The problem
When a walker is off sick or on holiday, the owner reshuffles walks over WhatsApp and forwards dog and key notes, often before 8am. If that happens 3 times a week and each reshuffle takes 30 minutes, that's 1.5 hours a week, about 6.5 hours a month.
What the AI does
On Time To Pet, each walker's schedule and the dogs' details sit in the staff app. Staff request time off, or have it scheduled for them, with notifications for any clashes, and visits can be reassigned; recurring time off covers things like college days. The Team plan adds staff roles (admin, office manager, regular staff and trainee) with their own permissions. When someone is off, reassign their walks in the app and the new walker has the dog's notes on their phone.
A worked example
A dog walking business in Bournemouth has the owner and 2 employed walkers covering about 30 dogs a day. Each reshuffle used to mean texting walkers and forwarding key and dog notes.
Before
3 reshuffles a week at 30 minutes: 1.5 hours a week, about 6.5 hours a month
After
About 10 minutes each to reassign in the app: 0.5 hours a week, about 2.2 hours a month
What it's worth
About $144£108€129A$207C$203 a month saved, at an assumed $33£25€30A$48C$47 an hour for 4.3 hours (6.5 minus 2.2). Team is $40 a month plus $16 per active staff member; with the owner and 2 walkers active that's $88, about $88£66€79A$127C$124 so the net is about $56£42€50A$81C$79.
How to set it up
- Start a trial, add each walker with the regular staff role and keep the admin role for yourself.
- Put each dog's practical notes in its profile: lead and collar, recall, which dogs it can't walk with, where the lead hangs.
- Ask walkers to request holidays and recurring days off in the app rather than by message.
- When someone is off, reassign their walks, check the clash notifications, then tell the affected owners.
- Log in as a staff member on a test phone to see exactly what a walker can see.
What goes wrong
- You pay for every active staff member each billing period, including admins; a casual walker who does one walk that month counts.
- Prices are in US dollars, so the cost in pounds changes with the exchange rate.
- Check what a staff login shows before adding key safe or alarm codes, and only give them to the walkers who need them.
- The app plans the work; holiday pay, working time and contracts still follow employment law.