The owner of this business continues to delete this review from Google Reviews, so that's nice…read more
First, let me say - I'm only posting this on an anonymous Google account because the owner of this business REQUIRES customers to give their office two copies of their house key upon booking - one to use, and one to keep in their office on file INDEFINITELY. Why this is their policy, and why any of their customers feel secure with this policy in place is beyond me. If this wasn't the case, I'd be happy to put my name on this review. Who knows if copies of these keys are made, but I'm not risking it.
Zen Dog was recommended to us by our dog trainer. Our initial interview with Stephanie was very good - she boasted a lot of training and desire to spend additional time with dogs as she took care of them. She talked about the importance of play and massage and her passion for these things when owners are away...especially for younger dogs like ours. We purchased a series of 12 30-minute visits over 4 days.
Unfortunately, the sitter didn't consider that owners might have cameras around their house to monitor her visits. Our instructions and requests were COMPLETELY ignored by Zen Dog, and the quality of these visits were exceedingly lacking. Here are a few examples:
1. We spent the time to write out bullet points of the most important things when taking care of our dog, many of which were covered in the initial interview as well. These instructions were left on the counter, and were ignored by the sitter.
2. We left out an entire basket of toys in plain sight for the sitter to use to play with our pup. This was mentioned in the list of instructions...just reiterating that they were ignored. The exact same toy was used for the duration of the 4 day period.
3. We left an abundance of treats and goodies for the sitter to use to play with / work our pup, as they had specifically asked "what commands does your dog know" in the interview and paperwork. These were completely untouched except for one visit for the duration of the 4 day period.
4. We specifically asked for the sitter to NOT pick up the pup to put her away in the crate, as she was already having problems being put away. We told the sitter to use her leash and the treats mentioned to guide her and support her learning to be happy to enter her sleeping area. The sitter agreed to this...and then utterly ignored the request when the time came for it. We even mentioned it again twice to her via text throughout the 4 day period as we watched our requirement get ignored. It was STILL ignored. The infuriating part about this point is that our pup was very good with the leash, and obviously hated being picked up. Why choose the path of most resistance AND ignore the wish of your customer??
5. The sitter consistently arrived 1-3 minutes late and left 1-3 minutes early. "Small issue", yes, but why not just set a full timer for the purchased time? Just two minutes is 6% of the booked time. That's not a small amount, especially to consistently occur.
6. The sitter was consistently texting on her phone or talking while supposedly engaging and interacting with our puppy. Yes, cameras have audio recording capabilities, as well! Each visit, the sitter gave our pup the one same toy, didn't interact or play with her, and instead sat on her phone until it was time to put her away again.
7. We purchased the package for one 30 minute walk in the middle of the day, and wanted the sitter to actively play with the pup in the morning and evening visits (this was discussed and written down). Instead, the sitter took the pup on a 10 minute walk each visit, and then didn't play with her at all in the home or yard.
Many of these likely seem nit-picky...but when you are paying a premium rate to have your animal well taken care of and receive promises that aren't delivered upon, despite feedback...it makes the time away from your puppy even more heartbreaking.
We hope this review keeps other animal from receiving absentee and neglectful care, or improves the quality of service Zendog delivers. We recommend that Zendog provide service like their clients are in the room with them.