Pet sitting business takes technology use to new level

It was an overcast day and it had just finished snowing deep in a wooded neighborhood in Mettawa when Sofia Reese, a pet sitter for Paige’s In-Home Pet Care, took Cammy, a client’s dog, on a walk around the circular streets.

Cammy bobbed and weaved from the road to the snow, picking up sticks every now and then, as Reese controlled the reins from a couple feet away. Reese sported a pair of black Meta AI glasses, which she used to record and snap photos of their walk.

This specific feature is a selling point of Paige’s In-Home Pet Care, a pet sitting and dog walking business owned and operated by wife-and-husband duo Paige Massarelli and Max Vickers of Lake Forest.

Since last year, the business has been serving families across Lake and Cook counties through its overnight and in-home pet sitting, cat or dog drop-ins and dog walking services.

Utilization of technology in its services adds a layer of transparency and communication, according to Vickers.

All of the dog walks are GPS tracked through an app called Time To Pet, which allows clients to see the routes their dog walker takes and time stamps of when the walk starts and ends. Recently, the operation has been testing the use of Meta AI glasses during dog walks as well, which allows the dog walker to record and take images.

Reese said the use of the technology makes it much easier to document the walks and allows the service to flow better.

“I can spend more time focused on the animals because I can just take (a photo) rather than having to focus on them and stop,” she said.

All of Paige’s employees are licensed, insured, bonded, background checked and trained before even meeting clients, according to Vickers. Once a pet sitter is assigned a service, they will schedule a free meet-and-greet with the client and their pet to establish a rapport before proceeding.

The duo has received positive feedback on their services, and Massarelli said clients feel they are trustworthy.

“Basically everybody who’s booked a service with us has been really happy,” she said.

Lake Forest resident Elzi Bunten was in urgent need of a pet sitter due to an out-of-state family emergency. Though struggling to find one at first, Bunten landed on Paige’s In-Home Pet Care. Vickers looked after Bunten’s two cats, Tu-Tu and Tiger, and Zoe, her older border collie.

Zoe needed round-the-clock attention with accommodations such as spoon feeding every couple of hours. Bunten said Vickers did an “incredible job” looking after the pets.

“We came home, and it was above and beyond,” Bunten said. “Zoe was in good shape and the place was immaculate, I couldn’t believe it. It was cleaner than we left.”

Amy Oberholtzer of Northbrook always had problems looking for reliable pet care. She had been able to rely on friends and acquaintances every now and then to look after her cat, Rosie, and dog Cade, but conflicting schedules always led to unreliable care.

That’s when she found Paige’s In-Home Pet Care online and reached out.

“Max (Vickers) got back to me really fast, and I felt like he was responsive and interested,” Oberholtzer said.

She said the service felt “personal” compared to the others, and that Reese, their sitter, allowed Oberholtzer and her husband to have a relaxing vacation and not worry about what was going on at home.

“They will be the service to whom I turn all the time,” Oberholtzer said.

Massarelli and Vickers are looking forward to the new year with some new initiatives they are planning, including working with animal rescues as a way for community outreach and exploring further use of technology in their services.

“The response from clients has been fantastic,” Vickers said.