Paws or Claws - We're Here for Them All!
Backyard Pet Sitting services provides pet care in your home (some people refer to this as drop-in visits) for your exotic pets in and around McKinney, Texas.
We specialize in compassionate, experienced care for your beloved exotic and backyard animals, including:
- Chickens
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Goats
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Rabbits
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Birds (parrots, cockatiels, finches & more)
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Reptiles
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Ferrets
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Tortoises
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Hampters
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And other non-traditional pets!
Whether you’re heading out of town or just need an extra hand, we treat your animals like our own — with patience, respect, and expert knowledge of their unique needs.
What to Expect from Our Pet Sitting Service
We use the industry’s best-in-class app to schedule and track your services. Over the past five years, Backyard Pet Services has developed business processes, checklists, and training that we continue to revise and improve over time. Our sitters undergo extensive training and re-training four times a year.
When you initiate communication about your upcoming trip, we will promptly confirm your trip dates and determine the desired number of pet visits per day. During the scheduling process, we meticulously attend to the details of the first and last day, recognizing that these two days may vary (e.g., the initial visit may not be required on the first day, and the final visit of the day may not be necessary on the last day). Our dedicated pet sitting services include sending a qualified sitter to introduce themselves, meet your beloved pet, and take detailed notes! We know that when it comes to exotic pets, their habitats are extremely important so we pay special attention to their environment requirements.
Once your trip commences, each pet sitting visit extends from 20 to 45 minutes. This duration allows ample time for showering your pets with love and affection, providing meals, refreshing water bowls, maintaining their habitats, refreshing bedding, checking the mail, tending to plants, handling trash duties, and anything else to make sure your pets and home are happy and well taken care of.
Naturally, every visit is meticulously documented, complete with every-day, funny, and sometimes heartwarming photos capturing your companions in their element, receiving affection from the sitter, or posing for the camera. Our comprehensive pet sitting services ensure the well-being and happiness of your pets throughout your time away.
Services We Offer
Pet sitting services that are provided at your home…
Pet visits
After an initial meet & greet to say hello and receive instructions, we visit your pets in your home once or twice per day, or even every other day. The frequency will vary on your specific needs.
Storm Visits
We get it - some pets get anxious when thunder and lightening come rolling through. If this is the case, our sitters can provide an extra 30 minute evening visit to check on everyone before bed after a storm hits.
Overnight and 'almost overnight' visits
Depending on staff availability, we can come to stay overnight in your home with your pets while you’re away (8-12 hour visit). We also offer 'almost overnight' options.
Exact time service
Typically sitter has a two hour window in which to complete your pet visit or walk. This allows us to factor in other visits around the same time that may take longer to complete and drive time between houses. If you need services at an exact time, we can make it work — but there is an additional fee.^
Sole sitter service
Typically, a primary and backup sitter will attend to your home and pets throughout your trip. We make an effort to minimize the number of sitters, considering their individual availability; however, occasional challenges arise due to differing schedules. Should you prefer a single pet sitter for the duration of your trip, an additional fee applies. This extra charge is intended to compensate the sitter for arranging schedule adjustments, such as skipping a class, missing a test, rescheduling a doctor's appointment, forgoing a family event, or even securing a car service (e.g., in the case of a flat tire). This ensures that the selected sitter can be fully dedicated and available 100% for the dates and times you specify.
*See terms and conditions under inclusions list.
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⬤ Pet Visit (1-2 pets) Starting at $28
30 minute visit: $28
45 minute visit: $42
Storm Visit (30 minutes): $33 -
⬤ Pet Visit (3 or more pets) Starting at $34
30 minute visit: $34
45 minute visit: $50
Storm Visit (30 minutes): $39 -
⬤ Overnight $125
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⬤ Almost Overnight Starting at $88
Pkg. #1: 2 hr evening visit plus 45 minute morning visit for $88
Pkg. #2: 2 hr evening visit plus 1 hr morning visit for $95 -
⬤ House Check $28
Service Inclusions:
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Bedding refresh, cage cleaning, husbandry requirements |
⬤⬤ |
| Bring in mail, newspaper, deliveries, etc. | ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
| Water plants and flowers | ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
| Take out trash and bins | ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
| Adjust lights and blinds daily | ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
| Check and provide food and water for pets in home | ⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
| Play time | ⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
| Evening TV and snuggles | ⬤⬤ |
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Overnight stay with pets |
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| Mid-day visit | ⬤⬤: $20 per visit |
| Confirmation text with photos | ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ |
Service Terms
Meet & Greets: Before visiting your babies for the first time, a sitter will come out to meet with you to gather all the care instructions we will need to provide the best care for your animals. A Meet & Greet is $15 plus a fuel/mileage fee.
Lockboxes may be installed and removed with the first and last visit of your trip. If you wish for a lockbox to be installed/removed before or after your trip, there is a $5 per event fee.
Blood Sugar Check & Insulin Injection: Our sitters have been specially trained to check blood sugar levels and administer Insulin injections for those animals that need it. If your baby does need this done during a visit, there is a $5 per visit fee.
For Sole-Sitter services (same sitter every time), the price per visit is doubled.
For Exact Time services, there is an additional fee of 50% of the visit.
If a visit runs over 30 minutes due to your pet(s) being sick, not eating, etc., there is an additional charge of $1 per minute.
If the sitter has to go to the store for your pet(s) to pick up more food, medication, etc., the cost of such items will be added to your invoice along with a fee for the sitter’s extra errand and visit time..
Fuel & Mileage Offset: For each trip there will be a small fee based on your zip code.
Our Overnight services are dependent on our sitter’s availability. We appreciate as much notice as you can give us for these services.
Assurance
We are:
- Certified Professional Pet Sitters
- CPR and First Aid Certified by Pet Pro Hero
- Members of Pet Sitters International
- Bonded and Insured by Governor’s insurance, Underwritten by Traveler’s
- Fear Free Certified by FearFree Leaders in Animal Wellbeing
Backyard Pet Sitting Service Areas
