Dogs & Town Government

I've always been interested in politics, both local and national.  But now that I'm moving forward with the daycare, these things are now directly connected to me, since the fate of Mammoth Lakes affects the fate of our success.

Below is my comment that I posted to the recent LATimes article titled, "Mammoth Lakes fears financial ruin after legal judgment."  Wow, what a doomsday title!


Frustratingly Uncertain

Ok, I get the whole idea of clearing out the town staff; replacing them (temporarily) with a group that's a bit more "proven" (an understatement). Financially it makes sense.

BUT!  Please wait until I receive my use permit application to open up my new dog daycare facility!  :)  The planning department has been working on it for three weeks now and I'm just days away from receiving my permit.  I know it's technically an advertisement, but I get the comment, "Oh!  I wish I knew about you the last time I vacationed in Mmmth, I wish I could've brought my dog!"  ... so I'm going to risk being reported and give out my website:  www.ApresPooch.com    :D

As for what's going to happen here for the businesses, it's frustratingly uncertain.  We're now compounding the 2007 recession, the 2006-08 lower-than-average snowfall (222", 334" and 470"), and the housing market "throwback" to 1999 prices... with the potential threat of higher taxes and loss of amenities for our guests (visitors to town).  Part of the reason Mammoth is so attractive are things like our bus & trolley services, our SUPER (but probably expensive) trails system, and the multiple cultural events for the community.

If we lose those, I don't know... hey, at least we got 209" in December!

Chester & Monty's Mid-day walks (January)

One more picture!  :)  They were pretty tired on their last day.  Lots of playing with friends will do that to you!

Look!  You can see Mmth Mountain in the background!  :)  This was taken on the big snowpile behind the condo.  Beautiful days for these "walks"/play sessions.

Yep, Monty definitely was "into" Bella.  She thought he was pretty hilarious, too!

C & M would chase one another back and forth across the snowpile... then C would stop for a break and give a big shake of the head... if I didn't move out of the way, I'd get sprayed by slobber!

The boys were so good.  Thanks for letting me watch them this week!

Zelda's January Daycare

Out at the old Sherwin's (unofficial) off-leash dog park.  Z met a boxer out there and the two of them played quite a bit of chase (her favorite game!)

We also visited Shady Rest park, where Z and my Bella sprinted around, jumped into the powder, and enjoyed the beautiful day.  Check out Z's frozen whiskers at the end of the video, as well as in the picture below!

The "Mammoth Shot"   :)

More sprinting:

Bella, Jabba & Ozzy December Daycare

Bella's favorite spot, watching me in the office, or just watching the other pups as if to say, "Why are you wandering around like that?  Conserve some energy.  Come and relax."

Jabba was pretty hilarious, getting so excited the first time we went out into the yard and he could "fly" through the powder... that is, until he got stuck.  Bella thought he was silly, too, and started chasing around the "tunnels" when he looked back at her with that sheepish, snowy grin.

Even Ozzy got in on the action.  Our fence in the yard is a bit over 4 ft high, and the powder covers that height today!  Whew.  Can we just get one day without a foot of snow... please?  :)

The trees at our front porch.  Beautiful.

The Après Pooch E-Newsletter (December 16, 2010)

In this "E-Newsletter"

* Holiday Calendar
* Cancellation Policy

* We are BUSY BUSY BUSY and booking up fast!
* But we're working on expanding to a new commercial facility in Mammoth, which should allow us to take more than our current 4-dog maximum for daycare.

* We're also hiring for Independent Contractors to work with us to provide dog walks.  I'd love to do them all myself, but I only have two arms and two legs, and your pups deserve more than I can do myself in one day!

* How to confirm service (Google Checkout)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Holiday Calendar & Cancellation Policy

First of all, I want to thank everyone for your support in the past two years.  And for trusting us with the care of your pets.  We've got an email list of 250+ clients and growing!  I'm so proud to be able to do this work, and I'm amazed with the growth we've experienced in 2010.  The recession continues to sting, but for many the bite would be worse if they had to leave their pups at home when going on vacation to Mammoth.  Locals, I haven't forgotten you, either.  You help me make this work during the off-seasons!

Growing Pains

We're going through several changes, and this email is one of many to come to to let you know what's happening.

Last year, I loved how flexible my schedule could be.  I enjoyed being able to take last-minute reservations and to "pencil in" clients who were going to "see how they felt in the morning."  Unfortunately, with my current 4-dog max at my in-home daycare, and with the explosion of requests from new clients (I received six just this morning!), I simply cannot provide the flexibility of last year.

Because of the high demand this year, there's simply no way for me to guarantee a space for the pups without confirmation.  If we continue to work off the system of "I'll pencil you in on the 23rd and see what happens," for any clients who request daycare for the 23rd afterwards, I'd have to say "Nope, sorry" to them.  Since we're full already. 

And if you cancel last-minute, I could have helped out that other client!

I'm meeting with multiple potential Sitters and Walkers this Sunday to hire a few great people to help me.  More details to follow in a later "e-Newsletter".

What about the weather?

We all love Mammoth for this crazy snow we get ... and yet ... it can really disrupt our plans, too!  It's the nature of the beast, I suppose.  I understand the hesitancy to book specific days in advance.  What if the weather is horrible and we decide to leave town early, or just to stay indoors and keep our pets with us?

Below you'll find our cancellation policy.  We feel that it's fair, as we've tried to take into consideration circumstances such as weather that are out of your control. 

Standard Cancellation Refund: 10+ day notice: 100% / 2-9 day notice: 75% / 24-48 hour notice: 50%
Holiday Cancellation Refund: 25+ day notice: 100% / 10-24 day notice: 75% / 2-9 day notice: 50% / 24-48 hour notice: 30%

* I just added the holiday 24-hour notice refund.  So that's a change to your existing service contract.  :) 

Please check out the Holiday Calendar to the right!  Our holiday dates are pretty similar to the mountain's "blackout" dates.  You can click on any holiday to add it to your google calendar so that you're prepared.

OK, so how do I confirm service?

Remember having to pay cash last year?  :)  Yeah, it wasn't just a hassle for my clients.  Keeping accurate accounting records was quite a struggle for me.

So, this year, I've signed up with Google Checkout to process credit card payments online.  The procedure will be:

* You contact me and make a request.
* I check my calendar & letcha know if I'm available.
* If available, I email you with the total.
* Then I send a second email from Google Checkout with a link to take care of payment.
* Make sure to double-check the dates/times/services!
* Click on the link (if you're not signed up with google, you just have to do it once; they'll even save your info so you don't have to enter it in every time!)
* I'll send that wonderful Confirmation Email.  You're all set.


6 to 10 feet of snow this week.  Are You Ready?  Are You Coming?