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A note from Steve · October 7, 2026

Important updates.

What’s changing at House of Paws—and what it means for you and your pup.

Latest news · October 10, 2026

Multi-pet estimates & discounts

A very limited number of clients were affected by an issue with Multi-Pet Discounts in Gingr. If you have multiple pets, your reservation estimate may not accurately reflect your discounts.

I’ll proactively share your corrected reservation estimate as I approve your booking, and we’ll correct the final total at the end of the reservation. Please review your invoice before paying and let me know if anything looks off.

Meet Camp Manager—coming this year.

House of Paws will be moving away from Gingr in the near future. Our own proprietary Camp Manager platform will launch before the end of 2026, built around our camp and a better experience for pet parents.

I’m keeping the experience familiar to Gingr so the transition feels easy. When it’s time to move, you’ll simply reset your password and be ready to go. Your existing reservations will carry over—you won’t need to rebook them.

Camp Manager will also reflect Venmo and Zelle payments in nearly real time, so it’s easier to see your current balance. With live K9 Convoy tracking, you’ll be able to follow the van and see where your pup is in the route.

Automation will take over many routine administrative tasks, including scheduling, so I can spend more time with the pups. You’ll meet our AI assistant soon! She’ll also help create more consistent, informative report cards, giving you a clearer picture of your pup’s time at camp.

We’re very excited for this release—and for a more connected, convenient camp experience for you and your pup!

Keep using Gingr for now. I’ll share the launch date, your new login link, and simple instructions before we switch. I’m excited to give you a system that feels more like House of Paws: personal, straightforward, and built for our pups.

— Steve

Hi everyone!

I have a pretty big House of Paws update for you.

A lot has changed behind the scenes over the last few months, and most of what you’ll read below has one goal: make House of Paws easier to use, easier to understand, and easier for me to operate while keeping my attention where I want it — on the dogs.

There’s a lot here, so I’ve put the Cliff Notes first. If you just want the important stuff, you can stop there. If you want to know the why, how, and details behind everything, keep scrolling.

Cliff Notes

Payments, Invoices & Gingr

K9 Convoy, Scheduling & Reservations

Paw Point Rewards, VIP & Concierge Key Player

Boarding Pricing & Discounts

TL;DR — The Full Update

Payments Are Getting Much Simpler

This is probably one of the changes I’m most excited about because payments have honestly become more confusing than they ever needed to be.

For any invoice created after October 1, 2026, payments should be made directly to House of Paws.

Zelle

houseofpaws2520@gmail.com

Venmo

@HOP2520

There is no additional House of Paws payment fee for Zelle or Venmo, and these are my preferred payment methods.

The goal here is to make it very clear who you pay, how much you owe, and whether that payment has actually been applied to your account.

I’m also centralizing payment handling so your Gingr balance becomes a much more accurate reflection of reality.

You should be able to log in and see what you’ve paid, what is still open, and what your reservation is expected to cost without needing to text me and ask.

Prepaid Boarding Now Means Paid When You Book

I’m simplifying what Prepaid Boarding means.

Going forward, it means exactly what it sounds like:

you pay for the reservation when you book it.

When you submit a Prepaid Boarding reservation, use Zelle or Venmo to pay the reservation estimate. That secures your pup’s spot and gives you the discounted Prepaid Boarding rate.

Cash is still accepted as a general payment method.

However, cash will no longer qualify for Prepaid Boarding pricing, because the discount is specifically tied to paying the reservation at booking.

In Gingr, you’ll see the two boarding options as:

Flex | Sleepover — $70/night

and

Prepaid | Sleepover — $62/night

Credit Cards Are Now an Option

This is actually new.

Historically, House of Paws hasn’t really accepted credit cards as a normal payment method. I’ve occasionally done it as a courtesy, but it wasn’t something formally offered.

It is now.

Credit-card payments are officially available as a convenience option.

There will be an additional fee, and credit cards will intentionally be the most expensive way to pay.

I understand that sometimes using a credit card makes sense.

Maybe you’re putting your whole vacation on one card. Maybe you’re earning points or working toward a signup bonus. Maybe you need the cash-flow flexibility.

If there’s a reason you want to use one, the option is there.

If you don’t particularly need to use a credit card, please just use Zelle or Venmo.

Credit-card fees are non-refundable.

If a reservation is canceled or otherwise refunded, the reservation amount itself will be returned as House of Paws store/account credit. The credit-card fee will not be refunded.

Prepaid Boarding refunds will likewise be issued as House of Paws account credit rather than returned as cash.

Monthly Billing & Automatic Payments

If you use House of Paws regularly and would rather simplify things further, ask me about:

Automatic credit-card payments will include the applicable card fee.

These options are especially useful for regular families who would rather not think about individual invoices every time their pup comes over.

Please Use Gingr When You Can

I really want everyone who is comfortable using the Gingr app to make it their first stop for House of Paws.

You can use it to:

And there’s a practical reason for this.

If you text me and ask, “Are you available October 18–21?” there is an extremely good chance I am going to stop what I’m doing, open Gingr, and look at the same calendar you already have access to.

When you request the reservation through Gingr, the system has already collected the dates, reservation type, dog information, availability, and other basics before it reaches me.

I usually just have a couple of things to review.

A lot of requests can be approved within a few minutes.

You don’t have to wonder whether I saw your text, whether I’m busy, or whether I intentionally left the message unread so I would remember to deal with it later... and then got to that list three days later.

My calendars and Gingr notifications tend to get handled.

Phone calls and texts can pile up.

Using Gingr usually means a faster answer for you and less administrative work for me.

And that matters because I want technology doing the office work wherever possible so I can spend my time doing the part of House of Paws I actually care about:

the dogs.

That’s genuinely where my brain lives.

I remember their personalities, routines, friendships, quirks, favorite toys, who wants to wrestle, who needs space, who steals the ball, who wants to sit beside me, and who needs an extra minute to warm up.

The better Gingr and the systems behind House of Paws work, the more attention I can give them.

If something important isn’t captured by the reservation options, please put it in the reservation notes. That keeps everything attached to the reservation instead of scattered across texts, Venmo notes, phone calls, and conversations.

You can also start at HouseofPawsFortMyers.com.

The new site includes schedules, services, pricing, How-To guides, what to expect, and answers to most common questions.

There’s also a Pet Parent Login link, so you can always find your way back into Gingr.

Fewer Text Messages

I’m also reducing the number of automated texts everyone receives.

You can still expect a text and email when your reservation is confirmed.

Routine:

will no longer be sent.

You’ll continue receiving the applicable email notifications.

You’ll also still receive a text when the K9 Convoy is preparing to depart.

The goal is for House of Paws texts to actually mean something when they pop up rather than becoming background noise.

K9 Convoy Is Getting a Real Schedule

The K9 Convoy is moving toward a much more consistent operating schedule.

I’ll be posting a monthly K9 Convoy calendar so you can see ahead of time when transportation is expected to operate.

The times shown in Gingr will also become much more meaningful.

One important clarification:

The K9 Convoy time shown on your reservation is the approximate time the Convoy is scheduled to leave House of Paws.

It is not necessarily the time I will arrive at your house.

Your individual pickup or drop-off depends on where you fall on that day’s route, traffic, the number of stops, and — because we’re transporting dogs — occasionally the dogs themselves.

This gives everyone a useful schedule without pretending I can predict every route down to the minute.

Boarding Will Default to K9 Convoy

Sleepover and Boarding reservations will now default to K9 Convoy transportation.

For most families, that means you won’t need to coordinate normal pickup and drop-off separately every time you book.

If your pup:

select the appropriate Pet Parent drop-off/pickup option when available.

If the option you need isn’t selectable, put the details in your service or boarding notes.

Custom arrival and departure times are requests and depend on my availability or the availability of another House of Paws team member authorized to handle arrivals and departures.

In other words:

book the reservation, let the normal system handle the normal stuff, and only flag the exceptions.

Route Extension Fee

Normal K9 Convoy service is built around the usual House of Paws service area and established routes.

A $7 Route Extension fee may be applied when K9 Convoy or Pet Taxi service requires additional travel outside the usual service area or a meaningful detour from the normal route.

It isn’t intended to nickel-and-dime every stop.

It simply helps account for situations where accommodating a pickup or drop-off adds substantial extra travel to the route.

Last-Minute Reservations & Cancellations

I’m not getting rid of last-minute reservations.

Things happen.

Schedules change, plans fall apart, and sometimes you suddenly need someone to take your dog.

Going forward, there will simply be a $3 fee when:

I intentionally kept this small.

It’s not meant to punish anyone. It just recognizes the extra scheduling and administrative work involved with last-minute changes while still letting me remain flexible.

VIP clients have this fee waived.

Weekend Care Is Changing a Little

Weekends are also getting a slightly different structure.

Friday & Saturday

Standard Play Dates will continue to be available.

Friday and Saturday Play Dates will simply be $2 more than the weekday rate.

Existing Play Date discounts are not changing.

Sunday

Standard Play Dates will not be available on Sundays.

Instead, DayCare Flex will be the Sunday care option.

The reason is pretty simple: I need one day of the week where the schedule is intentionally lighter and I have a little more breathing room.

But I also don’t want to completely shut House of Paws down on Sundays.

DayCare Flex keeps Sunday care available for families who need it while appropriately pricing the convenience and giving me more flexibility around timing, boarding dogs already staying here, and the overall Sunday schedule.

K9 Convoy/Pet Taxi transportation may be available on certain Sundays when it is shown on the monthly schedule.

Paw Point Rewards, VIP & Concierge Key Player

The loyalty side of House of Paws is getting more structure too.

VIP Status

A household earns VIP status after reaching:

$1,500 in qualifying customer spend during one calendar quarter.

Qualifying spend means actual money paid to House of Paws.

If you pay part of an invoice using Paw Points, account credit, promotional credit, or another House of Paws credit, that portion does not count toward the $1,500 qualification amount.

Refunded amounts also don’t count.

Spending across multiple pups on the same household account counts together.

Once earned, VIP status stays active for the following two calendar quarters.

Qualifying again extends your status.

VIP Benefits

VIP benefits include:

Concierge Key Player — Coming March 2027

The Concierge Key Player program is being developed for a small group of families who need a much higher level of guaranteed access and flexibility.

It will be invitation only.

VIP is a loyalty program.

Concierge Key Player is a competitively priced, flat-rate reserved-capacity membership.

The current structure includes:

The biggest benefit is the reserved-capacity guarantee.

Key Player members will have care availability protected during:

The care space is guaranteed.

Arrival and departure timing will still depend on my availability or the availability of another authorized House of Paws team member.

The target rollout is March 2027.

More details, pricing, and invitations will come closer to launch.

Paw Point Rewards Are Changing Too

The Paw Point program is going to evolve.

I want rewards to feel more like useful loyalty perks instead of points building into huge amounts of account credit.

Future rewards may include things like:

I’m also looking at point expiration and redemption value.

I’ll likely send everyone a quick survey asking which direction you prefer:

Higher-value rewards with a shorter period to use your points

or

Lower-value rewards that give you more time to use your points

I’ll share more information before making major Paw Point changes.

Boarding Pricing & Discounts

Flex Boarding

In Gingr:

Flex | Sleepover

Flex Boarding remains:

$70/night

No increase.

Prepaid Boarding

In Gingr:

Prepaid | Sleepover

Prepaid Boarding will be:

$62/night

That is a $2 increase from the previous minimum Prepaid rate.

To receive that rate, the reservation estimate must be paid when booking.

Multi-Pet Discounts

For new reservations:

Flex Boarding — 15% multi-pet discount

Prepaid Boarding — 10% multi-pet discount

Standard Play Date discounts remain unchanged.

Anything already booked and confirmed keeps the pricing and discounts that were in place when it was booked.

Why I’m Making All of This More Structured

House of Paws has grown.

Some of the informal systems that worked really well when things were smaller have become unnecessarily confusing and time-consuming.

I want it to be easier for you to:

And, selfishly, I want to spend less time doing office work.

I want Gingr, the website, automation, and the systems I’m building to do as much administrative work as possible.

That leaves me more time for the thing you actually hire me to do:

take really good care of your dog.

The pet-parent experience absolutely matters to me.

But when your dog is here, the dogs are my focus.

I know who likes whom. I know who steals the toys. I know who needs a little encouragement, who needs space, who needs to burn energy, who needs a nap, and who is about to start some nonsense from across the room.

That is where I want my attention.

House of Paws is still going to be small, flexible, personal, and a little unconventional.

I’m just putting much better systems behind it.

Thank you, as always, for trusting me with your pups and for being part of House of Paws.

— Steve House of Paws Fort Myers

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