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.

We have been using Elmtree Doggy Daycare for a number of months now. Our dog Stella loves going…read morethere and comes back happy and ready for her evening nap. All of the team at Elmtree Doggy Daycare (a special shoutout to the young man who picks up Stella and brings her home) are wonderful and very loving with the animals in their care.

I've just picked up my doggy after her two week stay at Elmtree…read more My dog is a nervous one at best and with her slightly neurotic tendencies I was looking for somewhere for her to go that was a bit more than the norm. She usually stays with my in-laws, but they were also galavanting, so I had to find another option. After some research online I found Elmtree. I went over all the reviews I could find and couldn't find anyone with a negative word to say about them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to check out the place before hand, so I was going wholly on these reviews. The run up to her stay was very smooth. They answered all my emailed questions efficiently and kindly. I changed my mind about a few things and they were very accommodating. I was planning on getting her picked up and dropped off, but when the invoice came it was £72 each way and I decided that was just too much on top of everything else. We dropped her off the morning that we flew, it was a particularly hot and sweaty day and we'd got lost trying to find the place. Thanks, Google Maps. (Don't walk through the cemetery, unless you know where the gap in the wall is.) I was a bit stressed because of the heat and the impending 'leaving my dog with strangers.' When we arrived the lady at the front desk was awesome; very friendly and welcoming. She called through for someone to come and get my dog once all the incidentals had been looked at, like her vaccinations card and they also asked whether she'd been spayed. Then a lady came and got her. That was pretty much it and I have to admit, I was a little bit ..well I think shocked is too dramatic a word to use, but.. for want of a better one... I had arrived early hoping to get a look at where my dog was going to stay and she what she would be up to, I thought that seeing as they allowed people to drop in that it wouldn't be a problem. When I asked the lady if I could come too, she said that it wasn't really convenient and started to walk away with my doggy. I started to cry and was like.. can I just say good bye to which, of course, the lady happily stopped and I gave my doggy a hug before she was taken down the corridor. When I came to pick her up there was a similar situation. The lady came and dropped her off and was lovely enough, but I think had I not probed for questions about how my dog had been during her stay then I don't think I would have had any feedback on the last two weeks and that kinda aggrieved me somewhat. I *know* that I'm an oversensitive pet owner (this is my first dog,) but I think that probably comes as standard for someone who forks out over £500 for their pet to be boarded over two weeks. When I first left her with my in-laws I had written four sides of A4 for them to be aware of all her little idiosyncrasies - so yeah - a little overboard, I know - but I felt that Elmtree knew nothing of the dog they had just taken to look after. I know that this is what they do, so they have experience of all kinds of doggy behaviours, so perhaps it's not really for their info, but just perhaps more from the owner. My friend's dog goes somewhere similar on a day basis when she can't work from home and at the end of the day she receives a little card to say what her dog had been up to what she had eaten, etc. It's the personal touches that make it - especially for this neurotic dog owner. The only other thing I feel I should mention is that my dog is quite a bit thinner on her return. As to how grams I'm not sure at the moment, but she is visibly more boney than she was when she went in. I know for a fact that she was fed a lot because the lady who dropped her off remarked on how much she ate - so I think that it probably has a lot more to do with the constant play with other puppies for two weeks, but it's so noticeable I thought it was worth a mention. Overall I am happy with my dog's stay at this place and now that she's been there and returned a happy looking chappy, I would happily board her there again. I think there is a good chance that I turned up at too busy a time, but if you're hella neurotic like me be prepared to probe a bit to find out the information that you want.

We have used Cranfield Kennels for years for all of our dogs. Coco our first dog used to be upset…read morein the kennels and the owner Anne used to take him into her home. Our 4th dog Champers became ill whilst we were on holiday and Anne took her to the vets where she was operated on and looked after her until we returned. We are now on our 6th dog Max and would not use any other kennels. We live in Hatfield Peverel and whilst on holiday in Cyprus we met another couple who take their dog to Cranfield Kennels and they lived in Dagenham! Superb service and lovely people. We wouldn't leave our dogs anywhere else.

From the owner: Boarding of dogs, cats and all small animals.read more

Doug rocks! He is pet sitting my rather highly strung, difficult little angel, Jason. He's been…read moresending us regular pictures and updates. Jason appears to be happy and relaxed. We were nervous about finding someone to take care of the little man because our previous pet sitter returned Jason to us looking very thin indeed and with scars on his face which looked like bite marks. Doug heard what we said and has been sending photos of Jason actually eating and without bite marks! We're not using Doug's walking service on a regular basis because we don't live in his pick up area, but Jason is going out with his groups while he's staying with them. From what I've seen in the photos and when I did a trial walk with him and his groups it all seems to be going very smoothly. I don't want to tempt fate by writing a review too early, but what else can I do on sleepless night?

Having come highly recommended my wife and I decided to contact Doug's Dogs London for company for…read moreour French Bulldog puppy, Martin. From the second we met Doug we knew we were happy to trust him with our baby and also the keys to our home. Since day one Doug has been beyond patient and a credit to Martins development. Since Doug has looked after him, Martin is no longer car sick, LOVES other dogs, and most importantly has the support he needs as a little puppy. We honestly couldn't recommend Doug highly enough for anybody looking for a reliable dog walking and dog care service. Thanks Doug!