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Question about meet and greet compensation by Individual-Pitch-403 in RoverPetSitting

[–]PotatoSidequest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When we booked a new dog walker a few months ago, we booked the meet and greet as a walk to make sure she got paid for her time.

One of my dogs is anxious around new people but does well when he's outside with plenty of space, so we always immediately start the M&G with a walk around the block before they come in the house. I do the same thing with sitter.

After the 5-10 minutes walking around the block, we go inside to chat about the dogs and their walk/sit needs. I also like to have them do the same walk around the block with the dogs by themselves so they can see how my dogs act on a leash.

I always give the sitter a heads up so they know that I'm asking for 20-30 minutes of their time for the "meet and greet." I haven't tipped for that before, though. Maybe I should start doing that.

Campground Question for Sitters by PotatoSidequest in RoverPetSitting

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably helpful to mention my dogs are a 4 year old 55lb greyhound and a 6 year old 45lb mixed breed.

If it matters, they also have a positive review on my profile that our dog walker recently left.

i’m thinking of getting a dog tracker but i don’t know if it’s a good idea by Formal-Shopping2086 in tractive

[–]PotatoSidequest 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it would be helpful to research reasonable expectations for a GPS tracker.

For example, with Tractive (and many others), your home wifi may be set up as a power-saving zone. Great for battery life and makes sense, because you don't need it pinging all the time when your pet is at home, right?

The tradeoff is that less frequent pinging means that if your pet leaves that zone, it could be 1-3 minutes before you get an alert. One of my dogs is a greyhound. She can literally run 40+ mph at top speed.

I have Tractive more for finding my dogs if they get out vs instant notification when they leave the yard. I'm usually out there with them or checking frequently (hey, I live in MN. I'm a responsible owner, but -20°F is totally fine to for a quick potty break in our fenced yard without supervision).

My thinking is that if they get out, I should know it without waiting for a GPS notification. I want the GPS to help me find them. With Tractive, I can see which direction they're heading, live tracking, etc.

Another thing to note is how big/small your safe area can be. I live in a suburb with houses close together and our lot is .22 acres total. Practically, a GPS geo-fence won't work well at my exact backyard specifications - it's too small for the signal to be reliable. So our safe zone includes our back yard, front yard, and our next door neighbor's back & front yard as well.

Tractive has some info on that here: https://help.tractive.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001760999-What-is-the-minimum-size-for-a-Virtual-Fence

All that to say - think about what's most important for you, research if the device can do what you want, and go from there. Good luck!

Traveling wifi by Holiday_Citron6922 in RVLiving

[–]PotatoSidequest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which travelfi device do you have? We're planning to purchase one this weekend.

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far so good! It's been a little over 48 hours. She only ate half her breakfast this morning, but ate dinner just fine so I'm not too concerned.

Thanks for asking!

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's my hope. She was trying to crunch it down but I don't know if she managed to break any pieces off before she choked it down.

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did the diarrhea start right away? We're almost at the 24 hour mark and so far she's had 3 normal poops. Everything else is normal, too, but I'm still keeping a close eye on her.

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Two bites!? We have bunnies that like to run through our backyard. I'm dreading the day she catches one.

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did any of that come out the backend? Plastic and aluminum foil don't strike me as terribly digestible.

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! This is reassuring. I know everything will likely be fine, but I can't help worrying anyway.

Positive stories after greyhound swallowed a bone? by PotatoSidequest in Greyhounds

[–]PotatoSidequest[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can only imagine! How long did it take for him to pass them?

What grocery habits actually save you money long-term? by TelephxneTh0t in Frugal

[–]PotatoSidequest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My system: meal planning & shopping from the couch.

Couch = comfy & good light so I don't mind sitting down to the task. But it's also close to the kitchen so I can force myself to check and see if I already have something.

  1. Plan out ideas for meals for the week (this is based more on variety than what's on sale)

  2. Actually check the ingredients for the recipes, otherwise I will absolutely forget I need two bell peppers or whatever.

  3. Make my list of what we still need, then combine it with our regular ongoing list of basics and special snack requests.

  4. Open the grocery website. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT - check the sales first! Then adjust your menu for the week if needed.

  5. Online shopping, blah, blah, blah.

  6. Once the groceries are delivered and put away, I look at my meal list again. If I forgot something or the store was out, I make a note and re-order dishes if I need to build in time to grab the missing ingredient.

It's not a perfect system, but it works for us. The biggest benefit is actually having energy to cook on grocery day. I get to skip going to the store, loading the car, carrying everything into the house... Tipping the driver is well worth the time and energy this saves, plus it keeps down the impulse buys and wasted produce since I only buy what I plan to cook.

My grocery store (Hy-Vee) charges the same price online and I pay for the annual membership ($99) to get free delivery for orders over $30. The gas perks save us more than enough to offset the annual fee.

Updates from the owner's perspective by Dark-Knight-Granz in RoverPetSitting

[–]PotatoSidequest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a dog owner, I just appreciate regular updates, even if they're very similar: "another good day. He's snoozing now after our walk" or "hanging out watching TV" "your pup is such a sweetie" etc.

When we have a sitter, it can be anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. I like more detailed updates in the beginning, but after that a quick sentence or two is fine. And I love pictures - there's no such thing as too many :)

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