I don't usually post negative stuff on the internet but on this occasion I feel it is warranted. I…read morewant to tell Lincolnshire doggie people about a bad experience we have had this weekend with Sophie The Dog Nanny in Stamford. My daughter left her Irish setter with this lady on Thursday afternoon. Within hours she was on the phone to my daughter saying that he was barking and not settling. My daughter suggested that she give it time as he had only been there a few hours. She bombarded my daughter with texts all evening thus ruining her time away. On Friday morning she phoned to complain that she had no sleep because he was barking. She then phoned to say that her neighbour had complained which is hard to believe since she is in a detached house. She told my daughter that she was going to put him in kennels! My daughter told her to just hang on so she could look in to it herself. She was told by this woman that she was taking him to Barking Mad kennels in Spalding. This is not a kennels but an agency for dog sitters. My daughter told her she could not do that and asked her to wait whilst she contacted us. We said to tell her to bring him to us and thought it was organised. However the woman then refused to bring him saying she couldn't make that journey despite it being closer than Spaldng where she had proposed to take him. It was arranged that we would collect him from her house at 4.30pm as she wasn't home until then. We were there exactly on time but she wasn't and the dog did not appear to be there. She ignored my phone calls and texts. She eventually turned up 20 minutes late. She had a small van with several dogs, impossible to see how many, all of which were unsecured and in the back together. She was extremely unprofessional. There was no apology for the fact that she clearly could not cope. She was rude, and used abusive language including the F word. This was in front of our 2 small grandsons. After throwing the dogs bags at me she then opened up the back of her van and allowed him to jump out with out a lead attached. Of course he went to run. He had no idea where he was. Luckily we were able to get hold of him quickly before he bolted. When I challenged her on the stupidity of her actions she claimed it was fine because she knows him. She had never met him until the day before and he had been in her care less than 24 hours. I am not sure what she would have done had he have run off. She was extremely unpleasant and very unprofessional. Her practices are unsafe. My daughter will not be using her again and will be making a formal complaint with the council first thing on Monday morning. She claims to be registered with them but that is yet to be verified. It is not my place to tell you what to do with your dogs. You will make up your own mind. Hopefully my information will allow you to make an informed decision for yourself.

We live near Stamford, and we have three Irish Red Setters ages old lady of 12,and two males one of…read more3 and the other 19 months. Having been completely stuck after our usual dog carer was unable to have them due to very tragic circumstances, we were left with the situation of possibly having to cancel our two week family holiday. As my three year old setter suffers with lots of anxiety issues and needs medication for this on a regular basis I can not just place him in normal kennels. Due to his anxiety he has already suffered with a gastric torsion and now has a gastropexy, but still bloats regularly, so needs a lot of care and reassurance. My mother agreed to stay at our house for the two weeks and brought her setter with her, this meant that my mother would need help with walking, so I contacted Sophie at short notice and she agreed to help out. Sophie came every day as promised to walk the 4 dogs and on one day came and walked them twice as they were going to be home alone for a longer period of time than normal. My mother found Sophie to be very polite and very reliable and felt that when the dogs were in her care they were all well taken care of even to the extent that my extremely anxious dog started to whine for Sophie when she left! We will definitely use Sophie again and will use the other services that she offers, starting with her doggy day care to get them used to being away from their own surroundings, so hopefully we can use Sophie each time we go away.

Sophie is a fantastic dog walker! We have known her for the last 7 years and she has walked our…read moreboisterous dog, Laszlo since he was a puppy. She is always happy, smiling come rain or shine, and is always adaptable and willing to change times at the last minute - always appreciated in a busy household such as ours. Laszlo thinks she is the best thing and is madly in love with both her and her own dog! I would highly recommend Sophie, for always being dependable, adaptable, and not least, excellent with dogs. L.Squire

Stephanie has been training after Reg for about 3 months now, he's a very loving dog, but not very…read moregood at coming back or walking to heel. She has been a god send, not sure what we would have done without her, within a month she had dramatically improved his actions either that or his hearing. He was listening to commands and following them instead of running off. He now walks to heal and is a pleasure to walk down the road with instead of fighting him all the way (quite an embarrassment). He walks to heel in the park without a lead when asked and always comes back it is quite a revelation. I cant thank Stephanie enough!

My French Bulldog was badly misbehaving up to the point when I couldn't take it anymore and decided…read moreto take actions. So i started searching for a trainer and came across this place. To be honest at first I wasn't expecting much but it's only been 3 weeks since the training has started and I can already see some major improvements. I really admire Stephanie for her firm approach to training which gives the required results. If it wasn't for her I have absolutely no idea how I was going to manage all that mindless running, barking and shoe chewing. Just a big THANK YOU Stephanie.

I've been having Tom & the gang walk my dog every day for a few months now and they've been a…read morepleasure to work with. I love knowing that my dog is getting a nice walk in Hampstead Heath every afternoon. They're flexible and extremely easy to work with. We've had a few times where we've needed to cancel at the last minute (illness, working from home, etc) and they never, ever give us a hard time about it. I could not recommend them highly enough.

Tom, Nick and the rest of the team walked my Jack Russell every day for months and I have only good…read morethings to say about them. When my daughter was born I was really worried about how my dog would get his regular exercise as I really wasn't confident taking both the baby and the dog to the park everyday, especially on days when the weather was rubbish, but city pups proved to be a complete lifesaver. My dog absolutely loves his walks and they are soo good for him (a 'un-exercised' Jack Russell is an unhappy Jack Russell). The team genuinely love and care for the dogs, in fact, now that my Baby is a bit bigger I take my dog to the park myself and we've bumped into someone from Toms team at the park a few times and my dog is sooo excited to see them, he starts following them and forgets all about me !!

Rocco disliked people coming close and I couldn't talk to other dog walkers or friends without him…read moregrowling, barking and lunging. He didn't like to be touched either. I put a muzzle on him because I was worried he may be a bite risk if people got too close. He was a puller and was increasingly difficult to walk him during normal times. I had a trainer previously but they did not take the time to get to know or understand Rocco and went to confront him head on in the first meeting and then took Rocco walking through a busy high street immediately. I then searched for reactive and aggressive dog trainers in London and came across Off Leash K9 and I cannot fault the experience and understanding of Andrea from the very first session. Andrea is non judgemental. His aim in the first session was to build rapport and try to identify the problem. As soon as Andrea met Rocco we were walking straight towards him and Andrea was very quick to identify the reactivity being fear based and guarding. He asked me to circle him a few times from a distance with each circle reducing until I was able to stand next to him quite close and this was probably the closest I had stood next to anyone for a while! Andrea's calming demeanour even with the barking and lunging, the expert knowledge and understanding of dogs behaviour and the teaching for human owners on how to handle their own dogs is out of this world. From the very first session I felt at ease and educated. Andrea told me that Rocco was guarding me hence the lunging and barking at people he didn't know coming near, in addition he was quick to identify the dog equipment I was using was not helping the situation and as soon as we switched from harness to slip lead and how to actually use them properly I felt immediately able to handle him much better. He also taught me how to be continually engaged with Rocco more and how to teach him new tricks through the use of food and objects he liked. Andrea also introduced Rocco to a very well behaved and chilled dog which helped relax him and give him confidence. He walked and interacted very well off leash with the other dog which goes to show again that Andrea knows his stuff and really understands the dogs needs. Rocco had not been off leash for a few months as his behaviour seemed to have changed as he transitioned into his teenage phase so I was quite nervous. Towards the end of our 8 week session Rocco was able to have his muzzle off in the park running around, being much happier and fulfilled and you can see the difference in him. No one outside my immediate family has ever been able to touch or play with Rocco and whilst I was always scared he could potentially bite Andrea who is not phased by the prospect of being bitten Rocco allowed him to hold his paw, stroke his head, have his hand near and in his mouth which I was absolutely amazed by! Rocco even listened to just Andrea on a new command towards the end of our last few sessions as they clearly had built a fantastic bond. Fast forward a week later Rocco was great at it with me and my sister commanding him. Practicing what you are taught by Andrea is really important as you cannot expect your dog to have the behaviour without the practice. You can tell Andrea is passionate about his profession and is highly experienced with dealing with dog behaviour. This is evident through his attitude and determination to help not only the dog but you as an owner. He will also explain the reasons why you should or shouldn't do something which is really insightful and some trainers may not give you this. Andrea is very quick to respond to any questions or concerns you have outside of your lessons. I highly recommend anyone in North London or wider boroughs who has any dog behaviour issues to please ask for Andrea through OffLeash K9. You will be walking away from each session with something new and a much better understanding and handling of your own dog. Andrea is a huge asset to this company and I would recommend other dog trainers to learn from him! He is the ultimate dog whisperer!

London Doggies recently opened up a dog-grooming division in their company. I sent my…read moreBouvier-des-Flandres (a fancy name for a Belgian Cow-herder) there to try them out. I've been living with said Bouvier, Stella, in London for four years now and I've never managed to find a groomer who grooms her the way a Bouvier ought to be groomed. London Doggies has, undoubtably, given her the best groom she's ever had here. I keep looking at her and finding more little bits that I love: the feet! the ears! the bum! She's got her Groove back, and me: I've got my Bouv back. She looks amazing. She smells divine. She feels as soft as cashmere. Seriously. And the best bit: they picked her up and dropped her off. Bliss!

We are extremely happy to find such a lovely and professional place to leave our dog when we're…read moretraveling!Eva was very happy when we pick her up after a week she stayed in London Doggies! We will defiantly use their services again!

Hyde Park Hounds have been walking my incredibly energetic and personality-filled terrier cross for…read morethe past few weeks and we're both delighted! She's not the easiest dog to walk - her recall leaves a bit to be desired and she mostly just wants to chase squirrels - but James has been very patient and enthusiastic with her, and great at keeping us updated on her progress. She is always delighted to be collected for her walks and comes back to us a tired and happy dog. The twitter and Facebook updates are great for seeing what all the dogs are getting up to, and for seeing who she's hanging out with. I have no trouble at all recommending Hyde Park Hounds. They are reliable, enthusiastic and fun and they go the extra mile with communication, all at a very competitive price.

We've been using HydePark Hounds dogwalking sevice for Ruby our Cockapoo, since first meeting James…read morein the park . This is the first time I have felt 100% confident and trusting of using a dog walker. Within two days - James stole Ruby's heart ! She waits patiently everyday for his arrival and her adventures out with him in HydePark. He is without doubt - Ruby's' new best friend'! and enjoys meeting other new doggie friends to play and interact with during their walks. I can honestly recommend James professional and personal service, along with his natural passion love for dogs , very hIghly! . Hydepark hounds is exactly what our area and our local pouches need! Thank you James!

Cannot recommend W11 Pet Nannies enough. Shannon and Hazel are amazing. Our little Dachshund is…read morenever more excited than when they arrive at the door. They are incredibly professional but also so loving, kind and caring. They also groom and dogsit. It's very reassuring to know that Bryn is having the time of his life with them when we go away. And they were even able to take him for a night at short notice. Thank you W11 Pet Nannies. You are officially Bryn's favourite auntie.