Sniff and Go: FRequently asked questions of San Francisco’s Best On-Leash Personal Dog Walkers

1. Locate the Client Login in the top right corner at www.SniffAndGo.com

If you do not remember your password, select “Forgot Password” to reset it.

Membership Plans: Cancellations can be submitted at any time! If it is past 10am the business day prior, a note can be left on the visit which lets both the Sniff and Go office and your walker know right away that a last minute cancellation has been requested.

• The Membership Plans are in place to reserve your time in the schedule
• Cancellations of daily walks on the Membership Plans do not lower the monthly rate
• Additional walk days in a month does not raise the Membership Plan
• All open days in a full calendar year are calculated to determine the Membership Plan rates

If the walk being canceled is before 10am the business day prior:

1. Select the date(s) in the schedule
2. Select “Cancel”

If the walk is being canceled after 10am the business day prior:

1. Select the date in the schedule

2. Select “Add a Note”

3. The Sniff and Go Office and your walker will see the note as soon as it’s submitted!

The answer to this is twofold:

1. At the core of our small business is a team of dedicated dog walkers.

Before the pandemic, we only offered full-time schedules for dog walks – which allowed us to employ our team full time.
During the pandemic, we pivoted to accommodate as-needed scheduling in an effort to simply keep our doors open.
The result of this was a team of highly trained dog walkers that were “on call” for a full 40 hour work week, but resulted in approximately 15-25 hours of actual work. Unfortunately a fluctuating work schedule/income has been proven multiple times to not be sustainable long-term.

Post-pandemic work life has shown that work-from-home and varying in-person schedules are here to stay. We have continued to fine tune our schedules to be the most efficient and beneficial for the dogs (and their persons).

2. We observed that there is also a shift in the dog’s behavior when varying schedules are in place. A consistent schedule leads the dog to gain trust, the ability to rely on a routine, and the time needed to install and maintain on-leash walking skills.

To cancel your Membership Plan:

• Cancellation of the Membership Plan may be requested after the full, two-month minimum requirement is met
• Request for cancellation must be made, by email, by the 15th of the month prior
• Cancellation of your Membership Plan releases your reserved Start Time Window(s)
• Restarting the Membership Plan also restarts the two-month minimum requirement

After 2 month minimum is met, available as-needed walks can be requested.

• As-Needed walks are offered in a 4-7 hour Start Time Window, for 25 Minutes, up to 30 days in advance
• Requested As-Needed walks are approved 24 hours in advance of the requested service date
• 25 Minute As-Needed Walks = $40/walk
• Each additional dog per household = +$5

*Information about Membership Plans can also be found in the Sniff and Go Service Agreement (login > Menu > My Account)

To maintain the safety of our Team and the dogs in our care, we limit notifications to internal Team Communications only.

All notes should be outlined in your profile for consistent and approved daily routines.

For same-day updates, please text Sniff and Go at 415-300-2445.

2023 Holiday Schedule

Sniff and Go is closed on:

• Monday, January 2, 2023– Observed New Year’s Day
• Monday, January 16, 2023– Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Monday, February 20, 2023 – Presidents’ Day
• Monday, May 29, 2023 – Memorial Day
• Monday, June 19, 2023 – Juneteenth
• Tuesday, July 4, 2023 – Independence Day
• Monday, September 4, 2023 – Labor Day
• Thursday, November 23, 2023 – Thanksgiving Day
• Friday, November 24, 2023 – Day after Thanksgiving
• Monday, December 25, 2023, to Friday, December 29, 2023 – Winter Holidays

We do not offer pet sitting services. Please see our Community Page for a list of our favorite pet care companies!

We do not offer Membership Plans for 2 or 3 days a week. Walking dogs post-pandemic has shown how incredibly beneficial enabling full time schedules is, for all parties (the dogs, clients, and our team).

It is important to have consistency when it comes to having your pets be seen by the same walker every day.

Our dog walkers aren’t freelancers or independent contractors; they are professional employees who receive a living wage along with a benefits package that includes:

• Paid tuition and training time for the comprehensive and thorough Dog Walking Academy. This education covers topics such as:
  • Learning Theory (operant vs classical conditioning)
  • Canine Communication
  • Foundational R+ Dog Training Techniques
  • Walking Puppies
  • General Walk Management
  • and so much more!
• Paid course and training time for a veterinarian taught Pet First Aid and Pet CPR Certification
• Substantial hourly pay rate that enables local residents the ability to dedicate their time to dog walking as a profession
• Health benefits
• Company cell phones
• Paid travel time
• Federal and state tax compliance
• Full IRS mileage reimbursement
• Paid sick leave
• Retirement plan savings
• Ongoing training/education
• Commercial insurance coverage
• Workers compensation coverage
• Annual raises
• All dog walking supplies provided
• Option for client provided tips with Sniff and Go covering processing fees

The importance of our team’s structure (Team Lead > Dog Professionals > Dog Walkers > Training Period) is to ensure our employees are well trained and prepared while maintaining the high standards of care that Sniff and Go is known for.

We do match up our furry friends with one primary walker based on location and availability. In the instance your primary walker becomes ill, requests personal time off, or decideds to make a change in their career path — the entire team at Sniff and Go is trained equally and are ready to step in at the Team Lead and Dog Professional levels.

It is important for the safety of all animals associated with Sniff and Go that the procedures involved with identification, pet licenses, vaccinations, and monthly flea medications be followed.

• Required Vaccines
  • Rabies
  • Distemper
  • Parvovirus
  • Parainfluenza
    
• Highly Recommended Vaccines
  • Bordetella
  • Leptospirosis
  • Dog Influenza
• Name tag with the current phone number(s), address, etc…
• Pet License
  • SF ACC Pet License
• Monthly flea medication

Keys can be returned at anytime by completing this form here (pending).

If keys are not requested back and are not in use for 12 months, they will be removed from our inventory and destroyed.

For Key Returns please email Hello@SniffAndGo.com

See Home Access Notes here

– An Initial Assessment is scheduled and completed before servcies begin
– The deposit is then used towards the first invoice for services
– Membership Plans that start in the middle of the month are prorated by the remaining dates in the current month, and are invoiced and processed the Friday after the first date of services

A valid credit card is required to reserve time in the schedule.

Invoices completed in a Monday-Friday time frame are automatically processed each Saturday.
– Ongoing Membership Plans are processed on the 1st of each month

All payments are processed through Stripe.

Our priority is to make sure you have no interruptions in service. We will make any necessary arrangements, within our company, with an experienced and well-qualified team member, should your primary walker be unable to walk, is sick, or out of town.

The roles of our Team is to make sure there are smooth transitions in place should your primary walker need/request time off. This is done in the form of management accompanying a team member on their visits until they are comfortable and confident in the proper care for your pets.

Working through the pandemic, we have experienced real-life situations where multiple employees were sick at the same time.

In the event that we are short staffed, volunteer cancellations or shortened walk durations will be rolled out to get all dogs the time needed for bathroom relief with the healthy staff available.

If for some reason we have no one available, we will do our very best to give you enough time to make other arrangements.

Business Requested Cancellations or Modified schedules result in credits to the client’s account.

Please have the following supplies available and steps complete to ensure safe walking and arrangements for your pets:

• Home Access option selected and available (see Home Access Notes and Variables in FAQ)
• Body harness available within 6ft of Front Door
• Name tag attached to the collar with current contact information included
• Current SF license tag attached to the collar
• Water available for pet
• Client and Pet details completed in the scheduling system
• Copy of current vaccination records emailed to hello@sniffandgo.com

Our team is trained as Dog Professionals. This means that we have gone through training in:

• Animal behavior
• Walk management
• Reactivity and triggers
• Emergency protocols
• Basic dog training

Our on-leash dog walks are made up of on-leash walking, walk games, mental decompression and more. We are not dog trainers, rather Dog Professionals that focus specifically in on -leash dog walking management.

Membership Plans were built on a yearly calculation of dates. The yearly calculation of open walking days is an average of 20.3 days per month. Some months have more open walking days and some have less. The calculation of open walking days was done based on a whole year vs month to month. 

The way that our Membership Plans work is that once you get started, the rate is in place to hold your time in the schedule. This is similar to a gym or childcare membership in that your time is held regardless of how many days per month you use. We encourage everyone to take advantage of all our open walking days (M-F, excluding 13 holidays per year).

Client requested cancellations do not lower the monthly rate. In the situation(s) where you have personal plans that require cancelling open walking dates, you may cancel as many days as you’d like and your time in the schedule is still held. This way we can all pick right back up when you return!

The time opened up when a client requested cancellations comes through is used for ongoing training for the team. This results in a consistent income for our local team of dog walkers and less concern for employee turnover.

Yes, for a full list of standard business operations, training programs, insurance coverages, and more please see: About Sniff and Go

Sniff and Go will uses R+ training methods and aligns with the following professional organizations found here.

Start Time Windows are a two-hour window of time for when walks will start on a daily basis.

Start Time Windows (aka STW) are determined by current Sniff and Go scheduling availability, Client location, Client preferred duration of walk times, and Client preferred time of day for walks to take place.

They are in place to help our team manage unknown wait times, traffic, parking, animal-related delays, and general schedule updates. For this reason, we are unable to give exact start times within the Start Time Windows.

For example: If your two-hour Start Time Window is 8am to 10am; this means the walk will start anytime between 8am and 10am and your pet(s) must be on location ready to start their walk starting at 8am until 10am.

Should your pet(s) be unavailable in your specific reserved Start Time Window, the walk will be considered a Client Requested Cancellation with an option to request an additional as-needed walk later in the day, based on current availability.

If there are unknown delays that result in a start time outside of your assigned Start Time Window, the SAG office will be in contact to let you know as soon as possible.