This week’s business to be featured in the Leader’s newest community-centric “A Business Minute” is Sonia’s Pet Sitting, which is owned by Sonia Felton. Get to know what makes Oakdale businesses special. Answers submitted by Sonia Felton.

Tell me a little bit about
your business (what
you do, how you got
started):
General pet sitting services. We also have a dog boarding service at our home (maximum of 10 dogs) that allows the guest dogs to run free in the yard during the day. Dogs are grouped by size and the small dogs are allowed in our home.

What do you
enjoy most
about your job?
We care for all types of animals from horses to parakeets, from apartments to ranchettes and enjoy solving the many problems we encounter as we serve over 100 clients in the Oakdale area. Supervising the socialization in our guest dog groups is also very interesting.

What’s a common
misconception about
your work?
A misconception is that we spend the day or night at the client’s home. We do not do that type of “house sitting.”

If money wasn’t an
obstacle, which charity
would you most enjoy
giving to, and why?
We enjoy supporting the Oakdale Shelter Pet Alliance because of the great work its volunteers do in improving the lives of homeless pets at the Oakdale Animal Shelter.

What are some of your
current projects?
Arranging our fencing to more easily move guest dogs around the property and developing a small animal transportation service for clients that aren’t able to take their pets to a groomer or veterinarian.

What are some the
biggest challenges
in your field today?
The first challenge is convincing the client that they can give us their house key and trust that we will respect their property. The second challenge is pricing our services to be fair to both sides. Please inquire for pet sitting prices. Boarding is $20 per calendar day.

What do you find most
rewarding about your
job?
The pets are always happy to see us.

What are some of your
pet peeves?
Pets that are neglected and confined for long periods.
Clients that expect us to clean up after them as well as their pets.

How has your business
changed over the years?
The business used to be 100 percent pet sitting and now is about 50 percent boarding.

Business hours:
Service is available 24/7 including holidays.
The service will not be available in 2012 from April 16-May 6 and June 14-24.

Business location:
10813 Stone Ave.
Oakdale, CA 95361

For more information:
209-847-97302
209-604-4757 (Sonia)
209-604-0429 (Frank)