We had never used an "official" house or pet sitter before and when some pretty last minute…read moreThanksgiving week plans started to come to fruition, my first instinct was to call our vet where we typically board our dogs but of course they were booked up (months in advance). I frantically started looking into some other options but as luck would have it, I remembered that my favorite masseuse, Wendy Goldstein, also did house and animal care. I called Wendy immediately and told her the dates we needed, what we needed and serendipitously, she was available for the entire time frame. Wendy made arrangements to come to the house a week before our departure with a contract that laid out everything needed to make our time away as stress free and helpful. We showed her around the house/how things worked (her contract even asked for info on where the water/gas shut off is located, etc.) and introduced her to the dogs. As many of you who have read my reviews in the past know, we have 2 dogs(both rescues) and one of which who has been a tri-pawed for almost 2 years now. Beckett who just turned 9 and who Kevin has had for the past 8 years has always had back and neck issues, but with the running around with only 1 back leg he has started to develop some sciatica issues and had been on an anti-inflammatory and a pain medicine. When we told Wendy about Beckett's back, she felt his spine and said, "she would work on him while we were gone as a spine is a spine". I know Wendy has been instrumental when I have had sciatic flare ups, so I told her to work her magic. We were gone for almost an entire week. I spoke to Wendy only twice during our time away. She let us know Beckett was again jumping on the couch on his own, that she hadn't had to give him any pain medicine and that all in all he seemed to be walking and doing better (I had a feeling she would be magical for him). Holly our 4 1/2 year old(we have had her for 2 1/2 years now) is a little more difficult with new people and Wendy did report it took her a couple of days of us being gone until she was willing to sleep in the bed (she chose to sleep in a dog bed in Kevin's office) instead until she was comfortable. Our mail was taken in, the plants were watered, the sheets and towels were laundered and the bed was remade with the fresh sheets upon our return. The house was as clean as we left it-the dogs were not traumatized like they often are after boarding and neither picked up any new bad habits (like a deeper bark or barking incessantly which happened during their last time boarding the beginning of November). Let me just say that aside from the cost savings of having a dog/house sitter vs. boarding 2 dogs is enormous. To add to this our vet charges an extra $4-5 per day if a medication needs to be administered to a pet while boarding (even if they prescribed it), AND the vet charges a "premium" during peek holiday times. On top of all of this, having what is now considered a Senior Dog who has some physical limitations and a house that needs more tending to than our last house, having someone like Wendy in our lives makes it virtually a no-brainer if/when we have more trips when we can't take the dogs with us. Her prices are more than reasonable, her care of our home and animals was(is) immeasurable. She is also the best masseuse I have ever been to if you are not in the market for a house/animal sitter. Here is the link to Wendy's massage: http://www.yelp.com/biz/wendy-goldstein-cmt-ccht-danville

I've known Wendy for years and have used her pet sitting services several times. She is very…read moreprofessional, trustworthy, and leaves everything exactly as she finds it. She is diligent about walking the dog every day, and is worth every penny. I recommend her services.

We were in need of a dog sitter for my 16-year-old Maltese-Chihuahua and found Keelie's Pet Sitting…read morethrough Yelp. We decided to give her a call to get more information and set up a meet and greet. We were immediately impressed by Keelie's professionalism, responsiveness and pricing, which stood out from other services we researched. She was thorough, personable and knowledgeable and we felt she was a great fit for our dog. While away on vacation, either Keelie or one of her team members came to my apartment to feed our dog, change her pee pads and took her out for a quick walk and potty break. They updated us via app or email how our dog did and took pictures of her while she was under their care. We could tell our dog was comfortable with them and that they gave her the best care while we were gone. We also have a reactive Australian Cattle Dog that Keelie and team were willing to work with in case we wanted to have them dog sit him in the future. We appreciated Keelie for offering this opportunity, especially since it is difficult to find dog boarding/sitting services that are OK with working with dogs of different temperaments and disabilities. We are truly grateful with their service and we will be using Keelie's Pet Sitting service again!

We booked with Keelie because we really wanted our furbaby, Goose, to be part of our wedding day…read more Goose is a big boy--83 lbs--and we love him so much. While we made sure our venue was dog-friendly, we needed someone we could trust to take care of him during the festivities and bring him back to our Airbnb once the reception started. We are so incredibly happy and grateful we found Keelie! From the very start, Keelie was super responsive and friendly. We met a couple of weeks before the wedding so Goose and Keelie could get to know each other and we could go over all the logistics. On the big day, we didn't have to worry about Goose at all--Keelie went above and beyond to make sure he was happy and safe. Goose is big and energetic, but with Keelie, he was on his best behavior! Keelie even took adorable photos of Goose throughout the day, which wasn't part of the agreement but meant so much to us. She dropped him off at our Airbnb, gave him another walk, stayed with him until he finished his dinner, and let us know when she left. We absolutely loved Keelie and cannot thank her enough for taking such amazing care of Goose. If you're looking for a pet sitter who will treat your furbaby like their own, look no further--book with Keelie's Pet Sitting!

Thank you Margaret for the recent dog-sitting and walking!…read more Margaret did a great job stopping by our house twice per day to visit our dog Tinky. She took her for a walk, played with her, fed and gave her water while we were gone. She also made sure to bring in any newspapers or fliers that were left on our porch during the weekend. We felt very comfortable leaving for the weekend with Margaret's help! We will definitely use her services again and recommend to everyone we know!

I have used Margaret's pet sitting for almost a decade. She had the key to our house and I would…read moretext her when I needed pet sitting services. I loved getting updates via Facebook on my pets well being whilst I was away. Margaret cat sat my two cats and a tank of fish.

The REAL DOG WHISPERER !!!…read more Jan is amazing! Truly professional and pleasant, but also has a natural connection with animals (my two boys couldn't wait for me to leave when they found out she was taking care of them :)) You can have total piece of mind, knowing your furry friends are going to be safe and loved with Jan. THANK YOU

I have been using Jan to take care of my cats for many years. She is fabulous with them, caring,…read more trustworthy, honest and reasonable. I made the mistake of hiring Hound Depot and Tracy actually stole money from my bedroom. Should have hired Jan to begin with. I highly recommend Jan she is the Best.

Always there is apparently never there. They didn't even answer our inquiry about pet sitting our…read moredogs.

I wanted to give an update of Always There Home & Pet Care as our circumstances have changed, and…read moreof course, COVID happened. As expected, Luz and her team adapted to COVID protocols completely and we've continued to use them, though less frequently of course during the pandemic. We now have a different composition of pets, too. Two young dogs - a teenager and a puppy - and our grand dame who is 13+ years old. Luz and her staff are dedicated to learning about the "new" dogs, their idiosyncrasies and whatever changes happen to feeding, exercising and medicating protocols. Our dogs are a handful, we often have varying instructions for their care, where they need to be, what they need to eat, and so forth. None of it fazes Luz and her team in the slightest. I cannot say enough fabulous things about Always There Home & Pet Care. Thank you to Luz, Monika, and the rest of the team!

For those who don't have human babies, we have fur babies…read more Big Paw Pet Care also takes care of kitties! I have a kitty furbaby and I trust Beth and Audrey implicitly to take care of her. Beth and Audrey are so good about texting me updates and pictures of kitty when I'm gone that I have peace of mind that she is happy and healthy. I'm so lucky to have Big Paw Pet Care, it's obvious Beth and Audrey care about what they do and I will not hesitate to use them again.

I could not be happier with Big Paw!…read more Over the years we have left our dogs with various different sitters and services, but none as good as Big Paw. We recently went away for 20 days and felt very apprehensive about leaving our two little Bijon/Havanese mixes at someones house for that long. After meeting Beth and visiting her home we felt much more at ease. Beth and her husband are extremely friendly and their home is clean and spacious with a nice backyard for the dogs to play in. They watch all types of dogs - big and small. Our boys slept in their bed, played with their baby and fit in like part of the family. She kept them bathed and clean despite the fact that they were lucky enough to be outdoors every day. She administered allergy meds and took great care of them. We LOVED that she sent us emails or texts every day (yes, every day) while we were gone with updates on how our boys were doing. It was so nice to get pictures of them with huge smiles on their faces and see how clean and well treated they were. She loved them like they were her own and to top it all off, her price was significantly better than others. I can not speak more highly of Beth and Big Paw. Their website is very nice and allows for you to create a profile for your pets with a section to list information like vet, medical, emergency contact, breed type, etc. I look at my dogs like they are my children, and I would not steer you wrong, you will be more than happy with Big Paw! THANK YOU BETH!!!!! Our boys miss you!

I have used this service multiple times over the past three years. I have nothing but good things…read moreto say about them. They are responsive, realiable, and a joy to work with. There is one particular sitter, Emily, that has been watching my cats for multiple vacations. When I ask for her, Fetch has been great about making her available. When she hasn't been available, the others Fetch has used have been fantastic. I highly recommend them for whatever pet sitting, care, etc. that you need.

I cannot say enough good stuff about this group. AND, most importantly, I trust them with my…read moreprecious Sam.

Where to start. First off, I have had cats in my family since before I was born. I think I was…read morepre-destined to become a cat lady, and an animal lover. That being said, my pets are my children, and I am extremely picky about who watches them. In fact, I don't let ANYONE watch them, unless it's my mom or someone I trust to the absolute max and I REALLY have to leave town for a few days. I'm pretty much a homebody, I work from home, and stay home with them all day. Exciting, I know. I started volunteering for Tiffany here and there and really could not believe what a huge heart she has. I have never met anyone so selfless or compassionate towards these animals. After seeing firsthand how diligent she is with her clients' pets and their homes, I knew I wouldn't trust ANYONE else to petsit for me, and she didn't disappoint. She knew all 7 of my cats, and my 1 bunny by name, all of their personalities...everything. How to approach the skittish ones, the grumpy one, the needy one, understood they are not just animals, they are unique and have different needs, and need to be treated as such. One of my cats takes medicine, and it is so comforting to know that Tiffany has a background as a vet tech and is able to administer medicine quickly and stress-free!!! In addition to her amazing kindness and compassion towards animals, I was fortunate enough to adopt one of mine from her. A couple years ago, she help head a rescue effort at a hoarding home, where she saved 17 dogs, and a senior, blind cat...who also loves to scratch people up. But she saved him nonetheless, got him all fixed up and gave him food and a roof over his head at the local vet office, until I met him and decided I had room to take him in. When I had behavioral problems in another of my cats, she was the ONLY person who was able to figure out the cause, and fix it. She understands animal behavior, training, and even medicine just as well as (and in some cases, even better) than most veterinarians I've seen. I now go to her for EVERYTHING animal related lol, I'm sure she's sick of it! But if she is she never lets on! She is amazing at what she does and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a petsitter or animal behavioralist. I know she has a TON of experience with dogs and have seen her control a dog the size of a horse, as well as one the size of a football, but this just goes to show she can even help with cats, who don't know the meaning of control at all :) Thank you Tiffany, you're the best!

I am normally not the person to write reviews, but I think it's important for everyone who is…read moreconsidering Naughty Paw to read this. When we came back earlier to pick up our Pomeranian puppy for wash/dry/grooming, we saw through the glass that our Pom nearly fell off the table from 5 feet high while they were grooming her!!! My wife and I were shocked and horrified by this. When we got her back 10 min later, we saw that they had created a huge area of bare skin behind her ear during the grooming (picture). They tried to blame it on our Pomeranian, because 'she wasn't cooperating'. Our Pomeranian is a puppy of 7 months old, who is sweet to everyone around her. It's obvious to us that the people working there are unprofessional and lack the experience dealing with dogs, which makes it very dangerous. In retrospect, our dog could have died if she had fallen of that table. She was also shaking and her heart rate was extremely high when we got her back from this traumatizing experience. Please avoid this place for the sake of your dog safety. You have absolutely no idea what is happening behind those doors when you drop your dog off there. There are plenty of other places in Halifax that offer a better and safer experience than Naughty Paw.

The best. Colleen and her team of dog walkers have been walking my dog for many years. I've had…read morenothing but good experiences with them and Colleen has bailed me out on short notice many times (like today when I needed to make a last minute work trip). I always get a real time update a soon as they have finished the walk, with pictures and a report on their app. Water bowls always refilled and some love/ belly rubs at home for my dog and cat. Highly recommend.

Absolutely fantastic!! Colleen and her team (especially Lola) are the best and I'm so thankful to…read morehave found them. They're always punctual, courteous, and they follow all of our instructions. I never doubt that our dogs are safe and loved. I can't recommend Happy Tails more highly!

Her business is taking care of dogs, we left our small (17#) 10 month old boston terrier we let her…read moreknow that he did not seem to get a long with big dogs this was our first long term Boarding experience. She found he was not reliable with other dogs big or small randomly. She contacted us on the 12th day of an 18 day prepaid contract that she could not care for him and that we needed to make arrangements to take him elsewhere. (Note were on the east coast traveling.) As far as we know he did not cause any injuries.....this is her job, why she could not accommodate and separate him is beyond our comprehension.... As I did not want my dog to be where he was not wanted, I was able to have my daughter pick him up....it caused us a lot of inconvenience she was able to find someone better to watch him. I am sure she feels she did the right thing.... but, I wonder. Know her limitations...she says she trains dogs as well...so why couldn't she deal with one puppy.

After trying several different doggie daycare places (Dogtopia and WOOF) for our young male Shih…read moreTzu, my wife and I were very fortunate to come across Kris at Pampering Paws who provides him with tender loving and exceptional care in a "home like" environment that is safe and fun. As some reviewers have mentioned, Kris' property especially her backyard is ideally suited for her clients to run around and play with each other. She takes great care making sure that her clients are peaceful and happy while visiting her home. The #1 reason why we appreciate Kris at Pampering Paws is that SHE IS THE ONE caring for our dog. Kris is always great about providing us with updates both during and when we pick him up. We highly recommend Kris at Pampering Paws especially if you have a dog that needs a little extra TLC.