In May, I moved to the Central Richmond of SF from living in the inner Sunset of SF for four years,…read moreand I was looking for a place I could trust for dog walks/play group and occasional boarding. WLTDO is the place! As an anxious dog owner myself, it makes me nervous to have my dog with strangers or unknown dogs. The owner, Lauren made me feel immediately comfortable and welcome and she took the time to talk about, meet, and understand my dog, his needs and my needs to match him with an appropriate doggie play group and dog walker. Shoutout to my dog walker Brandon, he is so kind, helpful and always sends me pictures of my guy playing, active and having a blast with other dogs. Shoutout also to Apollo who has watched my dog for 3 trips I've been on from the lengths of 3-6 nights. He did an incredible job and was very communicative. My dog absolutely loves time with Brandon and Apollo and the other doggies Who Let The Dogs Out (WLTDO) is reasonably priced compared to other companies and I could not been more grateful to have found them. Going back to my job this week 8-4. I have a lot of peace of mind, knowing my dog has found a doggy playgroup for an hour every day that will come to the home and take him to a doggy park and give him some excitement and social socialization in the middle of the day so I am not panicking to get home at the end of each day like I used to be. Thank you so much WLTDO team!

Lauren is great at front of the house, always keeping us up to date and being flexible with…read moreschedules. Our 2 Aussies love Brandon and come home tired, which is saying a lot for them! He always sends us photos and takes the dogs to different places all the time. Really appreciate the peace of mind from WLTDO!

I am so pleased with the results I've had sending clients to awesome pawesome! As a dog trainer, it…read morecan be difficult to find reliable pack walks or hikes for dogs and I hear nothing but good things back. If you're looking for your dog to have a solid, enriching outing and stay safe, you've found em!

TLDR: My family and I have used this business for nearly a decade. We had a dog die in their care…read morein April 2023 but had such a high degree of trust in the business and the business owner that we continued to use them. In October 2023, the business lost one of our other dogs and my husband and I were the ones to find her. When we found her, she had a shock collar with huge prongs on it tied tightly around her neck and a leash looped onto itself as a choke chain. We never would have known that this was happening if we hadn't been the ones to find her. We want other dog owners to know what's happening. We hate posting online, but this is important. Longer Story: My family and I have used Awesome Pawsome for about a decade. In April 2023, one of our dogs died in their care. The only information we received was that the dog "went limp" and was rushed to an emergency veterinary hospital. The dog regularly received veterinary care and had no known heart, breathing, or other issues at the time he passed away. Given that we've used Awesome Pawsome for nearly 10 years and had a lot of trust in them, we continued to use the business. We would not have believed any negative stories about the business prior to this because we had such faith in them. On October 14, 2023, we sent our two dogs (one of which was a newer dog) to board with Awesome Pawsome. The dogs were to be returned on Tuesday, October 17. At 8 p.m. that evening, the dogs had not been returned. When I called and texted the owner, she told me there was a "glitch" in scheduling and that the dogs would be returned in about 45 minutes. At 9:23 p.m., she called to tell us that the dog walkers had lost one of the dogs and blamed it on the dog, stating the dog had tried to bite the dog walker. We rushed to the boarding house in the Sunset neighborhood, which is where the dog had been lost. The dog walker that lost this dog was the same dog walker that had been with our other dog at the time he passed away. He and another dog walker helped us look for our dog, which we were thankful for. We made sure to ask them whether they had been bitten by our dog because we were willing to pay for medical bills if this had happened, and both stated no. We looked at their hands and saw no bite marks. After a long search, my husband and I were the ones that found our dog at around 11:30 p.m. and put her in our car to go back to the boarding house to retrieve our other dog. During the car ride back to the dog boarding house, my husband noticed that our dog had an extra collar around her neck and asked what it was. The collar was very tight around the dog's neck and when we removed it, we realized that it was a huge shock collar with multiple prongs that were digging into our dog's neck. I have attached photos of the shock collar to this review (taken by my husband while confronting the dog walkers) and as you will see, it is inappropriate for a dog that is about 10-12 pounds. As we pulled up to the dog boarding house, we also noticed a leash around our dog's neck and realized it was looped onto itself as a choke chain instead of being clipped to her harness, which she was wearing at the time we found her. The leash was very short, to the point that if our dog were to take more than 1-2 steps away from the dog walker, the leash would be choking her. We got out of the car to confront the dog walkers and one told us that it wasn't a shock collar, that it just vibrates, then switched to telling us that the shock collar was on a "low setting." Then he asked for us to return the leash and said that any issues we had were "with the business," meaning the owner. I immediately texted the owner and asked for a meeting to discuss the use of the devices. At the time we were scheduled to talk, the owner casually stated that the timing "wasn't lining up" and said we should reschedule. I canceled because the owner clearly wasn't taking our concerns seriously. We would not have believed this review if someone else had posted it. We have calendars they've given us with photos of our dogs over the years all throughout our home. Our family does not post online reviews generally, but we never would have known this was happening if we hadn't been the ones to find our dog, so we want to make sure to let other dog owners know that Awesome Pawsome may be using these devices on their dogs without their knowledge. Regardless of whether or not a dog has behavioral issues (which doesn't seem accurate here given the lack of bite marks on any dog walkers), Awesome Pawsome should reach out to owners to let them know or return the dogs, not use shock collars and choke chains on the dogs.

Ceslie has been a game changer in my dogs' training journey. I highly recommend her to anyone who…read moreis considering a trainer. I have two high energy pit mixes whose leash reactivity had gotten worse in the past half year, and it had reached a point where it was unmanageable because they would start barking and lunging at other dogs even from a healthy distance. I met with a few trainers to get a sense of their methods and styles, and Ceslie felt like the best match because of how she took the extra time to know my dogs and understand their behavior before recommending a plan, compared to others who jumped into training without asking many questions. There was a noticeable difference in how my dogs responded to Ceslie after their first class. She was thoughtful in customizing a plan that fit their needs, from teaching proper corrections to reinforcing obedience to providing the right equipment. She also taught me how to be a better handler (something often overlooked in training!), and it's truly strengthened my relationship with my pups. We had weekly sessions over the course of a month and there has been significant improvement in my dogs' behavior. Walks are stress-free and enjoyable again because we're able to bypass other dogs without issues, their door etiquette has improved, and we're now slowly working on their separation anxiety (slow and steady process but we're making progress!). Ceslie has been incredibly supportive and responsive through it all and I'm very grateful for her guidance with what I thought was a hopeless situation. I'm now considering sending the pups to her daycare program!

Bringing a ridgeback into our family and pack of little dogs was a major shift in dynamics - Ceslie…read morehas been an incredible resource for training, walking and boarding!! We have loved partnering together, with her easy, professional communication, reliability, fun and safe walks with a lot of exercise and socialization....and her commitment to setting our pup up to thrive! Our dog is always so excited to go out with Ceslie, coming home from walks and/or boarding tired and happy, with her tail wagging!

OMG, Alia is incredible! We had to leave our 14 month old puppy for a 12 day work trip (SO GLAD TO…read moreFINALLY BE HOME!) and we had so much anxiety leaving him for this long for the first time. I cannot even begin to tell you how reassuring it was to see photos and videos of Moose playing and romping around in Golden Gate park and Alia's amazing backyard. Because of those regular updates we were able to really focus on our trip and let go of that worry. MOST importantly though.. we cannot say thank you to Alia enough. Moose is an 80+lb monster and we hadn't been the greatest at training him as much as we would have liked. He pulled, his recall was bad, and he lunged happily at new dogs a lot. NONE OF THAT EXISTS anymore. He stays when he's told, he doesn't pull, and he comes when called almost immediately. We were flabbergasted on our morning walk with him after coming home. Just wow. Alia, thank you thank you thank you thank you. You've not only given us peace of mind but you've given us a happier and more well behaved puppy. We're eternally grateful and so thankful for you.

Alia was a great care taker for our dog. She was reliable and understood dogs well. Appreciated the…read morecommunication via the photos from the walks.

Very caring and dedicated dog partner. Takes out our dalmation every weekday for walks and runs…read morewith other dogs. Been depending on Carla (and never disappointed) for 7+ years.

Carla is simply the best! Our 8 year old Labrador Retriever, Jake, is our furry child. As a member…read moreof the family, we are very careful about who we trust to take care of him and Carla is it! She is reliable, professional, and also tremendously knowledgeable about all things dog related--care, behavior, training, referrals etc. She takes the time to know every dog in her pack and is sure to give them the individual attention they need and feels they deserve. She treats the dogs she takes care of like they are her own because she truly cares about their well being. A true animal lover, Carla is always there in a pinch or to help out in an emergency. Not only do we love her, but most importantly so does our Lab! Jake waits eagerly at the window for her arrival and goes berserk with excitement when she walks in the door. When we travel, Carla frequently stays and sits with Jake. Before she leaves she makes sure that we are back in the city so he is not left alone too long. Rain or shine she is dependable and trustworthy. Carla is more than a dog walker, she is a real caretaker and I can't say enough wonderful things about her!

I've had CoCo at Bark Avenue for the past 6 months and it's been amazing. They give her personal…read moreattention, take her for walks, and she gets to go to the park everyday with her doggy daycare friends. Diana (the manager) is amazing! The Bark Avenue team treat CoCo like family and that is what separates them from other doggy daycares. If you're looking for a daycare that will treat your pup like their own - look no farther than Bark Avenue.

We have been bringing our dog here for the past year. The management and the team are spectacular…read more I cannot say enough good things about their attentiveness to the dogs and their families. It's wonderful to ask questions and always hear personalized responses and updates. Diana goes above and beyond, helping us out countless times. Our pup was really shy at first, but Diana and the team worked with her to help her feel comfortable and encouraged her through different activities and treats that fit her personality. Our pup grew so much during her time there! She pulls me to the door as we approach Bark Ave. She loves going there and being part of the Bark Ave family. Thank you so much for having us!

Morgan took excellent care of my girls in October of 2022. She was very communicative, took great…read morephotos of my girls having fun, and my girls consistently came back tired and happy. The only disappointment is they may like her more than me. Would give more than 5 stars if possible.

Morgan is amazing! She's been walking my dog for almost a year now and even followed us when we…read moremoved apartments. She's easy to schedule and really cares for my dog. In fact, I was at Lafayette with my dog one day when suddenly, he took off and darted across the park. I finally caught up and realized he had spotted Miss Morgan. He had just run across the park to say hello. Safe to say he absolutely loves her :)

Jenni has been our dog walker since we adopted our 2-year-old lab mix, Maple nearly 6 months ago…read more In the beginning, our dog was very shy and had zero recall. Fast forward to now and she's a completely different dog. My husband and I believe that Jenni was a major factor. Jenni has been incredibly patient with Maple and helped us tremendously with teaching her good doggy manners. She also sends us great photos and text message updates (the first one was on their 3rd walk together to announce that Maple had pooped outside!)! Now Maple isn't afraid of anything or anyone! My husband and I are not-so-secretly jealous of how much Maple loves Jenni (which is a good problem to have!). :) Every time Maple sees her, fireworks go off. To Maple, Jenni = a combo of July 4th and Christmas!

Jenni has been an amazing dog walker for our dog, Bruin, for nearly 4 years. Beginning from when he…read morewas a 6month old puppy, Jenni became one of Bruin's favorite humans and an individual we trusted unequivocally with our dog. She is super reliable, friendly and has been everything and more we could ever want for Bruin. From daily walks, to weeklong stays, she has been a great part of Bruin (and our) lives. Would 100% recommend!