About Us

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Hilary Yao, Founder, Owner, Pack Leader, with her two dogs Maya (12 year old Lab Mix) & Misty (5 year old Min Pin/Pug Mix aka Muggin!)
 In the fall of 2001, Hilary Yao (then Hilary Apple) was working at a veterinary clinic. She would occasionally receive phone calls from the clients of the vet asking for referrals for pet sitters. She had no idea one could actually be hired to care for someone’s pets. That sounded wonderful to her. She didn’t know who to turn to, so began researching the profession online. A month or so later, she landed her first client, a client of the vet she worked for! Hilary wasn’t thinking about hiring anyone as she wasn’t sure she would be able to make a living out of this work as much as she wanted to. So her business was named “Hilary the Pet Sitter” as it was personal and not in use by any other pet care businesses.

Her unconditional love and passion for animals are the primary reasons for starting her own professional pet sitting service. Hilary’s mission is to provide you and your pet(s) the least disruption, stress, and anxiety of being separated; while providing excellent loving care in the comfort of your own home always striving to be the very best substitute for you, while you’re away.

A year into it, the business had become very successful, which was really exciting, but she was concerned she would eventually burn out if she continued working all day/night, every day. So she decided to hire Independent Contractors to help her out & then eventually changed the business name to Apple a Day Pet Care. As mentioned above, Apple was her maiden name. She just had to use it in her business name somehow, with it being so unique!

Now, Hilary focuses completely on the managerial side of the business (scheduling, accounting , marketing, etc) to keep the business running smoothly.

Since Apple a Day Pet Care provides service 365 days/year, morning/noon/night/overnight, there will often times be 2-3 sitters assigned to each client.  Since each sitter is an independent contractor, they are in charge of their own schedule.  Sometimes it works better for Sitter A to schedule all morning visits for themselves for certain days, sometimes it’s better for Sitter C to do all of the evening visits, etc. Having more than 1 sitter assigned to a client is also beneficial should a last minute request arrive. We are much more likely to accommodate these situations in these cases.

Rest assured, the Apple a Day associate pet sitters have worked with Apple a Day anywhere from 5-7 years & have provided loving care to hundreds of happy four-legged clients over the years. It’s also more beneficial to your pets to have more than 1 friend while you’re away, to get them better socialized!  All Associate Sitters underwent thorough background and reference checks prior to signing on with Apple a Day,  and are Insured and Bonded through Pet Sitters Associates for your protection.

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