Avoid this pet sitter!! Despite claims on her website and from her personally that she does not accept aggressive dogs, she keeps at least two unpredictable and aggressive dogs in her long-term boarding care and these dogs attacked and seriously injured my dog while in her care! She is untrustworthy and unprofessional. She has not called to check on my dog's welfare nor responded to my messages with my report of the extent of his injuries.
I'm very unhappy with and angry about my experience with this pet care provider. I left my Sheltie overnight for one night, based on a recommendation from an acquaintance. Within 5 minutes of being in the home, he was attacked by another dog stationed on a pet bed right near the entrance way. There was no way for him to enter the home without passing by this dog, who lunged off the pet bed completely unprovoked and unexpectedly and who was followed into the attack by her "sibling" dog from the same home. After the attack, the owner of this business, Karry, stated to me, "Oh, I should have warned you about that dog, she's 'broken' and is on anti-anxiety medication but she still sometimes goes off unpredictably on other dogs." After the attack, when the two sibling dogs had returned to their pet beds, the second dog continued to growl aggressively. The website for this provider states that she only accepts non-aggressive dogs. Had I known that she actually does accept aggressive and maladjusted dogs, I would NEVER have taken my Sheltie to her home for care. I put my dog in her care based on the assurance that she only accepts non-aggressive dogs, so I immediately felt lied to after she explained about the dog who attacked my dog. Unfortunately, because I was visiting from out of town and had an obligation to which I could not bring my dog, I had no choice but to still leave my dog with her overnight. Karry assured me she would monitor interactions between my dog and other dogs, however she later admitted that she monitored them only periodically during outside playtime. When I picked my dog up the next day, Karry showed me the puncture bite wound she had found on my dog's left side from the incident when I dropped him off. However, when I looked him over later I found an additional larger wound on his OTHER side. When I called to tell her about finding the second wound, her "apology" was defensive and unprofessional and she could not provide me with an explanation as to how that wound occurred. I took my dog to the vet who ended up identifying FOUR separate large wound areas and a total of at least EIGHT puncture wounds. I have no idea how many times he actually ended up being attacked while in this pet sitter's care. In addition to the above, she didn't tell me until I arrived for the drop-off that she uses shock mats in her home to keep the dogs out of certain rooms. I would not have brought my dog to her with that knowledge, either. Also, when I called before my visit and asked screening questions, she assured me she is familiar with Sheltie personalities. However, when I arrived and she took his leash, she immediately tried to PULL him into her home, which caused him to do the typical Sheltie move of pulling back against her (they are masters at pulling back and wiggling straight out of their collars), and she didn't stop until I took the leash back from her and coaxed him into the house myself. This made me highly doubtful about her understanding of dealing with Shelties or other sensitive breeds. I would never recommend this pet care provider to anyone. I now have an injured and traumatized dog and a vet bill on my hands and the guilt of having exposed him to this. She has not called to check on my dog's welfare nor responded to the messages I sent her with photographs and a report of the extent of his injuries. read more