fall update!

omg how did it get to be almost thanksgiving already??

with the recent addition of 2 new daily walking clients, my mon-fri dog walking schedule has been jam packed this past month! i haven’t been this busy for quite a while! and the dog and cat sits have been consistent all year really with no big gaps. so wags by mags has been really rockin’ and rollin’ lately.

speaking of thanksgiving, i am almost completely booked up at this point. i might be able to squeeze a cat sit or two in, depending on the details, but no more dogs. it looks to be quite a busy holiday weekend.

as for christmas, i do already have an overnight dog sit booked, but i have room for more cat sits and could maybe handle dogs who don’t need overnight sitting. but get with me soon because that time will definitely book up quickly once we get past thanksgiving. there’s still availability for new years week/end too.

also, i should mention, i will be out of town and not available for any service between wednesday 11/29 and monday 12/4, as i’m taking a much needed breather in between the big holiday crunchtimes to keep my sanity. if you are looking for sitting during that time, i’m happy to refer you to my friend and my personal sitter, rebecca guidry. contact me for her #.

hope everyone has a lovely thanksgiving! and enjoy the holiday season!

summer 2017 update

happy summer everyone! hope everyone is hydrating – yourself and your pets – and staying cool.

i haven’t updated here in a long time so thought i’d drop in to say hello and make a few announcements. business has been booming at wags by mags – i’ve been super busy and beyond booked since memorial day weekend, it’s been crazy. folks sure have been traveling a lot!

two things:

#1 – i have an immediate opening between 11am-12pm for mon-friday dog walks, preferably in the uptown, broadmoor, riverbend, carrollton or midcity area, so it fits easily into my route. hit me up if you are in need and let’s see if we can make it work.

#2 – i have an important birthday coming up – i’m turning 50! – so i’m not booking any dog or cat sits over the weekend of august the 11th-12th-13th so i can have time off to celebrate with friends.

ok, that’s all i got.

thanks to all of you over the years for keeping me in business! six years and counting!

holidays 2016

hi everyone – just an update to say i am completely booked for thanksgiving 2016 already! i have an overnight dog sit that whole week plus a few other dog and cat sits on top of my regular dog walking schedule, so i can’t take anything else on.

christmas/new year’s holidays are filling up fast. i am booked overnight both christmas weekend and new year’s weekend but could probably still squeeze a few cat sits in if you get to me soon.

i’ll be celebrating my sixth year of this business in december! thanks to all my amazing clients over these years!! and may your holiday season be wonderful!!!

openings!

all of a sudden, i have a few openings!

i need to be a little specific because i need to fill in around other clients in my schedule. so… 10:30am in the uptown area, 11:30am anywhere from audubon/riverbend down carrollton to midcity, and 12:30 or 1pm in midcity/bayou st. john/fairgrounds/mid-tilly. (all times are approximations and might vary a half hour either way – i usually offer a window of time because of variables like weather, traffic, and dog-related delays.) looking for monday through friday or other weekly dog walking clients. individual walks for dogs from same household only, no pack walks.

pass the word! thanks!

giveNOLA day

hey y’all, just a quick note to remind everyone that today is GiveNOLA Day – a day to donate to your favorite new orleans area nonprofits! and here is a list of animal welfare nonprofits registered with GiveNOLA Day: https://givenola.org/categories/animal. drop a few dollars in their buckets so they can continue doing their good work!

spring changes…

IMG_1882well it seems like spring has sprung here in new orleans, or maybe we didn’t really ever have winter? regardless, the plants and animals all believe it is spring now, for sure, and this dog walker is enjoying the milder temperatures (though maybe not so much all the rain).

a few changes are happening here at wags by mags. after many months of deliberation, i’ve decided to scale back my daytime work week walking hours to free up some time for me to delve back into my creative pursuits. instead of working 9am – 5pm monday through friday, i’m going to be doing 9am – 2pm. this only affects two of my daily clients and i’ve worked with both of them to make this transition happen. i am grateful for their support on this.

i’d like to offer that i do have an opening in the 10:30 or 11am time frame, for someone located uptown, preferably between the napoleon/st. charles and university/audubon area. so get in touch if you are seeking daily 20-30 minute walks in this area.

i am still taking on dog and cat sitting gigs from time to time, though perhaps more picky than ever about overnight stays. cat sits that require only one visit a day in my service area can almost always be accommodated, though, FYI.

lastly, i would just like to plug my crowdfunding get-back-to-my-art site, which is on patreon.com. a lot of my clients are my personal friends as well and already know all about this, but for those of you who don’t, i’d appreciate you clicking the link and taking a look at what i’m up to. this is the other life i left behind when i started wags by mags, and it’s been a long hard journey back to it, but i’m excited to feel more whole again by jumping back in.

i love and appreciate all of you who have been my clients from the very beginning through now and i look forward to continuing to serve the pet care needs of my amazing town.

happy new year + carnival!

i’m a little late in posting this, but happy new year everyone! and, since 12th night was last night, happy carnival too! 33 days til mardi gras!

so just a quick update here: wags by mags! is now operating at pretty much full capacity in terms of daily dog walking clients. i’m keeping a pretty solid 9am – 5pm schedule with between 8-10 walks a day servicing the cbd, uptown and midcity, and occasionally squeezing in 1-2 more of my occasional clients. so it’s safe to say i’m not taking on any new dog walking clients at the moment; there’s simply no time in my schedule.

in terms of pet sitting, coming off of the hectic holiday season, i’m not gonna do a lot of dog sitting for a while. i just need a little break from overnights, probably through the carnival season. i will continue to accept once-a-day cat sits in this timeframe in my service area, however.

i will make my annual disclaimer that i love mardi gras and want to enjoy all the festivities, so i will not be taking on ANY mardi gras weekend sits of any kind or evening walks (2/3 – 2/9). i am NOT working at all endymion saturday (2/6), bacchus sunday (2/7), or fat tuesday (2/9). i will have limited service for my daily clients on lundi gras (2/8) and ash wednesday (2/9), with everything returning to normal after that.

thanks everyone and i hope y’all have a safe and enjoyable carnival season!

back from vacation!

just a quick notice to say that i am back from vacation and resuming my regular schedule on monday august 17th. so glad to have had the break but i sure do miss all my critters!

i am already booked for an overnight dog sit during labor day weekend, so only available for cat sits at this point during that time. fyi.

and going forward, i am going to be a lot more picky about scheduling overnights. i just really need to have time to myself on weekends and want desperately to get back to my art life, so won’t be doing as many overnights as i have been in the past. so if i say no to your request, please don’t take it personally. it’s about self-care. i will try to refer you out to other pet sitters i know and trust. thanks for your understanding!

summer! and, vacation notice…

hurricane season has officially begun and though we are not yet technically in summer – the solstice is on june 21st – summer weather has certainly arrived already! and now begins the long, sweaty, humid haul til october when the weather takes a turn for the better.

so, a few things:

hurricane season policy: if you are booking a sit with me between now and the end of hurricane season (november 30th), please be aware of my hurricane season policy that i cannot take responsibility for your animals should there be an evacuation called while you are away. please have a plan in place with friends, relatives or your vet. i will do what i can to assist in getting your animals to your evacuation caretaker, but i cannot be responsible for evacuating your pets.

for all dog-walking clients: please be advised that as the temperatures get hotter and the humidity increases, i will adjust the walk times for your pups based on their ability to tolerate the heat and your neighborhood environment (i.e., shaded areas, grass as opposed to hot pavement, etc.). if walks are shortened, though, i will spend the remaining time in your shaded yard or indoors playing with them. they will still get exercise and attention after they have had a chance to relieve themselves, but in a way that is safe and healthy for them. some dogs are more sensitive to the heat than others, so this may not affect all clients, but just know i am always going to do what i think is best for your dog to keep them safe and happy.

schedule: i am pretty solidly booked up on sits through the end of june (with the exception of father’s day weekend, where i still have a few openings), but i do still have availability for fourth of july weekend if you are in need. get to me quick, though, as i’m sure it will fill up.

and lastly, vacation: i will be taking my annual summer vacation for three weeks from saturday july 25th through sunday august 16th. i will resume work on monday august 17th. wags by mags will be closed for business during this time. if you were hoping to book with me in this timeframe, feel free to get in touch and i can give you some referrals to other sitters/walkers who can fill in for me while i’m gone. i appreciate my regulars’ flexibility with my need to take a break!

thanks everyone, and happy summer!

cash.me/$wagsbymags

just a quick announcement to say that wags by mags is now accepting squarecash.

i’ve been searching for a simple electronic way to replace the tedious process of clients paying me by check every week/gig, and i found it! now clients can pay quickly and easily via their smartphone, tablet or even computer by sending payment to: https://cash.me/$wagsbymags. and for me, as a business, the service fees are considerably less than paypal or even using a card reader like square. (only 1.5%)

i don’t get anything for signing anyone up – that’s not the motivation here. the motivation for me is that clients can relax about remembering to leave me checks and have a faster, simpler secure way to pay me. and i have a less annoying way to remind them to pay me and can save all those trips to the bank! also the deposits are virtually immediate. no more waiting til payments clear. so high tech!

feels like a win-win situation. so cash.me/$wagsbymags!