What a scammer! I've used many dog boarding services before and this has to be the worst. If you love your dog, steer clear of Lisa. There are so many other options in the area with honest caring businesses. Lisa Meade is irresponsible and manipulative, to say the least, and retained my dog to leverage for more money. All the drama I experienced was frankly because Lisa forgot to pick up the check when she picked up the dog and demanded that I mail her a check over the Christmas weekend. I find it difficult to believe the other reviews considering my experience. Lisa wanted me to pay cash before I could even see my dog and check that my dog was happy and well. The truth was that she didn't even have my dog when I went to go pick her up! Moreover, she requested I pay $165 plus a late check fee, when the original contract I emailed her was for $120. Lisa kept making excuses for negotiating earlier pickup and later drop off fees and trying to charge extra for requests she made to suit her schedule. I understand that it was Christmas time and I am not concerned about the money as much as how manipulative Lisa was in the end. The day after Christmas, I went to go pick up my dog at her apartment, she said she wanted the cash even though a check was already en route, as clearly requested by Lisa. I already paid via check but I went to the bank to cancel the check right before attempting to pick up my dog. When I showed up, Lisa wasn't there at her apartment!! Then after numerous texts and phone calls, she asked me to leave the cash with the concierge and she would drop the dog off at my house later at 3PM. I refused, since I wanted to see my dog first before paying. Then, she suddenly appeared at her apartment complex and again demanded the cash, and I requested to see my dog first. She said she wanted to discuss the situation and I said we could when the police arrived. So she she stormed out of her apartment lobby. The police came shortly after and recommended I wait for her to return. After waiting 3 hours, I called the police again and the second time they knocked on her apartment door and apparently the dog was not even in the apartment this whole time!! Hence, even if I paid before seeing my dog, I still couldn't have gotten my dog back! Thanks to the Arlington police, I got my dog back later that evening, with a chewed up harness and missing name tag. Luckily, my dog didn't seem traumatized. Needless to say, if you love your dog, I strongly do not recommend this business. read more

I too was scammed by Canine Performance. Here's my story... I gave the service a try because of some ads in my apartment. My girlfriend and I started off by scheduling a meeting with the business owner, Lisa. We both thought she was very personable and were optimistic about our new dog walking service. What could go wrong? A 30 minute "visit" for 16 bucks! And Lisa had made a good impression with us. It all seemed great. That was until our first scheduled walk. I was working from home that day. When the dog walker came in, I tried to say hi and make normal small talk. The girl barely looked up and didn't say a word back. I figured ok, maybe you don't need social skills to be a good dog walker. Feeling a little uneasy, I went out to my balcony to see if I could spot the walk in action. I could. The walker was glued to her phone and awkwardly dragging my dog around. She had barely covered any distance when I saw her turn back. She was back at my apartment after 10 minutes. Obviously, that was really bad. But I decided that had to be a fluke. After all, I had paid for 30 minutes. Surely they can't just cheat customers that bad! So I scheduled another walk. Once again, my dog's Whistle recorded 10 minutes of walking. I should've known better after the first time. Fool me once, shame on you Lisa. Fool me twice...can't get fooled again. read more

I recently moved into a large complex in Arlington and was recommended to Lisa by management which by itself is an strong endorsement. My lab Jackson loves almost everyone however, I'm a tough sell. Lisa is good people. She is genuine, down to earth, real and clearly loves animals. We discussed her families history with dogs and her philosophy handling training etc. My gut said all green lights so I scheduled numerous visits right away, including consecutive visits where I was away to Florida overnight for business. I didn't see Jackson for about 36 hours, and during that time he was visited on schedule and fed as requested. He was his normal excited self when I got home which is all a dog owner can ask for when trusting someone else to watch after him. Today, I was home for lunch and happened to run into one of Lisa's walkers, the same who visited Jackson while I was away. He acts a certain way to strangers and a certain way to people he knows and likes. She got the later response; Jackson was very excited to see her and that to me was all the confirmation I needed to know about the kind of person Lisa sent to see my dog. Trusting someone with your dog is a big deal. A building complex recommending someone be allowed to watch after dogs in their complex is also a big deal. Even more, my building complex allows Lisa's service to come into this building and enter homes when owners are not around. Those things by themselves are big endorsements. For me, the biggest endorsement of Lisa came from Jackson. He was his normal self when I got home and he was very excited when we bumped into his walker. Dog's know good people, so do I and only good people are allowed around either of us. Canine Performance will be getting my business for the foreseeable future. I definitely recommend anyone consider them to take care of their dog. read more

We love Lisa! She and others from her team have been walking our Frenchie for over a year now and they're fabulous. We have never had one missed walk or anything. We had so many issues with our dog walkers before we moved to Arlington and we've really had a great experiences with Lisa, Jamie and the rest of Canine Performance. She goes above and beyond! Also, we totally trust her and anyone she hires. If you're looking for a reliable, enthusiastic and knowledgeable walker to take care of your fur babies, look no further than Canine Performance! read more

I would give Canine Performance 10 STARS!!! Lisa and the whole Canine Performance team are the BEST!! We were new puppy parents and were referred to Canine Performance by our vet. We used Canine Performance for over a year and a half and the only reason we are no longer with them is because we moved out of state. We still miss Lisa and the walkers! We used the monthly mid-day walk packages and we also used Lisa for boarding. Our mini bernedoodle, Emoji (Moji), adores Lisa and all the dog walkers!! Our Moji can be shy and slow to trust humans but not with Lisa. Moji goes crazy (in a good way) when she reunites with Lisa and the walkers. As an owner, there is no better feeling than when your pup is happy and in good hands. I trust Lisa and the walkers. Moji was always excited and happy for her walks. She got lots of exercise and plenty of playtime. The team is incredibly professional and reliable. They NEVER MISSED a walk! They were also always flexible to accommodate my last minute schedule changes or when I needed to add walks. It didn't matter if I was working from home or away all day, they were VERY CONSISTENT! Lisa is always accessible and they always communicate. It gives me complete ease to know that they take amazing care of Moji. I trust them completely and they are FANTASTIC! They go above and beyond. We had no idea that our pup had an ear infection and Lisa and her team made sure to notify us when our dog was acting off. This made a HUGE difference! I can't rave enough about Canine Performance, and I highly recommend them! If you live in Arlington, VA you are very very lucky to have Canine Performance. :) :) read more

Thank you to Lisa and the Canine Performance team for taking attentive care of Grizwald (my labradoodle) for more than 4 years! They were always reliable, fed my diva-doggy his lunch everyday after the walk and always alerted me if they were concerned of anything out of the ordinary with him. We recently moved and had to end our service but I highly recommend them to Arlington dog owners. read more

As the owner of a new French Bulldog puppy I realized how quickly I wanted/needed understanding, coaching and peace of mind when it came to who was walking him and giving him love and attention while my husband and I were at work. From our first home visit/assessment till now we have seen how our puppy has experienced so much love and support and feel totally at ease with everyone from Canine Performance. We cannot recommend them enough! read more

A few weeks ago Lisa had someone representing themselves as her attorney call me and offer to settle for $250 if I removed the yelp reviews. I told him not to insult me. He then stated they would move the case to district court, which was her option as the defendant. The conversation was a bit strange, he explained that he worked in a building that her father owned, and owed her dad $65K in rent, and that her father was the type of person who would spend $20K to defend his daughter. I said, well, that's his right, so I guess we'll see you with our attorney as well. Based upon what he was saying to me and giving away, he was def not an attorney. Strangely enough, when I called him back to confirm that our court date was still on, the number was disconnected. Needless to say when I mentioned this in front of the judge she admitted her boyfriend was the one who called. I guess when you are with Lisa, you need to be a liar just like her. The judge pointed out that there was no complaints about service prior to our investigation during the last month, and therefore we could only ask for damages for the time period in question, which was the last month of service. While it is a small amount of money compared to the time invested, I wish more people would take these steps when businesses fail to provide services they have agreed upon and hold people accountable for their actions. It should be noted that during the trial Lisa claimed she personally only walked our dog about seven times during the four months of service, despite the fact that during the initial meeting she said she would be walking Oreo as she is the main walker in the Orange Line Corridor. Of those 7 instances, we know that on at least two occasions we were home, and she failed to walk the dog. As we pointed out to the judge, she had another dog in the car with her when my girlfriend confronted her, so either she planned to leave the car running with the other dog inside for our 30 minute visit, or she didn't plan to walk our dog. Lisa also tried to state that since we did not have a formal contract in hand, that somehow she was not bound by the terms of service shown on her website. The judge pointedly asked her if she was questioning whether there was some question about whether she was supposed to provide services since the record of text messages clearly indicates which level of service and walking packages we specified and she agreed too. She then went on to say that the website link that she asked us to fill out with Oreo's information apparently had issues, and she did not have that information. Not sure when she realized this, but again, shoddy business practice. Lisa did introduce as evidence a letter from her own condo complex "The Reserve At Clarendon" that said she was no longer permitted to operate as a dog walker "due to multiple complaints from owners and multiple negative reviews on Yelp." I have to admit, when I saw that letter, I didn't care what the judge awarded us as I knew the reviews were having the desired impact. She attempted to blame the loss of business on me, and I pointed out that the letter sent to her by the management company or condo BOD (I don't recall which) states that there were *multiple* owners complaining and *multiple* negative yelp reviews. I had nothing to do with this, but submitting that letter just helped our case and proved my point better than anything I could have provided! Lisa also did a great job of trying to talk around the issue, attempting to confuse the judge and ask questions regarding whether Oreo was on medications for kennel cough. As I pointed out, the question was not whether or not he had kennel cough, we indeed we agreed on that point and were in discussions via text message regarding this issue. We agree with Lisa that Oreo was not supposed to be taken for long walks. However, he WAS supposed to be let out of his crate and provided with a short walk, food, and water. That was the problem and the judge picked through her smoke and mirrors campaign and agreed with us that she was guilty. Finally, on Sept 15th, after threatening to file wage garnishment papers, which would have made Lisa appear before the judge again, she finally paid the judgment amount. Just note, this is her mode of operation should you have any issues. I'm was somewhat hopeful that this incident would somehow lead to changes in Lisa's business practices, but being as she has rejected attempts by other reputable dog walking/pet sitting services in the area to meet with her to discuss business practices, I feel that this may be a lost cause. In the end, Oreo and other pets are the only losers in this whole episode, so be careful who hire, and always check in periodically. read more

We love Lisa...she wonderful! She always lets us know how our pup is doing.

I've been a dog person my whole life, and when I was able to get my own dog for the first time I tried training it on my own. I believe I did a fairly good job, but I still needed some help and advice on a few more things. I found Lisa online and really enjoyed the fact it is a family run business. She came last weekend and did a great job. My puppy (1.5 years old) loved having her over and she gave me some solid advice and things I needed to work on. She's now the only dog trainer I will ever recommend. She truly loves dogs, has grown up with them, and you can see that in person when you meet her. read more

Worst service ever!!! My dog's walking calendar was not followed at all while I was out of town.My dog was supposed to be walked a 7 AM in the mornings. I called the sitter one morning around 10 AM worried about my dog and she told me she was sleeping and that she will walk him later. She did not followed instructions on several occasions even when they were clearly written down for her, and when I tried to corrected her she told me not to tell her how to do her job. I fired her while I was out of town and she was still found unauthorized in my apartment. She through away half of my dog's prescription food in the garbage disposal our of anger and stole a folder with all my dog's paperwork. She also refused to return my house keys to my property manager and told me that she will charge me a fee to return them to me. After filing a police report on this, I just decided to changed my locks. This is a young and irresponsible girl who is just looking for an extra buck. Her lack of professionalism was beyond ridiculous. There are a lot of good dog sitters out there and this is NOT one of them. Don't waste your money and find somebody that will actually take care of your dog. read more

I've always been very selective as to who I let take care of my puppy. Lisa, has been great to work with and is always diligent with the updates she leaves about how Buffy's day went. read more

We love the Canine Performance team! Lisa and her team of dog walkers took great care of our chocolate lab puppy, Coco. They were very responsive and knowledgable. It was great to know that our puppy was in good hands while we were at work. Coco was always happy when we got home. She loved her 2 walks a day and lunch time with Lisa! I highly recommend Canine Performance. If we hadn't moved to Texas, Coco would still be getting walks from Canine Performance :) read more

Canine performance has been so wonderful! I use canine performance for mid-day walks and have used them for overnight boarding/walks for my puppy. Lisa and her team are extremely reliable and accommodating. I have a somewhat flexible job where my telework schedule changes a lot. Canine performance is well organized when I change up my days/times from my normal scheduled walks, and their customers come first. Glad to know my pup is always in great hands! read more

We love Canine Performance and Lisa Meade. She is always friendly and accommodating. Our dog is never as happy as when she gets a visit/walk from Canine Performance. The cost is reasonable, the service is great and our dog is happy! read more

Update: I used Lisa and team to walk my dog until just recently. The only reason we left was because we moved. In the ~15 months they walked my dog, we had a generally great experience. read more

I have only been using Lisa as my full time dog walker for a little while now, but I am quite impressed. First, Lisa is the only person I know that does irregular dog walks and is happy to add a walk with only a few hours notification. And walk as little as once a month or as needed. Second, I have a 17 year old pug that is quite cranky at times and is nearly completely blind and deaf. But Lisa will pick him up and carry him if necessary, always texts me updates when I want them, keeps a binder of notes and gives my dog a lot of care. I have been very impressed so far. As my full time dog walker, she is fantastic! And she is less than other dog walkers I have used in the past!!! read more

I will start by saying this review is long over due; we have been using Lisa and her team now for about a year and a half. From day 1 we have had no complaints... I will admit that I was a bit hesitant at first after reading some of the older reviews; but we met with Lisa to see how we felt talking with her in person. 18 months later, 3-4 walks a week and multiple overnight boardings with LIsa I can honestly say we are extremely happy and comfortable. We have had Lisa as well as 3 other walkers come and take our dog during the day; each time they done exactly what we have asked them to do; they are gentle with her collar (its a pincher and can be tricky to put on), they greet her when they come in (but wont let her jump, as we asked Lisa to enforce that), take her our for at least15-20 minutes (we pay for 15 mins and to be honest much of the time she is gone for closer to 20-25!), they bring her back in, remove the collar, leave an note and lock the door; every time. (we have cameras in the house and everything that was just said is fact) There were a few times (when our dog was still crated during the day) that she had accidents in her crate or chewed up the temporary divider and was looking to escape; Lisa called me, explained what was happening and spent at least an hour plus fixing her crate and cleaning up the area so our dog was comfortable until we got home. There have been at least a half dozen times where Lisa or someone on her team have gone above and beyond what I would expect them to do, but never without communicating it with me first. On multiple occasions we have bumped into some of Lisa's team while out on walks or in the building; each time our dog will run up to them with her tail wagging to say hi; for me that is a sure sign she is comfortable with them and being taken care of when we are not around. We have used Lisa on weekends/ late nights and last minute calls; every time she has been receptive and accommodating. We have also used her 4 times for 2-3 day overnight boarding stays. Each time our dog has been returned to us happy, healthy and tired (I know she gets plenty of exercise and socialization when she is with her). Lisa has also had our dog for extended stays when she (our dog) was not feeling so great... I know it caused long nights for Lisa but she was great; always letting us know how she was doing when we asked and would even give her some at home remedies (chicken/rice/pumpkin) to help her stomach (never before asking us first though). I understand people have varied encounters and opinions; and I am in no position to pass judgement on their experiences; but I will say we are extremely happy we met with Lisa and did not just pass her by after reading the reviews. I would highly suggest that if you are in the area that you give her a call and meet with her. LIke I said; we could not be happier with her and her team. read more

Lisa has been walking my 8 month old Goldendoodle, Dexter, since he was 9 weeks old and we're nothing but pleased with the service we've been receiving. Lisa has been extremely flexible with schedule changes/government shutdowns/snow days/added walks as well as with walk time adjustments. In the 6+ months Lisa and her team have been walking Dexter, we've never had a single cancellation or been left without a walk! Dexter is a large and highly energetic puppy and Lisa has gone above and beyond to assist me with training tips, ideas, and suggestions--all of which Dexter has responded excellently to. As a result, we decided to do a private training session with Lisa, which proved extremely helpful. Dexter responds well to Lisa's directive and you can tell she's both skilled at training and truly loves dogs. We'll be signing up for additional training sessions with Lisa. Furthermore, I boarded Dexter with Lisa for two, 5-day stays over the course of two weeks and Dexter came back happy, healthy, and I could tell he'd been taken great care of. Not only did Lisa send me occasional updates while I was out of town, but she went out of her way to help correct some of Dexter's "bad habits" while she had him. We love Lisa and the Canine Performance team and highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for a caring, loyal, flexible, and reasonable dog-walker/trainer service in the Arlington area. read more

Lisa is great and treats my dog as her own. Canine Performance is always on time, very flexible and has helped me out of a jam multiple times! Will continue to use their service. read more

Lisa at Canine Performance does an amazing job with our dog Isabelle. Isabelle is getting old and has recently become blind. Lisa is very patient with her and takes wonderful care of her while we're out of town! Isabelle can't travel like she used to but knowing she is well taken care of really puts my mind at ease. read more

This is a great dog-walking service! I've been using Canine Performance for about six months now and have had a very good experience with them. Lisa is very responsive, even with very last minute requests, which is great for days when I'm going to be getting home late from work and completely forget to let her know ahead of time! I would definitely recommend using this service if you are in the Gaithersburg area. read more

Canine Performance is fantastic, especially Lisa, who handles the dog walking. She is prompt and excellent with all kinds of dogs, having training experience herself. She updates us after walks to tell us how our dog did, and is very flexible as far as scheduling. Her prices are reasonable and her service is excellent. Really, hire her- there is no reason to go elsewhere for a good, reasonable dog walker- she is it! read more

I recently used Canine Performance over the holidays. They boarded my older dog that requires extra attention for her medication and diet needs. They were able to take great care of her. They would send me pictures of her, which made me smile being miles apart. She came home happy and looking great! I will always use Canine Performance! read more

We have used Lisa for both boarding and emergency walks and have found her a pleasure to work with. Our dog loves her. She is very responsible and always does what she says she will do; even when it is a last minute walk. read more

I'm really glad we found Lisa and Canine Performance. I needed someone on short notice and Lisa met with us on a weekend to meet our golden mix before his first week of walks. She is really clear about her policies and they are designed to be as flexible as possible while still being manageable from a business standpoint (i.e. need to cancel a walk by 8 am the day of). I have total peace of mind while I am at work and love that I can always text about a quick question or schedule change. read more

I strongly discourage anyone from hiring Lisa Meade and/or the Canine Performance Company. I found her through Craig's List. After a couple of months of her walking my dog, reportedly for 25-30 min. walks, my neighbor noticed that Lisa routinely showed up, let the dog out for 2 min. and took him right back in. The neighbor wanted me to know in case my contract was for a regular lengthy dog walk - thank goodness she told me. Due to trust concerns and the fact that Lisa had a key to my house, I wanted a simple termination without advance notice, so I left her a note asking her to simply leave the key upon arrival for the dog walk, but no walk needed. I paid in full up until that day. She did not leave the key -- instead she kept my key stating I owed her at least one extra day's pay (that would be for the stop over that day, when no walk was performed. She said she normally she charges more but in this case she wanted to be reimbursed for coming to the house). In the very end she never returned the key and I had to change the locks. She was difficult and argumentative by phone, hanging up on me, yelling at me and refusing to take the calls. In short, I would never ever ever recommend this person or this company to anyone. In the end you have to rely on her that she's telling the truth regarding the time spent with your dog, unless you find a way to monitor it to vet her. But no one should have to resort to that - particularly if you are contemplating given that person a key to your home. read more