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.

Two years ago, I decided to drive my cat, Margie, home to Southern California. Long story short, it…read morewas a nightmare, and I decided to find a trusted cat sitter. I did my research on various pet sitting agencies in the area before deciding on Rene. When I reached out, she was extremely responsive and came to meet me and Margie to get a sense of Margie's personality as well as to see where I kept Margie's food, litter, etc... Rene was great at engaging Margie and not a single claw was seen that day. Since then, I have asked Rene to take care of Margie during the holidays and occasionally when I am out of town at the same time as my roommate. Rene sends me updates with pictures everyday and even takes care to describe Margie's mood to me that day. She makes sure I've arrived home so Margie doesn't go hungry and keeps my space very tidy--I believe I once returned home to find my room cleaner than I left it. Rene has also been able to fit me in very last minute and is extremely flexible with her hours. She has been caring for Margie for over 2 years now and I deeply appreciate how reliable and consistent she is, often going the extra mile to make sure Margie is happy and healthy. I love that I have had Rene check in on Margie for the last two Christmases and Rene not only took great care of her, but left her a Christmas present both years. Little gestures like this only add to the list of reasons that make me confident in my choice of cat sitter and I am comfortable recommending Rene to anyone looking for a competent, trustworthy, and thoughtful cat sitter!

Rene has been looking after our cat since she was a kitten and we really now wouldn't want anyone…read moreelse! She is extremely caring, professional, reliable and organised. Always sends multiple pictures and updates so that we know all is well. Our cat was sick (not serious sick!) a little while ago but we didn't have to time to pick up meds from the vet so Rene went for us. I completely trust her and our cat loves her! We have had pet sitters in the past for our previous cat and we used the usual apps but I feel there's a bit if hit and miss and not as much real care. Rene is by far the best pet sitter we have had and I can't recommend her highly enough.

Chris is amazing. My dog Dillon picked her one day many years ago. She walked Dillon for decades,…read moretook him as a border hundreds of times. I was also lucky to be part of her extended family.. She knows how to treat any dog with love and respect. Please dis regard my negative review.

We've been using Chris's dog walking services, and sometimes boarding, for about 12 years now…read more Chris will work with you to find a schedule that fits for all involved. She is very honest and hardworking. She has a key to our house and our alarm code so that she can pick up our dog while we are at work and we've never had any issues with this arrangement. Chris mostly takes her pack of dogs to Point Isabel regional park so they can run around like crazy animals and expend all that energy. Our dog comes home worn out and sleeps the rest of the day, which is nice. Sometimes he rolls in poop or dead fish or whatever and Chris will spray him off with the hose before dropping him at home. She also will text us if this happens so that we have some warning and then my husband and I can negotiate about who will get home first to deal with the dog washing. Chris is excellent at pairing dogs with the appropriate pack so that personalities mesh well and the dogs have a good experience together. We've never had any problems with injury to our pet or negative emotional health. Our dog LOVES Chris to the point where we sometimes feel jealous that he has this bond with another person outside of our family, LOL. Our dog has this whole other life we know nothing about, haha. Chris accepts cash or check only and you have to call or text her to make arrangements, so no fancy computer appointments or billing. Everything is very simple and old-school.

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.

This review has been a long time coming. We've wanted to work with Courtney since 2019. Our dog has…read moreanxiety & noise sensitivity issues and we wanted to help her build confidence. I emailed Courtney back in October for a consultation. They responded quickly with dates and times, I booked a consultation in 11/8/2019. When it came time to our appointment, we had to be rescheduled multiple times due to whatever issue Courtney had. We didn't think much at the time, but this should've been a HUGE red flag. We ended up seeing her on 11/16/2019. Following that, we paid $310 for 4 packs of 30 min lessons on 12/16/2019. We scheduled 4 lessons around the end of January to February. We had to reschedule our lessons due to their dog passing away and health reason (totally unfortunate situation). However, in February, they said they would refund our money once Courtney recovered. We waited until March before we contacted them due to her health reason. Courtney responded via text message once on 03/6/2020 and they responded once through email on 04/5/2020 about how refunds are being worked on. They never responded again. We've emailed & texted multiple times. I really didn't want to write this bad review about a small business, but it's really unfair to take our money, not provide sessions, tell us they'll refund us, and then disappear when it comes time for refunds. All we wanted was for our dog is build confidence and now we're left with nothing. We have been waiting since February 2020 for our refund and it is currently August 2020. I have slowly come to terms that they scammed us, but I want to prevent this situation from happening to someone else. I would give Courtney 0 stars if I could. Please take your business elsewhere, there are other trainers who are more reliable all over the bay area. Don't make the same mistake we did. I attached pictures following the timeline of this whole situation.

We first reached out to Courtney in 2017 for help getting our senior chihuahua more on track with…read morehousebreaking. Since then, Courtney has remained a consistent source of support in working with this highstrung but loving little guy, and most recently walked us through a pretty miraculous introduction between him and our newborn baby. Books the chihuahua is terrified of children and had barked and lunged at babies in the past, and I was so worried about bringing our daughter home to meet him and keeping them both safe and happy. Courtney coached us on how to prepare Books for having a baby in our pack, and gave us insight into how he might be feeling and thoughts he might have. When introduction day came, Courtney was there and walked us through the entire interaction. Books had some behaviors that worried me, but Courtney explained them and assured me they were normal. Before we knew it, he was licking baby's ears and feet! Thanks to that positive first encounter, he has accepted her as a pack member and wants to be near her all the time. He's still having anxiety about the change, and Courtney has been generous about texting with us and offering solutions that have worked (thundershirt and a lil' CBD tincture). I should also mention that Books was terrified of Courtney at first (as he is with most new people), and after training with her a few times, she became one of his favorite people and now he gets excited if he even sees her car in the neighborhood! Courtney was also very generous in advising a friend and I about a stray dog we rescued from a cemetery. The dog was terrified, and Courtney offered a lot of pro bono advice about separation anxiety and helping him relax, and eventually did a formal session with his foster mom. Courtney's help got him to relax enough to stay in a not-very-dog-friendly building until he was adopted. Thank you Courtney and Devoted Dog Training for helping our family be happy together!

A year or so ago I highly recommended Karen, and I need to provide another review. We were going…read moreback East for a 10-day trip and had dropped our Frenchie off with Karen. By the second day our dog was having stomach issues (she had been fine when we left and was still eating/drinking and enjoying Karen's hikes), but Karen immediately recognized that it wasn't just a nervous stomach. She took her to an ER Vet who found a large mass on our dog's spleen, and they had to perform an emergency splenectomy. This came out of nowhere! Karen spent hours at the vet with her before and after surgery. Long story short, the mass was benign and 1.5 months later she is doing great! We could not immediately return back to the Bay Area because we were back East for a family memorial service, but Karen nursed her back to health. I don't trust anyone more than Karen with our dog now - she is so experienced and caring and without her quick action our dog may have died of a burst spleen. I am so thankful our Frenchie was with with Karen. She is a smart, trusted, and super fun caregiver who dogs love and parents can truly trust with their dogs' lives!

We are very thankful for Karen and Piedmont Pet! We have entrusted our animals to Karen for…read moreseveral years and have only ever had great experiences. Piedmont Pet is an excellent in-home boarding and daycare provider for small dogs. Nervous pet owners like me will appreciate the genuine care, attention to detail, and communication Karen brings to every pet care interaction. Our little 17-lb terrier mix has a few health issues and is on a special diet and meds, and needs to be in an environment where he will be handled gently. We never, ever worry with Karen! She was extremely thorough when we first started working with her, making time to ask lots of good questions and answer all of ours. She is a confident and very experienced animal lover who organizes and handles small-dog pack walks like the pro she is. We get daily photos of his adventures when our dog is with Piedmont Pet which we really, really appreciate. Karen takes care of him like one of her own (little sweaters in the winter, no-pull harnesses, comfy beds and blankets, etc.), and we can tell he feels secure and comfortable with her and his "vacation pack". His time there is a great mix of snuggles and downtime and walks and enrichment time. Karen also provides drop-in visits for our cat when we're away which we really appreciate. Our cat doesn't like anyone and she actually plays with Karen and allows pets (we get pics and videos of this too)! We feel secure knowing our sweet little dog buddy is in great hands and our less-sweet but still loved cat buddy is getting wet food and playtime when we can't be there. Strongly recommend Piedmont Pet, especially to anyone with small dogs in the East Bay in search of secure, loving home boarding or daycare!

Laura B. is a wonderful dog walker. I hired Laura when I traveled out of town to walk some of the…read moredogs that Animal Friends takes on recurring pack walks. Laura B. is intelligent, compassionate, and truly in tune with animals' needs. I trust her completely. I would without hesitation recommend her to anyone in need of a dog care expert. She is professional and talented. I think that one of the things that sets Laura apart is that she is a very practical and determined manager. She strives only for excellence every time, and she delivers. Thank you, Laura!

Laura has quickly become one of our dog's favorite people. She takes him on fun and exciting group…read morehikes where he gets to meet up with his other dog friends. Laura has been super reliable and sends updates and pictures of him on his excursions.

Dear Pam and the entire Critter Pet Care team,…read more Thank you so much for taking such wonderful care of our family kitty, Dr. Robinson, during his stay. We truly appreciated the regular updates and loved seeing photos of him enjoying himself it gave us so much peace of mind while we were away. Our family had been searching for the right cat boarding facility for quite some time, and after reading the excellent reviews for Critter Pet Care, choosing you was an easy decision. From the moment I arrived, I was impressed by your beautiful facility, the attentive staff, and the genuine care you show every pet. Thank you again for making Dr. Robinson feel so comfortable and well cared for. We couldn't have asked for a better experience, and we'll definitely be back the next time we need boarding. With gratitude, The Robinson Family

We took our 3 month old kitten here while we when to Tahoe…read more Let me just tell you, the facility is top notch. Super impressive operation. The owner Pam is super professional and sent us daily updates of our kitty. This is definitely going to be the place we used to board our pets.