Yard Patrol is a small, local dog-waste removal service. We'd rather tell you exactly how this works than bury it: there is no contract, dog-waste visits are billed after the work, and you can stop with 48 hours' notice. Buying a Snow Patrol season on its own is the one exception — that is paid in full the day you buy it. Everything below is the same thing we say on the rest of the site, in one place.
No contracts. Pause or stop anytime with 48 hours' notice. A skipped visit is never charged.
To skip a week, text us at least 48 hours before your scheduled day and we will skip that visit. No charge, no questions. We'll see you the following week.
Billing for your dog plan is per visit, after the visit. A Snow Patrol season bought on its own works the other way round — it is paid in full at checkout. Both are spelled out below.
The card on file is charged automatically, so there is nothing to mail and nothing to chase.
Your first cleanup is free on a new recurring plan. The free cleanup covers a normal week of pickup.
If there is real buildup — more than a week or so — we start with a one-time Deep Clean that brings the whole yard back to clean: a flat $— for a standard yard, or $— for a large yard or heavy buildup, charged at the time of the job.
The waiver terms. Your $— catch-up cleanup is free on any recurring plan — and stays free after your 4th visit. Cancel before then and the $— is charged to the card on file at its standard price. Your first cleanup is free either way; large or heavily neglected yards are a flat $—, charged in full.
Winter walkways: included on weekly and twice-weekly dog plans; half price on every-other-week ($— / mo, which comes to $288 across the season). That half price rides your monthly Yard Patrol bill like the rest of your dog plan; it is not a season you pay for up front. Nothing to set up separately; come December, the shoveling just starts. The rhythm of your dog plan sets the Snow Patrol price, whatever else you hold.
Without a dog plan, Snow Patrol is $— for the season — one charge, in full, on the day you buy it. It is not spread across twelve months, and it is not held until the snow comes. You are buying a season, not an appointment, so the whole season is charged at checkout, before the first visit and whatever the weather does afterwards. Service runs December through March. If you also hold a Groundkeep plan, that same season is $— a month on your Groundkeep bill instead. The $— monthly is a Groundkeep-plan price; on its own, Snow Patrol is not sold as a monthly.
The Founding Ten driveways. The first ten dog-plan signups with winter walkways on them get their driveway included as part of the service, every storm, for as long as you keep the plan. Cancel the plan and the driveway perk ends with it; it is not re-offered. When the ten are claimed, that's it. The driveway perk requires a dog plan. Snow Patrol bought on its own does not include a driveway, and neither does a Groundkeep plan carrying Snow Patrol without a dog plan.
We cover the southeast corner of Oakland County: Royal Oak, Berkley, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods, Oak Park, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Clawson, Southfield, Lathrup Village, and Birmingham.
If you're outside those twelve, we can't take the route on today — but tell us and we'll add you to the route-expansion list.
Taking pictures is part of the service, not an extra. Every visit produces dated photos of the yard and the work — including the one in your All-Clear text. We photograph the yard and the work, never people. They are your record: we keep them for your account, we will send you a copy whenever you ask, and we will delete them on request. We never post or advertise any photo from your yard without asking you first. The full policy is on the privacy page.
When you text Yard Patrol or give us your number to start service, you agree to receive text messages from us related to your service. These are service messages only — we do not send marketing or promotional texts. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. The full text-messaging policy is on the privacy page.
You need to keep a working card on file. If it expires or is declined, give us a replacement right away. Without a valid card we may pause or end service.
You authorize us to charge that card for your recurring visits, any one-time or additional service you ask for or approve, snow service you have added, materials and disposal costs, and any balance you owe. Approval by text, email, or in person is enough — there is no separate payment step for something you asked us to do.
Tell us in writing if you want to stop that authorization. That also ends service, and it does not clear a balance you already owe.
Yard Patrol and Groundkeep are two brands of one business, Ian C. Swanson Companies LLC — same owner, same bank account.
If you signed up through the Groundkeep checkout, your name, email address, phone number and saved card are shared between the two, so one saved card can pay both bills instead of you entering it twice.
This is about the details our own payment company holds. If you signed up for Yard Patrol on its own, your card sits with Sweep & Go, the software that runs our routes and our billing, and it stays there. Nothing of yours moves anywhere because of this.
The setting behind this is not one we can switch on for one person and off for another — when it is on, it covers every customer and every saved card in both of our payment accounts at once. Nor is it one we can simply switch back: turning it off again means asking Stripe to do it, which is why you are being told before it goes on. That, what is shared, who it goes to, what is not shared, and how to tell us you would rather we didn't are written out in plain words on the privacy page. That section is part of these terms.
If you signed up through the Groundkeep checkout — the one place you can buy from both brands in a single cart — you ticked one box, and that one tick covered three things: these terms, the Groundkeep terms, and the sharing described above. The full wording is written out on the Groundkeep terms page, under what you agree to at checkout.
Yard Patrol has a checkout of its own at pay.yardpatrolco.com, where you put a card on file for your visits. It has one agreement box, and this is what that tick covers, in full:
I agree to the Yard Patrol terms, and to Groundkeep and Yard Patrol sharing my contact details and saved payment method with each other, as described in the privacy policy.
That tick covers two things: these terms, and the sharing described above. It does not cover the Groundkeep terms — signing up here does not sign you up to anything of Groundkeep's, and the Groundkeep checkout's box is a separate tick you would only ever see over there. Nothing is charged when you enter your card; your visits are billed at the end of each month, for the visits actually made.
One thing to know if you bought through that checkout: the Groundkeep terms you agreed to there carry a cancellation, rescheduling and no-access fee — $150 or 50% of the service price, whichever is greater — and it applies to a visit booked through it, Snow Patrol included. It is set out in full under Cancellation, rescheduling, and no-access on that page. Nothing on this page adds a fee of its own.
If a charge fails, we retry it, then pause service until the balance clears. Any remaining balance is due within 15 days. A returned or reversed payment carries a $75 fee. Unpaid balances may go to collection at your cost, including reasonable fees.
Tell us within 48 hours of the visit, or within 48 hours of a charge, and we will make it right. For a charge, those 48 hours run from the charge or from the day we tell you about it in writing — whichever is later. After that we cannot review it. A text or an email is enough.
You confirm you own the property or have the owner’s permission for us to work there. Tell us about anything under the surface — invisible fencing, irrigation, septic components, low-voltage lighting, soft or damaged ground.
We assume no liability for damage to yards, gates, fencing, plantings, pets, or other property, including damage to anything concealed, unmarked, or already failing.
Secure your dogs before your service window. Gates open and equipment runs during a visit. We assume no liability for injury to, illness of, escape of, or loss of any animal, and you are responsible for any injury your animal causes to a person or property at the premises.
A loose or aggressive dog is a yard we cannot service. We may leave without doing the work, and that visit is charged at your regular rate. Nobody is required to enter a yard, or stay in one, with a dog loose.
Clearing and salting reduce risk. They do not eliminate it. A cleared surface is not a safe surface. We assume no liability for slips, falls, or vehicle incidents on a cleared or treated surface, for refreeze after clearing, for salt damage to surfaces, or for damage to anything hidden under snow.
Severe weather can make a scheduled visit hazardous or impossible. If we have to skip, we service your yard as soon as conditions allow, and a skipped visit is never charged. The same goes for anything else outside our reasonable control — disaster, illness, equipment failure, government action.
Either of us can end service at any time with 48 hours’ notice — a text or an email is all it takes. Unpaid balances are due within 15 days.
We may end service immediately for non-payment, for repeated access failures, for an unsafe yard, or for any conduct that endangers the person doing the work.
Letting a fee slide once does not mean we have given it up. Any exception we make is a courtesy for that occasion only, never a change to these terms.
Our total liability for any claim is limited to what you paid for the visit the claim came from. We are not responsible for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses. We make no warranties beyond what is written here.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan. Any dispute is handled in the state or federal courts serving Oakland County, Michigan, and you consent to that venue.
If we change these terms, we'll post the updated version here with a new effective date.
Questions about your service or these terms?
Call or text (248) 491-8052 · Email ian@yardpatrolco.com