Frequently Asked Questions

Floppy Ears Pet Care is based in South Berkeley and operates in Berkeley, North Oakland, and Emeryville. Limited service is available in Albany, Alameda, El Cerrito, and other areas of Oakland (please inquire; may be subject to additional charges).

To view our general service area, please click here.

While Floppy Ears supports fostering entrepreneurship in today's youth, there are many distinct advantages when you choose our professional services. Floppy Ears caregivers have years of personal and professional experience with various species of animals. As professional pet care providers, we are dedicated to upholding and exceeding industry standards of quality care. All caregivers are licensed, and insured and bonded through Pet Sitters Associates, LLC.

Before your trip, two Floppy Ears caregivers will visit your home to meet you and your family. One of us will be designated your primary caregiver. We will bring an information sheet and service contract (which you may also download here). Some clients choose to give us a house key during the meeting while others arrange for a later hand-off date closer to the start of service.

Floppy Ears house-sitting is a live-in service. Your primary caregiver will stay overnight and is exclusive to your home - we do not bring anyone else's pets over (unless you have a pre-arranged play date) and we do not leave in the middle of the night to stay anywhere else. Your pet is fed, walked, and given any necessary meds according to your specifications (besides, of course, cuddled endlessly). We also do light house care such as bringing in the mail and papers, taking out garbage and recycling, poop-scooping, and watering plants. We sleep wherever you have a place - guest room, master bedroom, fancy couch - and may use your kitchen to prep food and cook for ourselves. Many clients offer us access to the bounties of their refrigerator and pantry, for which we are mighty grateful (but by no means is this a mandatory or expected privilege).

While we are very likely to have other appointments during the day, we do maintain a presence in your home and adhere to your schedule as much as possible. Dogs are walked at least twice a day (once in the morning and again in the evening) for half an hour at a time or to your specifications. If the situation is appropriate your pet can even come along with us when we go out for the day!

A key return is arranged after your return at your convenience. Some clients prefer to pay with a check then, while others simply leave payment in the house at the start of service. Either way, checks are not deposited until after your key has been safely returned to you.

A key hand-off will be arranged beforehand; regular walk or house visit clients usually provide a copy of the house key to their Floppy Ears caregiver that remains in his or her safekeeping. Most walks/visits occur during midday, between 12-3PM, although you may request a walk/visit at any time of the day or evening. Your Floppy Ears caregiver will arrive at your home during your requested time period, walk your dog(s) for the specified amount of time (please see our Services page for rates), poop-scoop along the way, and come home and lock up. The walk time begins from the moment we leave your property to the moment that we return. Your dog(s) will most likely receive treats unless otherwise instructed. House visits usually consist of bringing in mail and papers, taking out garbage and recycling, turning on/off lights, and having one-sided conversations with your pet(s).

The safety and wellbeing of your pet(s) and home is our top priority. We follow your standard safety procedures for your home: locking the appropriate doors, setting the alarm system, keeping the location neat and looked-after. Your house key will remain in the sole custody of Floppy Ears for the duration of the service and no copies are ever made without your permission. In the rare event that your personal caregiver needs another caregiver to substitute, you will be notified.

Floppy Ears rates are customized to reflect both your needs and the appropriate compensation for your caregiver. You should not pay a high flat rate for the care of pets that you do not have, and a caregiver should be compensated fairly for the additional care that additional pets require.

Floppy Ears strives to be sensitive to the shaky economic climate and we do not believe you have to sacrifice quality service in order to maintain reasonable rates. We love what we do and that is why we do it; our rates are set simply to cover the bare minimum of time and resources.

The Barking Lot is a free Floppy Ears service provided to shoppers at the weekly Temescal Farmers Market. Barking Lot, doggy day care, pooch parking, canine valet - the incredibly popular service goes by many names! We set up a pen near the Miles Ave. entrance and shoppers drop off their socialized, vaccinated dogs for some playtime while they shop, stress-free (dogs and other animals are not permitted in the market, according to city health code)! We even have a separate area for smaller or timid dogs. The Barking Lot runs every Sunday from 9:30AM-1PM, excluding very rainy days, and is always staffed by at least two of our pooch professionals.

Floppy Ears is not currently providing Barking Lot service for any other markets. We hope to expand soon, so if you are interested in a similar Barking Lot set-up at your local farmers' market, please contact us!

Oh my, yes, as long as it does not violate any health code or other venue policies. You are responsible for obtaining permission from your event venue for the presence of animals and our gated pen (about 6'x12', although size may vary). Please email or call for rates and availability.

House-sitting cancellations must be made the number of house-sitting days prior to start of service. For example, a two-night reservation must be cancelled at least two days prior to the start of service; a week-long reservation must be cancelled at least a week prior to the start of service. Cancellations made after the given deadline may be subject to a cancellation charge of 50% of the original service fee.

Walk/house visit cancellations must be made by 10:00 PM PST the night prior to the walk/visit. Cancellations made afterwards may be subject to a cancellation charge of 100% of the original service fee. A cancellation is only valid if you have received confirmation from a Floppy Ears Caregiver. Cancellations (or appointments) may not be made via text messaging.

If you have not made a cancellation and we are unable to access your home at the time of service, we will attempt to contact you immediately. If we cannot reach you, you may be subject to a cancellation charge of 100% of the original service fee. Although Floppy Ears Pet Care does everything possible to avoid cancellations on the part of our Caregivers, should an emergency occur, you will be given as much notice as possible. Cancellations will be credited back the full payment if payment has already been rendered.

Yes! Floppy Ears caregivers love all types of flora and fauna; we don't discriminate! If you have an unusual pet, we will be delighted to provide the same quality service for you. We will work with you to learn more about your pet and its special needs. Chickens, snakes, goats, or triceratops...we welcome them all! (Seriously, if you have a pet dinosaur, we need to talk.)