We had a troubling experience boarding our dog Zazie, with Jet Dog. After successfully working with…read moreJet Dog to take our pup on weekly walks, we were excited about the prospect of them boarding her while we were away. Unfortunately very disappointed with the experience. While being boarded, our dog Zazie was bitten by another dog. We were never informed that she would be boarded with dogs she had never met, nor were we notified when the incident occurred. In fact, we only learned about the bite two full days later, and only after a wound became visibly noticeable. When we spoke with the boarder, we were told the bite did not warrant a vet visit because the wound was "nice and red and not smelly." We had to push for veterinary care ourselves. Once seen by a vet, it was clear this assessment was wrong, as the wound required cleaning and stitches. Unfortunately, the problems didn't stop there. The cone that was placed after the initial vet visit either came off or was not properly monitored, resulting in the stitches coming out. Zazie had to be taken back to the vet for a second procedure involving staples. That visit cost $280, and despite the injury and follow-up complications occurring entirely under Jet Dog's supervision, they refused to cover even a portion of the cost. Incidents can happen in group settings, but what matters is transparency, urgency, and accountability. Jet Dog failed on all three fronts:     *    No disclosure about unfamiliar dogs being boarded together     *    A two-day delay in notifying us about a serious bite incident     *    Downplaying the wound that required medical attention     *    Refusal to take responsibility for resulting veterinary expenses When you leave your pet with a boarding service, you are trusting them with your dog's safety and well-being. In our experience, that trust was not respected and we are sharing this so other pet owners can make an informed decision.

JetDog has been great for our family (oh, and the dog!). We always feel like she's having fun and…read morekept safe on her pack walks! The JetDog crew communicates very well and makes everything super smooth.

We've been working with Action Dog for the past 3.5 years and couldn't be happier with Jeff and his…read moreoutstanding team (especially Anna). They've remained patient with us through all of our dog's little quirks, and we know he gets super excited every time he hears their car pull into the driveway. He always comes back from his hikes happy and exhausted, and we've noticed his recall has improved significantly since we started working with Action Dog. We couldn't recommend Action Dog enough. We have complete trust when it comes to them taking care of our dog, as well as picking up/dropping off from our house even in moments when we're not around. Sadly we're moving out of the area and will hopefully be lucky enough to find similar care for our dog.

This review is long, long overdue. Elana, Jeff and Sylvester have been watching our Waffles 3-4…read moredays a week now for almost three years, and they've been nothing short of amazing. They are caring, flexible, timely, responsive and Waffles absolutely adores them. In addition to joining them on daily off leash hikes all across Oakland and Berkeley, we've left Waffles overnight with Action Dog about a dozen times. Bottom line is that we have the ultimate trust in this team and know that Waffles is always in good, loving hands with them. They really are his second set of parents and we can't say enough good things about the impact they've had on our lives.

I met Hollyce almost 2 years ago. I was frazzled as a day old dog mom, with a 6 week old puppy in…read moremy arms, buying a bottle of wine at my local corner store. Hollyce noticed I might need help. She gave me her card and I called her the next day. She has helped me take care of (and learn to take care of) my baby ever since. She is incredibly flexible and reliable, and there is literally no one else I trust my dog with. Prior to Covid, I was working in the field as a social worker. Sometimes I would get stuck at work for hours past when I supposed to get home. On those days, Hollyce always came through, and would pick up Pancho or hang on to him for the entire day. Literally sometimes I wouldn't be back home until 8 at night. Now that I'm mostly working from home, I still ask Hollyce to pick up pancho (because we love her) and if she notices I'm stressed, she'll just hang on to him for me and he'll get a few extra hours of attention in (probably why she has so many dogs on certain days). She is exceptional as a dog walker and trainer, and just as importantly, as a human. We love her so much, sometime we will coordinate trips to the dog park on days Pancho doesn't go with her, just so we can have the joy of playing with her and her well-trained pack. So, if you're looking for for a dog walker who will literally walk that extra mile with your dog, Holly is your gal!!

Holly is so fabulous! I've never felt more comfortable leaving my cat with anyone, including my…read moreclose friends, neighbors, and family members who see my cat on a regular basis. My cat has a ton of energy and is an escape artist--she wants to go outside so bad! Holly took care of our baby while we were away and was extra cautious when coming and going. She stayed for a few hours each visit to play with our cat and form a relationship with her while we were away. It felt so good knowing our sweet girl was in such good hands.

Coleen is the dog whisperer!…read more She's great with our dog. From the moment we met her, we knew we can trust her with our pup. She has a very soothing and kind voice and gentle approach with our dog. She has a key to our house and picks up our pup. Our cockapoo and maybe terrier rescue is almost a year old. We've had her for 4 months and she's still "in training". She adores Coleen. We all adore Coleen and her team! Coleen has special days where you can schedule spa treatments/grooming sessions for your pet. Another great service is when she picks up pet supplies for you and drops it off at your home. Coleen is fabulous and we all are very fortunate to have her in our lives!

Coleen is an amazing pet sitter and doggie outing extraordinaire! She had cared for my cats and dog…read morefor about 20 years. She is remarkably reliable and has bailed me out on short notice more times than I can remember. She is also a priceless resource when it comes to local vets, pet stores, proper nutrition and behavioral problems. She is kind and patient. She recently boarded my dog for almost 2 months during my move to Boston. She keeps you connected to your beloved pet with text pics. Best dog walker, cat sitter in the East Bay! As an update, Coleen continues to take care of my dog Lucy - she will be boarding Lucy over the Christmas break. Her rates are very reasonable and she never boards too many animals as safety and comfort of the pets in her care are her top priority.

I met Kristina while walking my Oggie Doggie around the lake. She was hanging out by the boat…read morerental with the Ladies of the Lake just before they were about to get their row on. I used to row the lake with the boat club so I already had a soft spot for that aspect but I actually appreciated her asking about my dog and giving me her card for future reference. I had only adopted by a dog in January from Rocket Dog and had as-of-yet, not left him with anyone day or night. He had been loyally by my side for many months in my disability and unemployment. My family does an annual trip to Reno in July so as the date approached, I tore up my house looking for the card she gave me. Once I located it, I both text her and called her. She had just had a tooth pulled so she wasn't feeling 100%, the date I needed boarding was over a month away so I said let's touch base when she was feeling better. A couple of weeks go by and as I was thinking to myself, I should call, text, or email her again. No sooner had I had that thought, had I opened up my email to find correspondence from her saying just that! I have read a couple of negative reviews on here about her personality. I like to do that when I am getting to know a business to see what others have had issues with. Even after reading those, I still stand confident that for my older dog, who is half-blind due to coming out of a hoarding situation, she is a good fit for us. We initially did a meet and greet for about an hour with the dog, my 10-year-old daughter, and myself in her backyard to see how Oggie did with her other dogs, both resident dogs, and boarded dogs. He did great and neither Oggie nor my daughter wanted to leave. The next step was a day boarding so he could rest assured that his new adoptive mommy, me, was not passing him off permanently but temporarily and I would return after 8 hours and take him home. The final step in our Reno trip coming up on Saturday for a few days will be to take Oggie there the night before we leave and pick him up the morning after we return home. I am confident that Oggie and Kristina will do well together. If not, I will update this review to reflect such... To be continued...

We had a _terrible_ experience with Kristina, and I would advise anyone considering working with…read moreher to read this review in full first. She made several decisions that made us deeply uncomfortable, both in terms of how she related to our dog, other dogs and how she treated her financial agreements with us (i.e. not honoring her word and charging us for services not received). Shortly after moving to Oakland, we had to go away on short notice and had to establish a new boarding relationship. We contacted Kristina about a week before leaving. We agreed to one day of doggie daycare that we did not otherwise need to determine if this was a good fit. This was explicitly a "test". She required us to put down a deposit to hold the boarding spot. When I dropped my dog off, she began making derogatory comments about a very elderly dog she was boarding in a confiding way, as though it would be obvious to me that the dog was a problem (it wasn't). She said the dog was very old and needed to be put down, that the owners hadn't been up front with her about the dog's problems. I was amazed she would tell a new client that another client's dog should be put down. Mystified, I asked what the dog's problems were. She said that the dog was sometimes disoriented and bumped into walls, that it sometimes vocalized and cried for its owners (as it was doing then ) and it made her feel terrible to hear this. She said she would not work with this dog again. To me, nothing about the dog's behavior seemed problematic or out of the ordinary for an elderly dog while boarding and it was only stressful to me to hear a prospective dog boarding business owner talking about dogs this way. She also said she was possibly going camping for 2 of the 4 days we would be boarding our dog, but her roommate would be around to watch the dogs. This was also alarming, but we felt we had no time to find another arrangement, so we agreed. When we picked up our dog at the end of the day, we learned that our dog had been cowering under the furniture most of the day. We'd never seen our dog behave this way, though he has boarded with half a dozen other people. He usually sits in guests' laps the whole time they are visiting. We were alarmed, but Kristina asked us to bring our dog back a second day because she'd been out of the house much of the day and hadn't been available to make our dog comfortable. She could not remember our dog's name and referred to him as a "she" (he is male). We were reluctant not only because of the red flags already described, but because we did not need daycare, only boarding, and each additional "test" day of daycare was costly. It was concerning that we'd paid for a test day when Kristina was mostly out of the house. We felt she could have planned better. We were supposed to bring our dog at 7AM the second day. We ran late. Kristina called us at 7:01 or 7:02 AM and asked where we were and told us she needed us to arrive at the time scheduled. It was stressful for us that there was so little wiggle room. Kristina indicated that she was going to a doctor's appointment that morning and needed to leave promptly at 7AM. Yet the only point of this second unneeded day of daycare was to see if our dog would be more comfortable with her if she was home, instead of out of the house. Our dog was returning again to a frightening environment with nobody there to calm him. After drop off, my partner and I realized we were uncomfortable leaving our dog with Kristina. I contacted her and said I preferred not to go forward with the boarding arrangement based on the test daycare experience and would she be willing to refund for boarding. She texted, "of course." That afternoon, 8 hours later, with no further communication to the contrary, my partner picked up our dog. Kristina refused the refund because she said we hadn't given sufficient notice, even though our whole relationship had happened within such short notice that we could not possibly have given more notice, and even though she'd agreed to a refund based on the test days. She said her policy was to keep all the money, but that she would make an exception and give us a credit for daycare. We didn't trust her anymore, and so my partner argued for an hour before she agreed to refund 50%. She agreed only after my partner asked for a written policy, which stated she would keep 50%, not 100%, as she had been verbally claiming. Seeing the discrepancy, she said she's not much of a businessperson and can't keep track of her own policy. In the end, we paid Kristina ~$200 for 2 days of test daycare to determine that this was a person we did not trust with our dog. We happily made the 8-hour round-trip drive _twice_, on work nights, to drop off and pick up our dog from a family member rather than going forward with the boarding arrangement.

Cynthia and her crew have been an absolute godsent for my little Bonnie and me! She's taken care of…read moreBonnie for over 3 years both for regular walking and dog socialization excursions and boarding for my longer international trips. I trust Cynthia to come into my home, pick up my dog and make sure keys are returned in place. She's very communicative and responsive. My days are long at work and commute, and Cynthia has been a relief to ensure Bonnie is walked and cared for. Oftentimes, she would take Bonnie home so she can play with Cynthia's dog instead of being home alone, and I appreciate her kindness in keeping Bonnie on top of her mind. Cynthia also sends regular updates of my dog when she's out walking them which is much appreciated. I highly recommend Cynthia and her services to anyone who needs additional support in taking care of their pup.

This was our first time using a dog walking service and this was THE BEST choice we made! Cynthia…read moreis so organized and a great communicator. She and the 2-3 walkers that helped us were always so communicative, on time and shared photos with us of walks. They are also very flexible and were amazing when we had lat minute schedule changes. 10/10 would recommend. These people truly love dogs!

I used Earth Girl Dog Walker for years for boarding and walking services. My dog was well taken…read morecare of. Reliable, timely and expert services. My old dog was picked up from our home went on many different walking adventures. I could go out of town with ease knowing that she was boarded in good hands; plus got to play with other dogs. My dog passed from health problems, but if I bring another dog into the family, will definitely use Earth Girl services.

Kira has been walking and boarding my two pups for going on two years and they absolutely adore…read moreher. My lab is older and when we adopted her she was obese and completely untrained, she's now a perfect weight with great recall and couldn't be happier. My other dog is shy and mopes whenever we have to board her, so Kira gives her extra snuggles and treats whenever she's with her. I've honestly never met anyone with a more sincere love of dogs and it really shows in the way she cares for her pack. She's very careful with the dogs she takes into her group, making sure every pup's temperaments are a good fit and they go on amazing adventures all over the east bay.

So grateful for Winter and the rest of the FDW staff. Our dog has been going to multiple playdates…read morea week for several years and she (and US) love it.

My dog was a puppy when she started going to Family Dog Walkers for play dates twice a week. The…read morepandemic was raging and we wanted her to have a social life, even though our own was curtailed. She adores her time there: she shrieks with excitement in the back seat on the drive over, and bursts through the gate to race around the front yard when we arrive. She wags her whole body when she sees her beloved Jessamyn, Mia, and Winter. I can't say enough about how happy that makes me. The facility, a large home in Montclair, has plenty of space indoors and out for dogs to romp or snooze. The "Littles" have their special time and so do the bigger dogs. Winter does boarding as well, which is great.