Community Guidelines

What Pawbour is for

Pawbour connects pet owners with neighbours who can help with everyday pet care — things like dog walks, cat check-ins, small animal feeding, or keeping a pet company while you're away for a day.

Pawbour is not a veterinary service, a grooming service, or a professional pet-sitting agency. Helpers are neighbours helping neighbours — not licensed professionals. Never use Pawbour to seek or provide veterinary care.

For pet owners

• 🐾Be accurate about your pet. Share your pet's real temperament, energy level, any health issues, and anything a helper needs to know to keep both your pet and themselves safe.
• 🐾Set fair Paw costs. Paws reflect the time and effort your helper puts in. The system auto-calculates based on duration — don't try to work around it.
• 🐾Mark jobs complete promptly. Once your helper has finished, mark the request complete so their Paws are released. Don't leave a helper waiting.
• 🐾Communicate clearly. Share your address, access instructions, and any last-minute changes over the in-app message thread.

For helpers

• 🐾Only take requests you can genuinely handle. Be honest about your experience with different animals. If a pet's needs are beyond your comfort level, don't accept.
• 🐾Show up. Once you accept a request, the owner is counting on you. A no-show is one of the most harmful things you can do to a pet owner and to the community.
• 🐾Communicate early. If something comes up, message the owner immediately — before the scheduled time, not after. Give them time to find alternative care.
• 🐾Respect the home and the pet. You are a guest in someone's space. Leave things as you found them.

If something goes wrong

Paws are held in escrow until the owner marks the job complete — they won't be released if there is an unresolved dispute. If a helper no-shows or a request goes sideways:

1. Message the other person through the app first.
2. If that doesn't resolve it, email us at hello@pawbour.ca.
3. We'll review the situation and release or return escrow Paws based on what happened.

We are a small community — disputes are taken seriously and reviewed personally by the founder.

What can get you removed

We want Pawbour to feel safe for everyone. The following will result in account suspension:

• No-shows without any prior notice or communication
• Dishonest pet listings (hiding aggression, health issues, or care complexity)
• Harassment or disrespectful behaviour toward another member
• Using Pawbour for any purpose other than genuine pet care
• Attempting to exchange Paws for cash outside the official redemption process

Contact

Questions about these guidelines or a situation you're navigating? Email us directly. Pawbour is founder-run — you will hear back from a real person.