Paw Prints Pet Services

02/03/2025

I had a cancellation for pet care during Valentine’s Day weekend.

If you’re going out of town for the occasion, I’m available for drop ins and/or overnights.

Message me for more info.

01/23/2025

We believe that having integrity is important in life AND in business.

If you’re a pet sitter looking for conversation and insight, check out Pet Sitter Confessional.

🌟 How do you stay true to your business values? Success in business starts with maintaining your standards, even when times are tough. Ruby Ballesteros shares how staying true to her values and refusing to devalue her services allowed her to not only weather challenges but also redefine professionalism in her community.

Through her journey, she demonstrates the power of persistence and the rewards of aligning actions with a clear mission. Ruby reminds us why integrity matters in business—and in life.

Podcast episode 563 features Ruby who talked all about her successful pet business. Click to listen:
👉 petsitterconfessional.com/episodes/563

01/18/2025

We are officially endorsing Sam’s Groom Room for best groomer in the Oskaloosa Herald Reader’s Choice Awards. Vote today at the link below. You can find dog grooming under the “Professional Services” section.

This year I have been nominated to be included in the readers choice awards. This is such a great surprise and honor after everything that went on in 2024. Please vote for Sam’s Groom Room starting Jan 15th. Thank you to everyone for your continued support after my accident. 💜 https://www.oskaloosa.com/readers-choice/ #//

01/03/2025

We’ve officially been on Rover for a year today! So many wonderful people and pet friends have been connected through Rover this year. And so, I am grateful to be on the platform.

Starting January 10, I will have obtained “Star Sitter Status” —

More on that to come!

— Hailey Van Weelden (Paw Prints Pet Services)

12/23/2024

Who could say “no” to those faces?

12/19/2024

A message for Paw Prints people and Faerie Dog people!

12/13/2024

Brookie the Golden Retriever says, “Hooray! It’s Friday!”

12/11/2024

Beautiful Maggie the pitbull is trying to stay warm this holiday season. All that is missing right now is her dinosaur hoodie she wears when she goes outside.

How do you keep your pets warm in the winter? Or rather, do THEY keep YOU warm?

12/02/2024

Small business Saturday may have passed, but it’s always good to keep your ✨ professional ✨ local ✨ pet-sitters and dog-walkers in mind when making pet-care related decisions.

When you think about shopping local and want to support the movement, don't forget to check out your local professional pet-sitting business. Check out these three reasons your local professional pet sitter if your best pet-care option.

11/29/2024

As of today, Paw Prints Pet Services 2024 regular dog walking season has come to an end. Thank you to everyone who became clients this year and entrusted me with the care of your beloved family members AKA pets.

While dog walking season may be over, that leaves plenty more time for petsitting, drop ins, overnights, and pet grooming over at Faerie Dog Grooming Salon.

2024 is almost completely full and 2025 is filling in, book your pet care now to keep from missing out in the future.

If you’d like to be on my 2025 dog walking list, let me know sooner rather than later (so there’s a good time slot for you).

Thank you all! I am grateful for the opportunity to do this work. ❤️

11/29/2024

If you’re in Iowa, have a dog already but want another, and love Shibas, I have a listing for you!

11/22/2024

Pet owners - practice healthy habits when caring for your animals like washing your hands after touching or feeding your pet. Try to keep your animals and pets healthy by keeping up with your pet’s vaccines, deworming, and flea and tick control. When your pet is sick, be sure to talk to your veterinarian about antimicrobial resistance and using antibiotics and antifungals only when needed to prevent risk to your pets.
More: https://hhs.iowa.gov/center-acute-disease-epidemiology/hai-prevention/antimicrobial-resistance

11/18/2024

Let them sniff.

When living with a dog who has lots of energy it can seem logical to think that they need more exercise to tire them out - longer, faster walks, more throwing of a ball (or using a ball chuckler), always more, more, more...

While this does on the surface seem to make perfect sense, when following that advice what we are actually doing is making the situation worse. Think about how an athlete works to increase their fitness - they do more and faster. Now think about throwing a ball for the dog repeatedly. This is much like the shuttle runs those athletes do to increase their speed and fitness levels.

The great news is that there is another option for these high energy dogs. Yes, they need physical exercise, but they also need mental exercise. Luckily, mental exercise is a fairly easy thing to provide for all dogs, and we can even fit a great amount in on our daily walks.

Sniffing is an activity suitable for all dogs. Scent is the primary way dogs analyse and interpret their world, with an olfactory capability way better than that of humans. Simply giving your dog time and space to sniff on a walk gets that brain working and that will tire your dog more than you might realise. My own Border Collies (one of whom is the young dog sniffing in the image) will relax and snooze as much after 20 minutes of sniffing as they will after a 2 hour mostly off lead walk.

There are lots of ways to provide mental exercise for dogs, but this most powerful form is something that we can access free at any time, just by giving them the time to investigate their surroundings in the way that works best for them.

11/16/2024

Sam ❤️

Sam came to us as a puppy he was around 3-4 months old. He came in as a stray and nobody came forward and claimed him. All of us at the shelter worked with him on potty training, leash training, and even basic commands. As we worked with him we noticed that he was super eager to learn and learned very quickly! After 80 days in the shelter we all thought that he had finally found his forever home. Unfortunately after 1 week he was returned to the shelter because his owner was moving out of state to help a sick family member. Sam has now been at the shelter since 2/13/24 waiting for his forever home. Sam is looking for a home that will take him on walks or even someone who will take him to the dog park , so that he can get all of his energy out. Sam loves to play with toys and run outside with his 4-legged friends here at the shelter. He is a big goofball that makes always makes us laugh. Sam would do great in a home with kids or cats.

11/06/2024

Oli needs a little support while his family potty trains him. So Paw Prints Pet Services is here to help with drop-in style pet care.

Drop-ins are a great alternative to walks or overnight stays. They usually range in duration anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the needs of the pet.

If you’re interested in having someone let your dogs out to potty while you’re away, send me a message and let’s chat.

11/06/2024

Be kind to the local animal shelter staff. They do so much good for the community. They deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly of humanity on a daily basis, all while keeping the animals alive and well.💕

When you think of someone who works at an animal shelter what do you think? Most people think that they get to play with dogs and cats all day. That is not entirely true. Shelter staff gives loves while doing daily cleaning tasks. They see the not so good side to people. They care for and love the animals who were unloved from their previous owners. While working here you realize that we as humans do not deserve these animals. We have had dogs come in from horrible living conditions and mistreatment and they are the ones that want to be by your side all the time. They are the ones who know what it means to not have love. These pets are the ones that are hard to watch walk out the door but at the same time you are over joyed that they are getting the love they deserve. Shelter staff nurture the pets that have been abused back to health. Shelter staff are the ones who put the animals needs first and push their needs to the side. Please be kind to Shelter staff we are really going through it.