Going to the Dogs

March 15, 2006

Heading out of town but have a pet that needs special care? Relax, a growing number of homegrown businesses in Northern Michigan will come to your home to babysit that aging kitty, fussy cockatiel or lonesome spaniel.
One such company is Dog Gone Walking, a pet care service offered by Kelli Duranczyk in the Grand Traverse area. As the name implies, Kelli is available for strolls with Fido; 20-minute dog-walks are available for a fee of from $12 to $18, depending on where you live in the area. Weekly walk rates are also available along with three-day specials.
Duranczyk also offers dog and puppy sitting in your home, with visits including cleanup, playtime, feeding and walks.
“Pets generally do not like being away from their home, and the ordeal of boarding a pet is often difficult on the family as well as on the pet,” Duranczyk says. “It’s also not ideal for many animals including cats, birds and other more exotic pets.”
She has a testimonial on her website (www.dog-gone-walking.com) from Beth Pearce of Traverse City, who recently used the service for her cat and a macaw. “During my absence it was very reassuring to receive email updates from Kelli letting me know that my pets were doing well, she says, noting that boarding her exotic bird was not an option.
Duranczyk got her start after moving to the area five years ago and finding there was no one available to care for her own pets when she was working long hours as a graphic designer for a publishing firm. When she got laid off, she decided to launch Dog Gone Walking last June.

TAILS A-WAG’N
Another pet entrepreneur is Sherry McAdams who offers pet-sitting services in the Suttons Bay, Lake Leelanau and Traverse City area. Sherry launched her Tails A-Wag’n company last April and has been busy with pet clients ever since, including dogs, cats, birds, fish, ferrets, pocket pets and more.
“I had been doing this for years for friends and it just dawned on me one day that maybe I could do this as a business,” she recalls. “I got online and found out there’s a network of people across the nation. I made a friend who gave me ideas on how to get started.”
To get referrals, McAdams contacted the county treasurer and got a list of every licensed dog owner in the county. She mailed out hundreds of brochures and the calls started coming in. This week, she’s caring for six clients; she notes that there were only eight days in December when she didn’t work.
Sometimes there’s even too much work, or a client lives too far away. On those occasions McAdams may trade referrals with Marsha Wheaton of Dog Mom At Your Service.
Like Duranczyk, McAdams is a long-time animal lover. “I grew up on a farm and we had all kinds of dogs, cats, guinea pigs and horses,” she says, adding that presently she has pets includ-ing a miniature Schnauzer and two cats, with plans to add some chickens this spring.
Neither McAdams or Duranczyk can think of any drawbacks to their business (with the exception of getting in and out of wintry driveways). For these and other pet-sitters, a day on the job is literally a labor of love.

Call Tails-A-Wag’n at 231-883-1849. Dog Gone Walking: 645-1115. Other pet-sitters in the region may be listed on your local Chamber’s website.