By Arden Moore, posted by Mary Kate Leming March 28, 2023 at 13:36
News & Awards
Jill's Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC is the proud recipient of 11 awards and recognitions, 3 international and 8 local awards, celebrating pet care excellence and animal rescue efforts. JND has been featured in publications such as The Boca Raton Tribune, Newswire, The Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel, Pets+ Magazine, among others. JND has also been interviewed on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, and locally on Delray Morning Live! Read more below.
Best Pet Sitters 2023, Finalist
Palm Beach Post
Best of Palm Beach County Awards is the highest designation for local businesses, celebrating and recognizing the best our community has to offer in South Florida.
Best Pet Sitters 2022
Boca Raton Award Program
The Boca Raton Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community in South Florida.
Provider of the Year 2022
International Boarding and Pet Services
The IBPSA award recognizes individuals who have a clear vision and a positive company culture, excel at animal welfare, and take part in education programs.
Best Pet Sitters, 2022
Palm Beach Post
Best Of Palm Beach County Awards is the highest designation for local businesses, celebrating and recognizing the best our community has to offer.
Best Dog Walkers, Nominee 2022, 2021
bestofpalmbeachcounty
Best of Palm Beach County collects thousands of votes each year to recognize local businesses for outstanding professional presence and community response.
Neighborhood Favorite, 2021
Nextdoor Platform
Annual Neighborhood Favorites awards are the only business awards program based on recommendations from real neighbors that live in the local community.
Pet Adoption Advocate of the Year, 2020
Pet Sitters International
The Pet Adoption Advocate Award through Pet Sitters International recognizes Jill Merjeski, owner of Jill's Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC, in Delray Beach, Florida, for her efforts to help feral cats and promote South Florida pet adoptions and online pet advocacy.
Best Dog Walkers, 2019, 2020
bestofpalmbeachcounty
Best of Palm Beach County collects thousands of votes each year to recognize local businesses for outstanding professional presence and community response.
Petatarian of the Year, 2020
IBPSA
The Petatarian Award honors an individual, company or organization that has made outstanding efforts to improve the pet care industry through humanitarian or animal welfare efforts or education and industry development.
Delray Morning Live Interview
Jill's Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC was interviewed on The Greater Delray Chamber of Commerce's Delray Morning Live! Program in 2020. Jill highlighted her pet advocacy efforts, the launch of her JND Feline Alliance Program, and the benefits of hiring a professional pet care business.
Pet Sitter Confessional Podcast Interview
Pet Sitter Confessional is a podcast by pet sitters for pet sitters, dedicated to sharing the your stories and experiences, so the pet care industry can grow in knowledge and community. We discuss what it means to be an advocate for pets and raising the bar on pet care industry standards.
Pet Advocate of the Year Building Cat Sanctuary for Elderly and Disabled Cats
By Kari Barnett
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Feline Alliance Program fundraised over $2,000 to build a farm catio for disabled, elderly or unadoptable cats. The catio serves to protect the kitties from predators whilst providing standard cat and medical care. In 2019, she created her own self-funded, advocacy and feline adoption program as an alliance with pet rescues in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Her advocacy efforts recently were recognized by Pet Sitters International, an educational association for professional pet sitters, naming her its 2020 Pet Adoption Advocate of the Year.
Pet Care Professional Jill Merjeski Now Serving South Florida Communities with Award-Winning Company
Press Release
Newswire Media
Jill's Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC has quickly become a top choice for pet parents living and traveling in Palm Beach County, offering various services that ensure pets receive the best care possible. Jill's Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC, was founded by pet care professional Jill Merjeski, MS, CPPS, CTNRP, and has become one of South Florida's premier dog walking and pet sitting companies. Jill's Next Door strives to provide pet parents with high-quality service and the peace of mind they need that their pets are in good hands.
Jill's Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC named the winner for the IBPSA Pet Care Business Excellence Petatarian Award.
Jill Merjeski was named the winner for the IBPSA Pet Care Business Excellence Petatarian Award. The awards, through the IBPSA to honor those businesses raising the bar for professionalism and success in the pet care services industry. “As the pet care industry continues to explode and competition increases, it’s important to recognize those professionals who are setting themselves apart from the crowd,” said Carmen Rustenbeck, IBPSA’s founder and CEO. "Jill is helping to raise that standard."
Petatarian of the Year Announced
Jill Merjeski was named the winner for the IBPSA Pet Care Business Excellence Petatarian Award. To meet the initial threshold for a nomination, pet care providers must have been in business for at least three years and a current member of IBPSA for at least six months. Next, nominees were required to submit information reflecting their financial growth in the past year, company description and vision, and company culture. Nominees were also required to provide information on how the business excels in animal welfare along with details on education and certifications completed by the business owners and employees.
Conversations with Ibby Winners With Clay Liebrum
The 2020 IBBYs were presented to the winners in multiple categories during the final session at the Eighth Annual IBPSA Virtual Conference & Trade Show. I was able to get a chance to talk with our five distinguished winners. We wanted to ask them some questions about their business and operations, but we also spent some time talking about the past year and all that went along with the many situations that almost everyone has been facing. It was a pleasure hearing the success these people are finding as a result of the passion they have for the pet care industry. I definitely learned a few things from these incredible people, and our hope is that you will, too.
Pet Sitters International names 2020 Pet Adoption Advocate of the Year
Pet Sitters International (PSI) has named Jill Merjeski of Jill's Next Door PSI’s 2020 Pet Adoption Advocate of the Year. Merjeski, owner of Jill’s Next Door Dog Walking & Pet Services, LLC, in Delray Beach, Florida, devotes countless hours to feeding cat colonies and fostering cats and kittens and also uses her business acumen and online platforms to assist a variety of pet-rescue organizations in her area. “There’s so much spent time, energy, passion, love, and resources involved in volunteering, but it’s all worth it to make a difference to at least one animal in need,” said Merjeski. “I am especially grateful to be a part of the PSI community and the impact we are all making.”
Paws Up for Pets: Need a top-notch sitter? Professionals outline their services
Jill Merjeski left a career as a senior academic adviser at Drexel University in Philadelphia to launch her pet sitting business in Palm Beach County in 2016. Four years later, her company was named Pet Advocate of the Year by Pet Sitters International and last year, her company was tabbed as the Best Palm Beach County Pet Sitters by The Palm Beach Post. “These are big honors, especially considering we started from nothing,” says Merjeski. “I am always educating people that my company is part of a professional association that provides continual education and certifications to its members. We are licensed, bonded and we rely on the latest technology to communicate with our clients.”
Although she enjoyed her academic career, she loves running a professional pet sitting business.
“The best thing I love about pet sitting is the freedom I have, plus the opportunity to work with animals,” says Merjeski. “I create jobs that people love and support.”
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