OZAUKEE COUNTY, Wis.— On a tree-lined residential street, Mary Boettcher is keeping busy walking up and down the sidewalks with a small white dog. Boettcher owns Ozaukee Pet Nanny, a Cedarburg-based pet sitting and dog walking service. After a year of business being down significantly, business has picked up in a big way in the last few months.

“Its like nothing I have seen before in the last 12 years I have been doing this,” Boettcher said.

In many cases, both dogs and humans got very used to having each other around throughout 2020 and early 2021, and during the pandemic, many people adopted or purchased dogs for the first time. As more people return to work, they've been finding themselves needing to bring in someone to walk their dog.

“People want to make sure [their pets] get out and that they get out at certain times,” Boettcher said.

Ozaukee Pet Nanny has several employees, but demand has increased so much that they are having a hard time taking on additional clients. However, Boettcher says she is grateful for the business bump after a difficult year. ​