# Do you need to be home for pet waste removal > How access notes, gate codes, and lockboxes work, what happens if dogs are outside, and why the latch photo is the thing that actually closes the job. URL: https://naturesrealitydogservice.com/guides/do-i-need-to-be-home Updated: 2026-09-02 ## Quick answer Do I need to be home for pet waste removal? No. If your access notes are complete we use the gate code or lockbox, clean the zones on your ticket, double bag, latch the gate, and text you a photo before we leave. Dog walking needs a meet and greet first, but not your presence after that. ## TLDR You do not need to be home for scooping. Complete access notes replace standing in the driveway. Walking needs a meet and greet first, then no. Every visit closes with a photo and a latched gate. ## Do you need to be home? For yard scooping, no. Most of our customers are at work when we come, and that is the entire point of the service. What replaces you standing in the driveway is a set of written access notes. For dog walking, you need to be present once, for the meet and greet, before anyone walks your dog alone. After that, no. ## What goes in your access notes? 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 ## How are gate codes and keys handled? Keys are numbered and logged against your account. Codes go on the ticket and never into a group chat or a screenshot, which is one of the most common and least defensible failures in this industry. Technicians pass a background check before they are trusted with a key or a code. That is a prerequisite, not a milestone they work toward. ## What if the dogs are outside? 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. ## Why does the latch photo matter? An open gate is the single worst outcome of this service, because a dog can get out. It is also the complaint that appears most often in low reviews of scooping companies across the industry. A yard job here is not closed without a photo of the latched gate. Not a note saying we closed it, a photo showing it closed. Along with the photo of the cleaned area, that is what you receive before we leave your street. ## What can go wrong when nobody is home, and how it is handled 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. ## How to decide whether to trust a company with access Ask three questions before you hand over a code, and be sceptical of vague answers to any of them. First, are the people entering my property background checked, and is that before or after they are given access? The answer should be before, without qualification. Second, where is my code stored? If the answer involves a group chat, a shared spreadsheet, or a screenshot, that is a real problem. Codes should sit on a work ticket that only the assigned technician sees. Third, what proof do I get that the gate was closed? A note saying it was closed is not proof. A photograph of the closed latch is. - Background checks before access, not after - Codes on a ticket, never in a group chat or a screenshot - A photograph of the latch, not an assurance about it - A named person to call when something is wrong ## What happens when we cannot get in 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. ## Contact Natures Reality Dog Service 29279 Boreham Ln, Winchester, CA 92596 (951) 400-4484 contact@naturesrealitydogservice.com Monday to Friday 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM