Terms

Better Bark Bureau is a private pet-care concierge and curated referral network for the Southern Marin Service Area. Your Care Coordinator learns about your household and matches you with a carefully vetted independent pet-care professional.

Those professionals run their own businesses. They are not our employees or agents. They set their own rates and their own hours, choose which requests to accept, and decide how they run their visits. What we do is vet them, introduce them, handle the booking and payment, and stay reachable when you need us.

Before a professional’s page goes live, they must pass six checks: government ID, a background check, current liability insurance, a reference from a pet-care professional, a scenario interview, and signed conduct standards. We re-verify annually, and the badge can be lost.

Vetting is a real standard, and it is not a guarantee of any particular outcome. Dogs and people are unpredictable; what we promise is careful selection and a real person who answers when something goes sideways.

• Everything runs through Bureau checkout. You never pay a professional directly.
• Your card is held, not charged, when you book. We capture payment after the visit is complete.
• Every charge is itemized before you confirm, including any Bureau care-coordination fee, which appears as its own line. The professional’s rate is the professional’s rate. Our fee is never taken out of it.
• The meet & greet is $15 for about twenty minutes, and it comes back to you in full as credit on your first walk with that professional.
• Requests made within 24 hours of the visit may carry a small rush fee, shown at checkout.

One policy, the same for everyone. You can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before a visit. The app releases the hold automatically. Inside 24 hours, the visit may be charged, because your professional has held that time for your dog.

If a professional cancels a booking they had accepted, you are refunded in full, automatically. A professional declining a request in the first place is not a cancellation. They’re independent, and choosing their own work is their right.

“If your walker can’t make it, your Care Coordinator will personally arrange covered care from another vetted walker, or you receive a full refund plus an account credit.”

This is a promise about what we will do, not a guarantee of coverage: every professional is independent and free to decline a replacement request. If nobody is available, you get the refund and the credit.

• Tell us the truth about your dog, including bite history, reactivity, medical needs, and anything that could put a person or another animal at risk. This is the most important thing on this page. A professional can’t keep your dog safe with information they don’t have.
• Keep vaccinations current and provide a properly fitted collar or harness, a leash, and tags.
• Make access work: a key, code, or open door as arranged, so nobody is left standing outside on your dog’s time.
• Be reachable during scheduled visits, or give us someone who is.

If your dog appears sick or injured, we’ll try to reach you immediately. If we can’t and the situation looks urgent, the professional may seek veterinary care, starting with the clinic you named. You’re responsible for the cost of that care.

Every vetted professional carries their own current liability insurance, which we verify and track. Because they are independent businesses, they are responsible for their own conduct during a visit. The Bureau’s responsibility is the part we actually control: vetting professionals honestly, handling your booking and payment correctly, and standing behind the Replacement Promise above.

To the extent the law allows, the Bureau’s liability for any claim relating to a booking is limited to the amount you paid for that booking. Nothing here limits liability that cannot legally be limited.

Reviews can only be written after a completed, paid visit. There is no other way to leave one. We don’t edit or delete honest reviews to make anyone look better. We will remove content that is abusive, discloses private information, or isn’t about the care received.

By giving us your number you agree we may text you about your inquiry and bookings. Reply STOP to stop. Message and data rates may apply. See our Privacy page for how we handle your information.

You can stop using the Bureau whenever you like. We may decline or end service, though rarely, and generally only for safety, abuse, or non-payment. Anything already booked and paid gets honored or refunded.

If we change these terms we’ll update the date at the top, and tell you directly when the change matters. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, and any dispute belongs in the courts of Marin County, California.

Questions about any of this? Email hello@betterbarkbureau.com and a real person answers.