Whether you need a few hours or a few weeks of help, Gray Shepherd offers unique alternatives to the often crowded, chaotic kennel and doggy daycare environments. Please find my current animal care offerings detailed below. Each includes a batch of photos and a short video or two taken during our time together, texted or emailed to you daily toward the end of service or soon after.

home-based overnight pet care

Focused, reliable, experienced: Gray Shepherd's overnight services aim to preserve your dog's comfortable and familiar home life while you're away, with a caregiver-sleepover option or a thoughtfully spaced series of regular visits from morning to bedtime for relief, exercise, playtime, and companionship. Please note that for the first service listed below I do not sleep or stay overnight in your home. And for the second, I can provide my own air mattress, bedding, and bath towel if needed.

At-home overnight dog care, consisting of four daily 30-minute visits $100
>>This option is flexible in terms of daily visit frequency and per-visit duration, and is somewhat intended for those dogs—perhaps senior, special-needs, low-maintenance, or anxiety-prone in social settings or among strangers—who may benefit from the continual stress-free comfort of remaining at home when you cannot.
At-home overnight dog care, with a ~10pm to ~9am caregiver stay $100
>>This is also a service designed for the dog(s) who, even in your absence, may prefer the constancy of their calm and quiet home life to that of a potentially high-stimuli, stressful, or physically limiting group boarding or kennel scene—but it's also a service for the clients who themselves feel more comfortable with a highly experienced caretaker (that's me!) present and attentive during the overnight hours and beyond (see below) while you are away. **Please note: the overnight caregiver-stay time window headlined in bold above often actually begins in the late afternoon or early evening, and similarly may also extend the next day into late morning or even midday. '10am to 9am' rather denotes the absolute minimum guaranteed caregiver hours spent at your home given this option. I will return to your home for extra care—see just below.
Extra daily 30-minute visit +$20
Extra daily 60-minute visit +$40
>>These add-on options for at-home overnight care provide your dog(s) with their routine daytime walk(s), midday meal, and extra at-home interaction and playtime with me during the day. They are mostly meant to bridge the daytime gap between caregiver overnight stays.
At-home bird or cat care, per daily 30-minute visit $50
>>Flexible and negotiable according to your specific needs
Multiple pet, per 24 hours +$20
Holiday, per 24 hours* +$20

midday dog walks

This service is offered primarily in and around Kingston—farther locations are possible, but may incur a distance-based travel fee. Brisk, leashed, solo or small group strolls down quiet residential blocks, through livelier business districts when possible, and/or to various local parks and green spaces: Senate House State Park, Academy Green Park, Forsyth Park, the Rondout Waterfront, Kingston Point Park, and the like. All walks are customizable per your needs and instruction.

Weekdays $30 for 30 minutes, $50 for 60 minutes
Before 11am, after 3pm +$10
Multiple dog +$10
Weekend +$15
Holiday* +$15

guided dog hikes

Gray Shepherd's leashed hiking service welcomes dogs of all breeds, sizes, and nonaggressive temperaments for small-group trips to local mountain trails and state parks. I offer pickup and dropoff, Mighty-Paw®-belted SUV transportation, and an approximately three-hour hiking trip with up to three other dogs in mapped areas adjacent to Kingston, such as Kaaterskill Falls, the Ashokan Reservoir, and Overlook Mountain in Woodstock. Leash-free handling is available on a case-by-case basis pending evaluation.

Monday through Thursday pending reservation requests 12pm to 3pm $80

personal concierge services

Could you use a capable hand in an area of your life that extends beyond your pet's care and well-being? My overnight care services already include simple tasks like watering plants, retrieving mail, and adjusting lights and blinds, but please know that I'm also available to assist with any number of more complicated or effortful obligations related to your personal or business life, family, and household. Some ways that I can be of service include:

• running errands
• grocery shopping
• planning events
• cleaning, securing, or performing maintenance tasks related to your home, your property, your car, your pool, etc.
• placing dinner or event reservations
• travel assistance: planning, confirming, and managing your itinerary; booking flights or cruises; customs management; confirming and ensuring various reservations; packing and unpacking clothes, belongings, or business materials; providing reliable round-trip airport transportation; or, even by participating directly during your next family or business trip as au pair, personal or business assistant, doting valet, or easygoing travel companion​
• copyediting and writing (my previous career from eons ago, but I still know a thing or two)

Does anything else come to mind? If so, I hope you'll try me. These days I maintain a fairly relaxed and flexible lifestyle. If yours isn't always so uncomplicated, please consider allowing me to help make your day—or your weekend, your week, even your month—feel, to some degree or other, less stressful and more serene.

​*Holiday surcharge for 2025 applies to: Memorial Day weekend (three-night minimum), Fourth of July weekend, Labor Day weekend (three-night minimum), Thanksgiving Wednesday to Sunday (three-night minimum), Christmas Eve to January 1 (five-night minimum).

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