Do you need to be home for pet waste removal

Access notes live on the ticket, not in somebody's memory. They cover the things that decide whether a visit goes smoothly or turns into a phone call.

• How we get in: gate code, lockbox code, unlocked side gate, or a numbered key we hold
• Whether your dogs are inside or outside during the visit
• Which zones are in bounds: front, side, back, run, fence line, deck, patio, playset
• Anything off limits, including rooms if we enter the house for a walk
• Where waste goes: haul away in our vehicle, or double bagged into your can
• Anything unusual: a sticky latch, a second gate, a neighbour's dog that reacts

If dogs are loose in the yard when we arrive, we do not enter. We call you. We do not improvise, and we do not decide on the spot that a particular dog seems friendly enough.

This is a safety rule that protects your dog as much as our technician, and it is exactly why your access notes should say whether dogs are in or out. If your normal arrangement is dogs inside, and one day they are not, a phone call is the correct outcome.

The gate code changed and nobody told us. This is the most common one by a distance. We arrive, cannot get in, and call. If we cannot reach you the visit is missed and it uses your slot for that week, which is why we ask that code changes are texted before the next visit rather than after.

The dogs were out when they were normally in. We do not enter. We call. That is a fixed rule rather than a judgement made at the gate, and it applies regardless of how friendly the dog appeared last week.

The gate was locked from the inside, usually by a family member who did not know service was due. Same outcome as a code change: we call, and if we cannot reach anyone the stop is missed.

A dog escaped through an access point we did not use. This is the fear that stops people handing over a code, and it is why the latch photograph exists. It is evidence of the state of the gate at the moment we left.

This is the scenario access notes exist to prevent, and it still happens occasionally. A gate gets bolted from the inside, a code changes, a car parks across the side yard, or a new lock appears that nobody mentioned.

What we do not do is leave and bill you for a visit that did not happen. We try the alternatives on your ticket first, then message you from the property rather than after we have driven away, because a code you can send in thirty seconds saves the stop.

If we genuinely cannot get in, the visit becomes a miss and goes into the same seven day makeup window as a weather miss. You are not charged for it. The one thing we ask in return is that a lock or code change gets sent to us when it happens rather than discovered on a route day, because that is the version where nobody loses a visit.