preferred walking schedule on our calendar once you have scheduled your New Client Meeting.
We visit families in Sioux Falls, Brandon, Tea, and Harrisburg at no additional cost. If you live outside of these towns, please reach out. We are not always available to care for pets in other areas, and charge an additional mileage and time fee for families outside our core service area.
Yes! Your pets get to stay at home and we travel to come see them. Most pets – especially shy or senior pets and cats – much prefer to stay in their own home. They get to stay with all of their things and in all of their favorite places. Not only is your pet happy at home, this saves you time and hassle needing to deliver them or have them dropped off with all of their things.
No! We love pets of all types! We have cared for dogs, cats, reptiles, farm animals, large and small aquarium systems, small mammals like guinea pigs and ferrets, birds, and more. We love learning about new pets and how to best care for them.
At our New Client Meeting we get a key or access code to your home. We are happy to use access codes, however we strongly prefer to receive (2) working copies of your home key, even if only used as backup. Things such as power outages, dead or cold batteries, or temperamental keypads can significantly effect how much time we get to spend with your pet or prevent us from getting into your home at all. Because of this, we prefer to have standard keys from our clients.
We are not responsible for key, door code, or electronic lock failure. If we cannot get into a home because of a malfunctioning door or garage code, a power outage, or other circumstance such as an incorrect key, that time is deducted from our visit length and any additional visits required are charged at our normal rate.
To become a new client, please send us an email with your needs and a bit about your pets. If we are a good fit for your needs, we will invite you to complete a New Client Meeting.
If you have questions before becoming a client, please send us an email to [email protected].
Once you are a client, the best way to stay in touch with us through your Time To Pet portal. Keeping all info and communications together is an important part of providing you with the best service.
About our services and fees:
No! Our listed fees are for all pets in the house. We do not charge extra for extra pets. However, if you have a large crew of pets to care for, we may need to extend some of our visits at an additional cost to ensure that everyone gets the time and care they need.
We never charge extra for medications, additional pets, or walks. Those are all included in the cost of our services. We do charge an extra holiday fee on major holidays like New Years Eve, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Those days (not the days surrounding the holiday) incur an additional 50% fee. For example, we charge our Holiday Rate on Thanksgiving, but not the Wednesday before or the Friday after.
Yes! Holidays are usually our busiest times of the year. Because of this, we often fill up at the holidays. To avoid this, please book your services early! As a thank you to our team for working on the major holidays instead of spending time with their own families, we do charge an additional holiday fee. Please see the question above for more information about our Holiday Rates.
Yes! We are happy to administer medications, including insulin. We do not charge any additional fees for administering medications. However, the pet must be trained in taking their medications and be a cooperative patient. We are not able to provide quality care for pets that do not like to be handled, do not take their medications well, or hide from us. We want to make sure your pets only get the best, and sometimes in-your-home care isn’t what pets need.
Yes! We love dogs of all types! Regardless of breed, dogs must be comfortable with our team coming into their home. If your dog is nervous or shy, see the answer to the question below.
Yes! We love pets of all personality types! However, all pets must be comfortable with our team coming into their home before we will complete our first visit without you at home. If your pet is nervous or shy, we recommend booking multiple pre-trip or pre-walk visits with you present to help them feel comfortable and enjoy our visits. We schedule these additional visits at our regular rates. If your pet is nervous or shy, please let us know when you schedule your New Client meeting. We want to best set everyone up for success and have your pet enjoy our visits! Sometimes that means we need plenty of time before your departure date to complete these additional visits.
You can access our current cancellation policy at this link.
About seasonal weather:
We visit pets as long as it is safe for our team to do so.
In the case of dog walking, we visit dogs on their assigned day and time. If the weather conditions are not conducive to walking (moderate rain, extreme hot or cold temperatures, or icy sidewalk conditions) we will give the dogs a potty break and then play inside instead. Occasionally we might be able to shift the scheduled walk to a different day to have more favorable walking conditions.
In the case of pet sitting, our team will complete their scheduled visits to the best of their abilities. However, there are times when we physically cannot make it to a home. This is occasionally the case in the winter where roads are impassable, or in the summer due to downed trees or power lines, or flooded streets. In this case, we will be in contact with the owners or the owners’ emergency contact to arrange for assistance from a neighbor or close family friend. We do not take any schedule change lightly, but we also take the safety of our team seriously.
In the case of extreme weather conditions, we occasionally need to alter the length of our visits in order to be safe and complete our scheduled visits. If a visit length is altered significantly (changed by more than 50%), a credit towards a future visit will be issued to your account. Examples of this include instances of flooding, severe thunderstorms, winter storms, or other significant delays.
We know what we are best at, and that is visiting your pets! Because of this, we are not available to move snow, mow lawns, or attend to a yard or garden. It is a family’s responsibility to arrange for someone to handle snow removal, lawn mowing, or yard or garden maintenance in their absence. If we are not able to safely access a home because of failure to remove snow in a timely manner, we will contact the owner and their emergency contact for assistance.
Want to learn more about what we do?
We love connecting with folks on social media! You can follow us on Instagram and for a behind the scenes look at our work. We’d love to hear from you!
There is more to becoming a great dog owner than a warm bed and bowl of food and water. From knowing what to do when you bring them home to helping them live full, live happy lives, there is so much to learn. While it’s easy to find bits of information here and there, we want you to see the big picture when it comes to giving your dog their best life —because we know it’s no easy feat!
Every pet deserves to be treated like the VIP they are: a Very Important Pet! Our unique approach to pet ownership is about building strong connections between pets and their people.
Our Live Full, Live Happy mission started in 2013 when our founder, Morgan Weber, became a professional pet sitter and started Lucky Pup Adventures.
In addition to our pet care services, our company has expanded to include aquarium care with The Aquarium Keepers, community and education with Lucky Pup Living, and remembrance candles with Memory Flame. Our Live Full, Live Happy mission has grown over the years so we can better serve our clients and our community.
Through all of our services, know that our clients needs will be met with trusted and knowledgeable experts who are committed to delivering the highest-quality, personalized service.