20 Frequently asked questions

This is the most common and troublesome question that clients ask. Before leaving your pet with us, we meet and get to know each other. Usually, pets get used to a new environment and a human within 24 hours.

Our experience shows that young, outgoing and socialized animals that are used to being in an unfamiliar environment and with unfamiliar people overcome stress more easily. However, older, introvert and more timid animals may feel sadness for a longer period of time when under stress.

If a pet is left in the hands of a pet sitter for the first time, we pay particular attention and devote more time to them, take more frequent walks outside, play, talk to them, pet and comfort them like we would do with young children.

The duration of the pet’s adjustment period largely depends on the ability of the pet sitter to establish contact with the pet. Starting eating and relieving itself are good first signs that the pet begins to fit in. There is a possibility to do a “test” pet sitting for half the day or a day. Often, however, pet owners experience separation distress to a greater extent than pets themselves.

Friends, acquaintances and relatives often lack the necessary experience and knowledge on animal care. They may also have limited time they can devote to taking care of a pet.

A professional pet sitter will be more responsible in taking care of your pet, he or she will devote their undivided attention and understand your pet’s needs based on their previous experience and knowledge. Our staff cares deeply about animals, whereas not all friends, relatives or acquaintances like animals and taking care of them.

We send regular information, photo and video updates so that you can keep up with how your pet is doing without stress. For a more convenient communication, clients usually choose WhatsApp, but we can also send text messages or emails, as well as make phone calls.

Yes, it is a safe service!  The service and our liability are agreed upon in the contract that we conclude. Our services are insured with the insurance company “IF Apdrošināšana”. The employees of “4paws” have demonstrated their reliability for several years already.

The employees of “4paws” take care of pets at their homes in various locations in Riga and Jurmala. This way you can choose not only the most pleasing pet sitter but also the most convenient location. Most pet sitters own private houses with a fenced territory. For available pet hotels, please visit Pet hotel.

We pet sit up to 6 animals at the same time, taking into account each pet sitter’s living conditions and customer demands. If pets are socialized and friendly, we offer them to play together with other friendly pets. If, however, pets do not get along well, we observe the principle of safety and ensure that pets do not come into contact with each other.

Before leaving their pet with a pet sitter, pet owners have to fill in a questionnaire that contains important questions on feeding, daily routines and other issues regarding their pets.

Dogs need to: have a pet passport with valid vaccination dates, be microchipped and registered in the data base of the Agricultural Data Centre, be dewormed and have received flea treatment. Items to bring: food, collar, leash, bowls, bedding, toys, pet waste pick-up bags, other personal items at the owner’s discretion.

Cats need to: have a pet passport with valid vaccination dates, be dewormed and have received flea treatment. Items to bring: food, litter box, cat litter (sand, shavings), bowls, bedding, cat scratcher, toys, other personal items at the owner’s discretion.

Your pet will feel safer and more comfortable having familiar and cherished items from home with them.

It is necessary to consider each pet and situation individually. We offer full range of pet sitting and pet care services: pet hotel in a home environment, dog walking service, home visits or in-home pet sitting, dog daycare. For more information on our services, please visit Services.

If you can’t decide which type of service to choose, call or write me and I, Kristīne Leja, will recommend the most appropriate solution for your pet!

Each case should be considered individually.

Our 13-year experience shows that there are cats who are sensitive to changes. Some cats and even some breeds (for example, Persian cats) can be more anxious. It is better to leave such cats at home and choose our in-home pet sitting service (home visits). This service will be more financially advantageous if you have multiple pets since in a pet hotel you will be charged for each pet separately, whereas home visits usually have a set price for several pets.

However, there are also cats of quite the opposite nature – very social and outgoing that, similarly to dogs, are more sensitive to their owner’s absence than to the change of the place of residence. There are cat breeds, for example, Sphynx cats or Rex cats, that like to communicate with humans and don’t like to remain alone. They are more  susceptible to loneliness. In this case, I would recommend our service Pet hotel in a home environment, where your cat will be guaranteed the presence of a human. We have observed that young cats as well as cats who have experience of meeting other people and changing the place of residence adapt more quickly.

We mainly pet sit dogs and cats, however, we also have experience with taking care of other small animals such as hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, pet squirrels, hedgehogs and aquarium fish.

By choosing “4paws” services, you pay for high quality care and services provided by a professional team with expertise in animal care.

As opposed to hobby pet sitters, our service is registered with the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia, licensed and insured. Unlike “standard” pet hotels boarding a large number of pets and keeping them in kennels or small enclosed spaces, we offer comfortable and peaceful home environment and individual approach.

Pet sitting and care is related to continuous  provision of attention and ensuring the best possible conditions. This kind of work requires high sense of responsibility, skills and expertise allowing to understand each pet’s needs as well as the ability to deal with various situations and external factors (behaviour of other animals, weather conditions, external environment and stressful situations) while maintaining animal well-being. Each pet sitter devotes their energy, warm-heartedness and effort to find common language with your pet, help the pet to adjust to a new environment and ensure the best conditions for your pet.

Yes, we allow pets to sleep on a coach. As regards sleeping in bed during night time, it should be discussed with each pet sitter individually. The manager of “4paws” Kristīne Leja lets animals sleep in her bed on a separate mattress with a down blanket.

Yes. If you provide us with the necessary ingredients, we will prepare the food for your pet.

First of all, we will inform you of this situation. Then we will purchase additional pet food. You will pay for the additional food upon your return in accordance with the purchase receipt.

Firstly, we will inform you of your pet’s health condition and will agree upon the necessary procedures. We will take your pet to it’s personal veterinarian. If your pet doesn’t have a personal veterinarian, we will take it to a veterinary clinic we cooperate with. We cooperate only with the best veterinary clinics and veterinarians in Riga.

We have observed that in pets, just like in humans, stress may exacerbate chronic or dormant diseases.

We maintain your dog’s individual routines. We usually walk a dog 3–5 times a day for as long as your dog is used to. However, there are clients who wish that their dog is walked only two times a day.

From one day up to one month, but most frequently for a period of 7–10 days. Longer terms are possible.

Yes, if it’s a small-sized dog. However, we do not accept aggressive medium and large- sized dogs. Since our staff has a very close contact with animals, it can be dangerous for their health and even life. If there is a risk that your dog can be aggressive, it is better to leave such dog at a dog hotel where they can be cared for without direct human contact, for example, in the kennels. However, it should be remembered that no owner can be 100% sure of their dog to be able to tell if it will not show aggressiveness towards an unfamiliar person under unfamiliar circumstances. There are dogs that become aggressive under stress, even though they are usually peaceful at home and in the presence of their owner

There are potentially more problematic dog breeds. However, breed characteristics cannot be applied to all the representatives of the given breed and each breed has exceptions. Nevertheless, we are more cautious with such dog breeds as the Caucasian Shepherd dogs, Central Asian Shepherd dogs, rottweilers, American bulldogs, American Staffordshire terriers, American Pitbull terriers, huskies, malamutes, mastiffs, and some other breeds. Since such breeds as the American Staffordshire terrier and the American Pitbull terrier have originated from dog fighting breeds, they are more prone to aggression towards other dogs. Usually, these dogs are not aggressive towards humans, however, one has to take into account the risk of biting another dog. Huskies and malamutes have such breed specific traits as wandering around and howling, therefore they need to be kept physically active. It may be risky to pet sit such a dog in a home environment. Caucasian Shepherd dogs and Central Asian Shepherd dogs usually have innate aggression towards strangers.

Certainly, each case is considered individually and, in any case, we have an initial meeting with the owner and the dog prior to boarding.

I am often asked this question. No, we are not afraid of it. Firstly, we usually have a “meet and greet” consultation before we agree to accept a pet for pet sitting. Secondly, we have a long-standing experience with animals and, intuitively and by observing the dog’s body language, we feel the animal’s mood and can tell if it can be touched, hugged and approached closely or if the animal may not like it and it can bite. In this case, we are more careful and reserved when contacting this animal. Our staff has the necessary knowledge on how to establish contact with animals, therefore usually dogs like us.

Yes. In this case, we will ensure that your dog does not come into contact with another dog.