The team at Suburban Paws is incredible. Not only are they great "dog" people but they are flexible…read moreand try to meet any need I have had including overnights, last minute walks and more. My pup, Dusty, adores them and is often shy with new people, but not them. I trust them! Grateful for them.

I have known John Taves for over 20 years and when he decided on a career caring for pets is made…read moreperfect sense. We have had John house sit our Pointer mix Shamus on several occasions with complete confidence. He is a dedicated and competent professional. Best wishes for continued success.

THE BEST. Aaron came to pick up my dog shorty and was on time, took great pictures, kept her longer…read morethan I paid for, and was so professional. He even gave me some tips on training and leash walking. I can't recommend this company enough. Shorty gets so excited when Aaron or someone from his team show up now. Thanks BBDW!

Boston's Best Dog Walkers are truly the best!…read more I recommend them to anyone in the Boston area who's looking for quality, compassionate care for their fur babies. Aaron is a great person, he's extremely knowledgeable about animals and dog psychology, he genuinely loves and cares for each pup he cares for. He's an excellent trainer and provides the care and exercise that you'd desire for your pup, even above and beyond. They offer solo walks, group walks, group play, training, medication, boarding, even cat home visits. I've recommended a few people to his services and they are simply the best! Everyone loves BBDW! They also update you with photos and videos, GPS tracking through online portal, and 24/7 service. What could be better? If you're considering care for your fur baby, I definitely recommend trying BBDW. You won't look back!

Dangerously incompetent…read more I was leaving a condo building on Causeway Street and saw three dogs tied to a handrail by the entrance at the street. Two small brown dogs and a small, black pug-like dog. They were tied by their leashes to a handrail. Nobody in sight. They were a foot from the double-doors to the street. Anyone could have grabbed them when the doors opened. It would not have taken much for those three dogs to become bait at a dog fight. I waited to keep an eye on them. One of the dogs was barking incessantly. The building manager came from her back office, where she heard the barking, through the elevator lobby and into the foyer to the street where I was sitting on a chair watching the three dogs. Five minutes passed and a chipper young woman emerged from the elevator lobby with a fourth dog, Henry, a neighbor's french bull dog. She looked surprised when she saw the building manager and me. I asked her if those were her dogs. She said that she worked for DogParty and had left the three dogs unattended while she went up in the elevator to get Henry, the french bull dog. I told her I was concerned about the safety of the three dogs. The dog party woman stood smiling and blathering all sorts of platitudes and nonsense. Not once did she suggest that she would do anything differently. That's scary. I would not trust my dog with these people, they are dangerously incompetent. *note: here is my reply to Erin's comment here and a private message she sent to me asking me to remove the description of events, above. * * * * * Erin -- I appreciate your predicament, but am not at all happy with your defensive attitude and aggressive list of excuses and distractions. You make bold claims, such as, "I take this matter very seriously. The dogs safety and well-being is our top priority." Yet, the incident described occurred, and, to be honest, you cannot prevent it from happening again. I have used services similar to yours in the past and I have heard all sorts of promises and hyperbole regarding the level of service to be expected. I have also experienced the myriad of problems encountered when something as simple as a lack of common sense is the root cause. You mention that I am not a customer, so what? The event described still happened and still shows the risk the dogs were exposed to, regardless of your best intentions. Your intentions and your predicament are not correlating to the execution you manage in your business. Focus on that, not altering the truth. You write that you have taken steps to correct the problem, that's encouraging. Work on it. You do not mention firing the employee in question. Has she been fired? If not, why? What genuine 'corrective action' has been taken? I ask not for my sake, as I clearly would never trust my dog to your care, but for the sake of potential new customers who are considering your service. Will they be expected to trust their dog(s) to an employee with little or no common sense and a lack of responsibility? * * * * * HERE IS THE TYPE OF COMMUNICATION THAT FRIENDS OF DOG PARTY THINK HELPS. THIS IS THE COMPLETE TEXT OF A MESSAGE SENT BY MATT P. OF BOSTON ON 14-JUL-2011. MATT P. HAS WRITTEN A POSITIVE REVIEW OF DOG PARTY ON YELP.COM AND HE SENT ME THIS PRIVATE MESSAGE AS A COMPLIMENT, PRESUMABLY IN RESPONSE TO MY COMMENT ON DOG PARTY. (SOMEBODY AT YELP.COM SHOULD CHECK ON MR. MATT P. -- HE SEEMS A BIT OFF.) "You need to shut your mouth buddy.. You keep on making up stories and posting lies and you'll going to have to answer for it. Hope to see you soon." * * * * * IT TURNS OUT THAT MATT P. OF BOSTON WROTE A POSITIVE REVIEW OF DOG PARTY AND TRIES TO MALIGN ME AS AN AGENT OF ANOTHER DOG SERVICE (A LIE) THEN MISREPRESENTS THE FACTS. HERE IS WHAT HE WROTE IN HIS REVIEW. BEAR IN MIND, THE FOLLOWING QUOTE IS A FICTION WRITTEN BY MATT P. AND NOT MY OPINION. "First of all, I know the area in the lobby where the dogs are tied and it's 100% safe and secure with a video monitor and security woman watching while the dog walker walks the 2 minutes down the hall to pick up the other dogs." MATT P. MAY KNOW THE AREA IN THE STRADA LOBBY, HE CLAIMS TO LIVE THERE AND THREATENS ME WITH A CONFRONTATION IN HIS REVIEW, THEN HAS THE NERVE TO REFER TO ME AS A LOWLIFE. SHEESH! THE FACT IS THE AREA WHERE THE DOGS WERE TIED, RIGHT AT THE ENTRANCE DOORS, IS NOT SAFE. THE DOORS ARE LOCKED, BUT OPENED BY ANYONE AND EVERYONE FOR WHOMEVER SHOWS UP AND WANTS TO ENTER. THERE IS NO GOOD CONTROL OVER ENTRY. ALSO, THE TWO MINUTE WALK DOWN THE HALL TO PICK UP DOGS IS AN ABSOLUTE FICTION. THE FIRST SIX FLOORS OF THE BUILDING ARE OFFICE AND HAVE NOT DOGS. ANY DOG WALKER PICKING UP A DOG WOULD NEED TO ENTER A SECOND LOBBY, WAIT FOR AN ELEVATOR, GO TO AN APARTMENT ON 7 OR HIGHER, THAN RETURN. NOT TWO MINUTES BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION. I HAVE TO WONDER ABOUT MATT P.'s REVIEW AND OTHER POSITIVE REVIEWS OF DOG PARTY, GIVEN THE REAL FACTS.

I don't know about the bad review but my experience here has been nothing but stellar!!…read more Let me tell you, Erin has been walking my dog Bailey for just about a year and a half now. I have used other dog walkers in the past and none even come close to displaying the care and professionalism that Erin does. She is genuinely a great person and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a dog walker. Bailey loves the attention she receives from Erin and I couldn't ask for a better walker! Two thumbs way up.

I've been taking Levi to The Downtown Paw since I got him over a year and a half ago. We've done…read morepuppy/dog training, grooming, and daycare here. Kate and team always treat Levi with so much care as if he were their own. Whenever I need to leave Levi for the day at daycare, I always know that he will be in great hands. Would highly recommend The Downtown Paw!

Do what you will with this information, this is purely my experience…read more I called in and booked a "Bath & Brush out" for my British short hair. On the phone, the price was 35. At arrival the price was still 35$. I left my cat at noon and received a phone call 30 minutes later. During the phone call, there was no mention of anything but " your cat is ready to be picked up" When I arrived on site, I was informed they bathed my cat, but didn't dry him because he escaped. So I'm thinking fine, sure that's nothing, I'll dry the rest of him off when I'm back home. Come to find out, when I opened my cats traveling bag at home, he was completely soaked and still very very wet! He was literally shivering. Now I didn't open and check at the location because there were other pets barking and meowing; so I didn't want to freak him out more. The weather was not warm at all and luckily I lived close enough to home where I can dry my cat off fast. But to think that this information was never mentioned during the phone call. Makes me believe they did not care nor were they professional enough. Also to mention, they had increased the price from 35-45$. Now I'm not going to hassle over 10 bucks but the unprofessionalism from this place is upsetting. I do not care for a 10$ refund or even a full refund. I will never recommend for a cat grooming or step foot at this location again.

Nancy has been excellent with our energetic 1yr old Golden (who can be a handful!). She did a…read morethorough intake eval to understand what to be aware of during his walks (triggers, treats he's allowed, etc). She is always super professional and on-time, always communicates about plan for the walking schedule, and always accommodating to last minute requests. Even while working from home, Nancy would silently pick and drop off. Her rates are transparent and competitive. Plus, she also always sends the most adorable photos after each walk!

Nancy and her team at Walk My Dog are incredible! Nancy took a ton of notes upon meeting our dog…read moreand always followed our instructions. Walk My Dog is always reliable and they took great care of our dog. We loved the updates and pictures afterwards. When Nancy came by to walk our dog, or we ran into her, our dog was besides herself with excitement. It is so evident how much Nancy and her team care for each dog, and I appreciated how flexible they were, when we needed to add in extra walks, or change to solo walks when our dog was sick. Today was our dog's last walk with Nancy as we are moving out of state and she gave us the most thoughtful gift bag as a going away present. I highly recommend using Walk My Dog, they will take the best care of your pets!

Vivian's associates dropped my 5 month old puppy on the floor during their puppy daycare sessions…read morewhich caused him to break his elbow. After going through hell with pre and post surgery care of a sick puppy he never fully recovered. He has chronic arthritis in his leg and will never be able to enjoy a wholesome life. Additionally he developed behavioral issues from the surgery like stress, irritability and constant fear. I am very disappointed in their services. They destroyed the joy of having my first puppy and messed up his entire life.

Walkers seem to care about the dogs but the owner cares more about money than the actual well being…read moreof your dog. Our puppy did not have the proper shots due to his age but K9 concierge thought it was appropriate to put him in group walks without letting us know. After numerous failed conversations about only doing solo walks or just a puppy visit (in home visit during lunch) it was a no brainier to leave K9 concierge. And every week there was a billing issue, not an exaggeration. We stayed with this company as long as we did because we did not have any other option.

Ejay and his team at Ruff Translating (Cara, George, Sam, Michelle, and others) have literally…read moresaved my dog (and me!). After doing extensive research on trainers and training methods, we landed on Ruff Translating for our service dog prospect, Mercy. Mercy is now an (almost) two year old Great Dane. It was important to us that our trainers were reliable, professional, and experienced. I feel so unbelievably lucky to have found Ruff Translating. They care for Mercy like she's their own dog. She not only gets excited to go to "school", but she also is motivated, brave, and on her BEST behavior with each member of their team. It's clear that they have taken the time to get to know Mercy and develop a relationship with her before jumping headfirst into training. Ruff Translating uses a balanced training model which incorporates corrections and tools with treats and praise. Mercy knows what is expected of her and gets a lot of love; but also knows when she has made a poor choice and is given the opportunity to change her behavior without any fear. Ejay and his team work TIRELESSLY to build relationships with their dogs and their human handlers. They are also an important staple to the Boston community and their local neighborhood. There are a lot of dog trainers in the Boston area to choose from - do yourself and your dog a favor and research each team & organization before making a choice. Ruff Translating will likely be the BEST option for you and your dog.

TLDR: I made the right choice with Ruff Translating. My dog adores everyone there and has turned…read moreinto an amazing service dog. He has been abroad with me in the Caribbean and given me a new lease on life. He was trained so well that he loves his job and loves to work. He even recently responded to a medical emergency I had without any gear on or expectation he work because he was in my apartment and off duty. He chose in that moment to help me because he was trained to truly love his job. That is an extremely positive reflection on the people who trained him. I trusted my lifeline (aka my service dog) with Ruff Translating and it has led to me having a solid dog who is always ready to work and has led to me having more independence than I've had in years due to my disabilities. I spent a year and a half researching before I decided to get a service dog and train with Ruff Translating. Ejay spent so much time answering my questions and sharing his knowledge before I even became a client formally. I had never done any dog training before so I was at first worried about tool usage like e collars and transitional head halters, etc. What sealed the deal for me was shadowing a lesson and seeing the joy with which these dogs train. The expectations are clear and I saw no stress signals. Only dogs happy to work. Never once was any tool used that I wasn't comfortable with and educated on also. They truly do train the dog in front of them and different styles are used for different dogs. My dog isn't super food motivated for example so right off the bat I was introduced to play as an alternate reward and form of engagement. The way we use any corrections down to even a verbal no was customized to what communication method worked best for my dog. The thing I love about Ruff Translating is they didn't just train my dog but they empowered me to be a strong handler and to understand how to troubleshoot issues even on my own. They gave me the confidence to work my dog and trust that I could handle all the various situations we come across as a working team. I also have grown as a person as I worked through my own internalized ableism and learned to embrace my disabled identity as not a negative but just one aspect of who I am as a person. I have found such great community with the other handlers and with Ejay, Kim and Michelle. Ruff Translating has had my back through so much including some severe medical emergencies. I'm honestly so lucky to have found them and highly recommend them. They will not just train you a service dog but genuinely help build you as a strong and confident team ready to tackle the world together.

I brought in an injured bird and was helped right when I walked into the door! They take a look at…read morethe injured animal and keep you in the loop. I very much recommend this place for sick or injured wildlife

first off...they wouldn't see my very sick bird unless I paid double-for an emergency visit. no one…read moreever has appointments anymore..it's , if you need a visit today~ it's an emergency , so pay twice as much. ...or wait a month. I don't think Dr. Mertz (who seemed very kind) listened to me when I brought my bird in, and described his issues. ... I brought my bird in because he was sick. I told the Dr. it was eating day and night, up all the time, and had the runs. ...losing weight. He prescribed a broad spectrum antibiotic although he didn't see anything alarming under the scope. 2 days later my bird died. I mentioned the eating non-stop again, and he THEN said, "oh, it was probably diabetes, and I couldn't have done anything anyhow" . Well...if he listened, he wouldn't have gone with antibiotics 2 days earlier. and there is treatment for diabetic birds. so,...I said goodbye, and buried my beautiful boy.